Zuzana Kirchnerova premiered her poetic and vibrantly sensorial debut, “Caravan“, at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard sidebar.

We met the Czech director, also a contender for the Caméra d’or, and talked about the physicality of this road movie set in Italy, where a Czech mother and her mentally disabled son have no other choice than to go on the road, as well as her visual approach, the character of Zuza (the third travel companion of Ester and David), and the dichotomy freedom vs. cramped space/situation.

Zuzana Kirchnerova explains that her wish was to shed light on the marginalised life of parents/people who are also caretakers for a family member, and told us about the joys of working with the remarkably expressive young actor who plays David (David Vodstrcil).

On the strong sensorial impact of the film

“It was really my aim: to be very close to the bodies and to kind of feel the film from the screen, and the visual aspect was also very important for me. I travelled a lot around Italy, taking a lot of photos and trying to catch the atmosphere. I really wanted to have a strong visual element, a poetic one, to counter the heavy subject. The Italian light was crucial, as well as the horizons there, the Italian countryside.”

On the premise of this road trip in a caravan

“Caravan can be expressed through two symbols. One is freedom (we are on the road), but the second is a tiny, tiny space, which is a sort of prison as well.”

Marginalised characters

“We, as parents of people with mental challenges, we are marginalised because we are usually poor – and that’s true for all family members who are caretakers and get marginalised also because they don’t have money… So I’m really truly happy to be able to give a voice to all those marginalised mothers and fathers who have no voice in our society.”

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