Interview with "Pasa Faho" Director, Kalu Oji at the Chicago International Film Festival

Filmmaker, Kalu Oji is one of the most promising emerging voices in new Australian cinema. His new film, Pasa Faho has its world premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival this Saturday, and I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Oji regarding this film, and the future of Australian cinema. 

Eric: "I was so impressed with the cast’s ability to play off of each other so naturally, so I was curious about your process in casting not only who was right for each role, but who was right to work with the other actors?"

Oji: "A lot of it was instinct and going with what felt right. We were quite conscious that we were casting people, not just characters. That meant thinking about who they are, what kind of presence they have, how they might shift a room. We did chemistry tests with a lot of the relationships in the film. Because we spent so long casting it also meant that people met quite early and at various points throughout development. Those relationships had time to marinate, and grow, even if just through the familiarity granted by time."

Eric: "What are your thoughts about improv on set? The dialogue and conversations here felt so natural in their timing that I’m curious how much, if at all, the actors strayed away from the dialogue on the page."

Oji: "I am a big fan of improv - it’s such a beautiful tool to explore character and to let the material surprise you. I generally embrace it during the rehearsal period, using these workshops to inform script revisions. By the time we get onto set I mostly aim to capture what we’ve put on the page. However, because so much of Pasa Faho’s strength was in the richness of its characters and its world, there was quite a bit of ad-libbing during the takes, especially in some of the bigger crowd scenes. There is also one scene in particular that is more or less entirely improv - Azubuike’s rant in the bathroom. We had spoken about the skeleton of this scene during rehearsals; where it sat in his emotional journey and what we wanted to capture in this exchange. The rest was up to Okey. Beautiful, hilarious, somewhat tragic misguided venting."

Eric: "Which format did you choose to shoot on, and why?"

Oji: "From the very beginning it was our intention to shoot 16mm. This is how we’ve worked previously, and is our vision for the future. The reality is that this is very difficult in Australia, particularly at the time of filming Pasa Faho. Where we landed, after extensive tests and conversations with different labs around the world, was that we’d do this digital-film-digital transfer. Although it meant navigating this additional, elaborate layer, it was important to us, not only for the quality of what we were trying to capture in Pasa Faho, but as a broader statement of intention for the direction we’d like to see the industry grow here in Aus."

Eric: "I was very moved by Obinna’s internal journey here. I found the struggle of feeling simultaneously embarrassed and proud of your heritage to be very touching, and I was wondering if you could give some insight as to how you crafted his character specifically, and whether or not there was a part of your lived experience that you inserted into his journey?"

Oji: "There were definitely parts of my own experience layered into Obinna’s character, but to be honest he was probably the one I struggled with the most. What helped was sharing the material throughout the development process. A lot of what’s in the film comes from me, but a lot was also crafted from these conversations. People who’ve had some kind of overlapping experience with his character, and were generous enough to share anecdotes, emotions, details."

Eric: "I loved the message of 'always was, always will be,' when acknowledging the shooting of the film in Australia. I’m curious about your perspective on the future of Australian cinema. I’ve noticed quite a few tremendous works in recent years coming from Australia, but I’m ignorant to the progress of the industry. I would love if you could shed some light on that, and where you feel you fit in it."

Oji: "I’m very (very, very) excited about the future of Australian cinema. There are a lot of beautiful voices coming out of Aus with a lot of interesting things to say; all sorts of things. It’s been great to see the individuality of recent films. How we do justice to telling stories on lands where this has been done for tens of thousands of years is a constant conversation. I aim to do what’s in my hands, uplifting those around me and trying to keep a high bar for the industry and the [world] I want to see moving forward. I’ve got a lot to learn. As a filmmaker and as someone who is blessed enough to experience various Indigenous knowledges. I feel as though the industry is in a good place right now, and that the coming years should continue to bring interesting films."

A big thank you to Kalu for taking the time to answer our questions. Pasa Faho was a lovely film, and I highly recommend keeping both the film, and this filmmaker on your radar in the future.