Award Winning Short Film Josefine, a specially-commissioned opera is screened for Scotsman readers at The Scotsman Picture House
Scottish Opera’s award-winning animated short film Josefine is a 14-minute film, Scottish Opera’s first venture into animation, brings Franz Kafka’s last short story, Josefine the Singer, to life through a blend of operatic performance and contemporary animation.
Set in a striking desert landscape, the story follows a mysterious creature whose ethereal voice captures an audience of sprites, exploring themes of artistry, crisis and hope.
Scottish Opera’s award-winning animated short film Josefine is a 14-minute film, Scottish Opera’s first venture into animation, brings Franz Kafka’s last short story, Josefine the Singer, to life through a blend of operatic performance and contemporary animation.
Set in a striking desert landscape, the story follows a mysterious creature whose ethereal voice captures an audience of sprites, exploring themes of artistry, crisis and hope.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm Ken Malton, classical music critic of the Scotsman. I'm here at the Scotsman
00:04Picturehouse for the screening of Josephine, which is Scottish Opera's
00:08first venture into opera in animation. The film is based on Kafka's last
00:13published short story, Josephine the Singer or the Mouse Folk, which centres
00:17on a curiously fragile, undefined little creature living among the so-called
00:22mouse people, who are every bit as enigmatic and undefined. Josephine's
00:27distinguishing feature is her captivating voice, which enchants and
00:31unites those around her, but equally invites questions, voiced by the narrator,
00:35about her motives, her role, her importance, just who and what she
00:39represents. Josephine is the result of a widespread creative
00:43collaboration, a screenplay written jointly by Scottish Opera's former
00:46composer-in-residence Sam Bordoli and in-house filmmaker Antonia Bain,
00:51Sam also as composer, Antonia as director. Music direction by the
00:56conductor and Scottish Opera chorus director Susanna Wapshott, together with
01:00animation by Sophie Bird and Gemma Dixon of Maestro Broadcasting. Not to mention
01:05the spine-tingling voice of Josephine, former Scottish Opera emerging artist
01:08Zoe Drummond, with Scottish Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Currently touring
01:14the International Film Festival circuit, Josephine has already won several
01:18key awards, including Best Short Film at the 2024 Messina Opera Film Festival in
01:24Sicily. I'm delighted to say that we have Sam, Antonia and Susanna here today
01:29with us to answer questions and to provide insight into this terribly
01:33exciting project. So when I first read the short story that Sam had
01:40sent me, no! The story of Josephine, the singer, the actual Franz Kafka,
01:47it's pretty much an essay to begin with, but once you break it down it was really
01:52fascinating, really interesting, and obviously with Kafka it goes round and
01:57round in circles, and I think the big question that came out of it
02:02was what Kafka himself thought about his own work and his own place in the world
02:08and whether he actually mattered as an artist. Obviously I think differently, I
02:14think art does matter and I think artists do matter very much so in the
02:17world. So yeah, but I think once Sam and I discussed that and took that apart,
02:24it really became such a great space to do lots of different things with and to
02:29create something visually and we had lots of discussions about
02:32whether it was going to be a young girl and her tribe or whether it could be
02:37soldiers and a time of war and all that kind of stuff, so I'm really
02:41really glad we came up with this lovely scenario where we've got
02:47this kind of desert space where we can create a kind of slightly more family
02:52orientated film. I think it's working to time but also sort of trying to create
02:58time because we did it in two stages, so I wrote the arias first, so had
03:06control over that part, but then after that had been done I was then working to
03:11picture for the more sort of soundtracky moments, so I had to sort of
03:18give away some control after having it, which was quite a strange experience as
03:23a composer. The structure and the emotional and visual aspects are there
03:29and it's my job to tell that story through music, whether that's enhancing
03:34it or undermining it, whatever needs to be done, so stylistically yes, it was broad
03:42in that sense and it's the most thrilling part when you're actually
03:46there in the session hearing the orchestra and the Orchestra of Scottish
03:50Opera are just brilliant, but it's certainly the most fun bit for me. I mean
03:55I sort of know what I'll be doing when I'm sketching everything out and you
04:01sort of do it all in shorthand and make the piano score, but nothing compares to
04:06the moment when it all just happens and it's an extraordinary sound. Zoe was
04:12our emerging artist soprano, so she fitted the bill already and I believe it
04:17was written for her with her range and type of voice in mind, so that's why it
04:23seems to fit like a glove. Zoe was amazingly versatile to work with,
04:28she's very enthusiastic, she really took on all the colours and the imagery. I mean
04:33we both started with very little score, it was a very topsy-turvy way of
04:38putting something together. We essentially had the words first
04:43and then the vocal line and not much accompaniment, so even the colours I had
04:49to imagine through talking to Sam and through finding out about the
04:54literature through Antonia and just really working with the notes and the
05:00phrases and the patterns and the harmonies, which were very scant, but we
05:05just began to build a picture and then Zoe brought in her own personality.
05:24Look, look, see and see what they do.
05:31Rise, rise, rise they go, and then sway me, dig me, and turn me.
05:36See how, see how, see how they squirm.