Hi! How are You? – Gaïa Grandin-Mendzylewski Interview | I’M FINE! – UK/Ukraine Season
Gaïa Grandin-Mendzylewski is a director who enjoys making films about social conventions, communication, love and vulnerability. Already in her 2020 film, Internship Report, she was commenting on the fear of not being adequate for work-related things. This element of self-reflection has continued in her latest short, Hi! How are you?, making it a perfect choice for the I’m FINE! programme.
As a collaboration between Skwigly and Ukraine’s LINOLEUM festival, I’M FINE! is a project that focuses on the ways to maintain mental health and stay motivated and productive in a world that changes every minute.
The programme itself is a reflection on the emotional burnout from the best independent animation creators. In addition to animation film screenings, Skwigly will be featuring a series of interviews and podcasts with artists who share their experiences of going through emotional burnout. Today we present a conversation with Gaïa about her recent short film Hi! How are You?
Could you introduce yourself and briefly describe the circumstances of how the film was made and where the concept came from?
My name is Gaïa Grandin Mendzylewski and I’m a young director and animator based in Lille.
Hi how are you? is the sequel of my previous short-movie Internship Report. Both films were made in the exact same aesthetic, based on a series of sketches my best-friend used to draw of me during our studies to depict my sweet clumsiness.
I was so moved and amused by the authenticity of those representations, I decided to turn them into a full animated speaking character. The emptiness of those tiny black eyes, lost into a non-efficient body ready to dismantle at every move, was the perfect set-up to express my shaky-self.
It gave me the distance and humour I like to have when trying to communicate my thoughts and doubts.
Concerning this short specifically, the movie emerged from an uncomfortable impression of feeling out of phase with the active world. The one where people say while walking “Hi, how are you?” to say hello because they are polite but don’t expect a genuine answer from you. One day I decided to stop replying “Fine, and you?” because this protocol was becoming too hollow and therefore too painful for me. Making this movie was for me the best way to communicate my confusion and therefore relieve me from a part of my anxieties.
When it comes to filmmaking and time management, do you find that the process of animation has any therapeutic value? Does it help you put your thoughts in order, or help you cope with life in general?
For a long time, it has. When making movies I allow myself to improvise a lot. I get surprised by my own animations. I also tend to draw very slow and gentle movements, making the process repetitive and automatic. Those conditions allow me to turn off my lovely ongoing anxious brain for a few hours.
BUT recently my relation to my art became more of a struggle.
As I’m currently lacking of stability and projections in the other fields of my life, I’m relying more and more on my art. It became urgent to achieve meaningful stuff that could help me and others. Quickly.
Animation is too long and did not match with my feeling of emergency. I was obsessed by the result and wanted to skip the process so bad. Therefore, a few months ago I started to post autobiographic comics on my Instagram account. It was fun to make; spontaneous, but most of all, it allowed me in a short amount of time to cover a large number of topics dear to my heart.
I’m so proud of what I did; it actually may have given me the energy to go back to animation, motivated by the idea of adapting those strips into a TV show.
Do you find that working to deadlines has a positive or negative impact on how you structure your time in approaching a creative project? Do you find that you work better under the pressure of a deadline?
I’m quite sure I don’t work better under the pressure of a deadline because I don’t need it to start to work and I hate being in a rush at the end. All I want is to dedicate as much time as I have to do stuff very, very slowly. Working all day while feeling like doing nothing.
Also I’m very preoccupied by the idea of bothering or disappointing people I work with if I’m not precisely on time. Deadlines are just another cause of anxiety for me!
Hi! How are You?
Did the lockdown situation – or other times of crisis you have experienced – present any personal challenges with regards to mood, mental health, or staying motivated? And if so, what kind of thing helped you overcome that?
The lockdown was actually a cool period for me. I had the comfort, space and time I needed to work peacefully. I could stay at home playing video games, eating and drawing; without fear of missing anything that could occur outside.
Living like the entire world has stopped, with the idea that I couldn’t be in a better place than in my own home creating stuff, was a very sweet and secure feeling for me.
Also my movies are very introspective so all I need to be inspired is my own intimacy and the close environment I’m evolving in.
An issue that I’m seeing come up a lot, especially with animators coming into the industry now, is grappling with burnout. I was wondering if that’s something you had ever experienced and if so, what sort of self-maintenance did you undergo to move through it and carry on?
I might be experiencing one of the most anxious period of my life right now but it’s not a burnout so I don’t know if my answer will be relevant.
The animation industry is stressing me out but I see this stress more as a consequence of my own shakiness. I think I have the chance to evolve professionally in workplaces that always encouraged me to leave on time, to do nothing more than what I’m officially paid for.
Also the more I’m growing up, the more I’m surrounded by my friends and old classmates at work. I feel very lucky about that!
However, if I had to give advice to people undergoing burnout, I would tell them exactly what I’m currently trying to tell myself everyday (and not yet applying of course). I wish I’ll communicate better my sorrow to the people I love, I wish I’ll feel less afraid of being a burden when doing so, wish I’ll stop comparing myself to others, wish I’ll realize I’m strong enough to take care of me and make myself happy, wish I’ll love me more, and most of all : I wish us all to meet great therapists ✨
Hi! How are You?
Gaïa Grandin-Mendzylewsk’si film Hi! How are You? is part of the I’m FINE! animation screening that will be taking place at:
- MEGOGO screening – 10-30 October (Online, geo-blocked to UK and Ukraine)
I’M FINE! is a project by the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival and Skwigly Animation Magazine. It is implemented with the support of the British Council within the framework of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture.