British artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers has returned to Bogancloch, nestled in a vast highland forest in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This is hermit Jake Williams’ home. And it is the title of Rivers’ new film, which had its world premiere in the international competition program, whose jury is led by Jessica Hausner, at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Friday.
Bogancloch portrays Williams’ life throughout the seasons, with other people occasionally crossing over into his otherwise solitary life. It is also a follow-up to Rivers’ short This Is My Land (2007) and the following feature Two Years at Sea (2011).
“I made one of my first shorts and my first feature with Jake Williams,” the filmmaker says in a note on the Locarno festival website. “I like the idea of returning to a person and seeing how we repeat gestures, obsessions, but also to see how these change because of how the world has changed.”
Friday mid-day, Rivers discussed his new feature, which walks the line between documentary and fiction, during a Locarno press conference, sharing some insight into his process and experience.
“It takes a few days of adjustment to get back to London,” back to being surrounded by people and noise, the filmmaker said. The same is true the other way around, leaving his home and going somewhere in the middle of nowhere with one man and maybe a sound guy. “There are always these adjustments to make in terms of life, eating, washing and sounds,” he said.
His feelings about these places changed over the years, the director said. “I think increasingly I maybe find it harder and harder to transition back to London,” Rivers shared. “I quite like the calm of the Scottish wilderness.”
Addressing whether there is a life and philosophical message in the movie, he said: “I suppose making a film about somebody who lives a kind of isolated life could be read as something, I don’t know, selfish in a way and that this is somebody who has cut himself off and is no longer in relation to what’s going on. Consequently, maybe the film becomes this particular vision of how this is a perfect way of life. I’m really kind of suspicious of that. And Jake isn’t that kind of person either. He does connect with people. He encourages people to come and stay.”
Why did Rivers feel the urge to return to Williams? “It’s a sequel of sorts,” he said. “I guess my relationship with Jake [has become] a friendship.” He added that the first film was about meeting this person “without vocal language.”
In the second film, “I wanted to make slow changes,” such as hearing from Williams and showing him in social contexts, the filmmaker said. “He likes his interactions, so it was really important for me to bring people into his space, but also to have him out in another space, which is a school…and also when the people come and sing.”
Rivers said the choice of song was also key here, describing it as “this battle between life and death. But at the end, the song is somewhat hopeful.”
Bogancloch
Courtesy of Ben Rivers