Interview with Douwe Dijkstra - Neighbour Abdi

The documentary "Neighbour Abdi" uses the medium of green screen in a unique way and tells us about the life of Abdiwahab Ali. Filmmaker Douwe Dijkstra met Abdi as a neighbour and made a short film that is both, moving and touches on a moral dilemma.

As a young man, Abdi fled to the Netherlands in the wake of the civil war in Somalia. Soon he went off the track, which meant he had to spend some time in prison. But the young men regained his composure and got his life back on the right track. Now as a father and hard-working craftsman, he tells us about his experiences and past.

I had the chance to meet Douwe during an interview at the Vienna shorts Film festival…

© Douwe Dijkstra

Stephanie (Bohema): How does it feel to be the cover picture of Vienna Shorts?

Douwe Dijkstra: Oh, it’s a huge honour. It is a big compliment, if someone thinks an image of a film is strong enough to put it as a still image on a poster. A lot of things I create just make sense if you see them moving. It’s an honour that this picture is somehow iconic to them. Sometimes, when someone asks me: oh, hey, are you here with a film? I tell them: “Yeah, that’s my film” (pointing out to the poster).

B: Haha, Cool! When and why did you realize you had to make a film about Abdi's story?

D: Actually, he asked me to make a film about his life. Soon, I realized that he is very creative. We are a very good match creatively. We both have or had completely different lives and different backgrounds, but on a creative level we are a working very well together. After filming my previous film in Brazil, I had the desire to tell a story which was closer to home to the Netherlands. Eventually, the story was literally in front of my studio. Throughout Abdi’s story, there are many topics which interest me in my work, such as the time we live in - how to deal with migration and the meeting and getting to know the other. I felt that all these aspects could come together in this project, and they actually did.

B: Was it difficult to create an environment in which Abdi could open up about his past? How did you manage it?

D: Well, one of the reasons why I knew that I wanted to make this movie was because Abdi is a very open person. He was always visiting my studio and telling me about his life, even when I was not asking. (smiled) Abdi was open from the start. But when the camera is there, things change. I remember at the very beginning of the research, when I was doing a long interview with Abdi, he was sitting in a chair and a camera was pointed directly at him. All the spontaneity and energy were suddenly gone. Even the act of putting a mic on, changes the situation and the behaviour of someone. So, I had to find a solution. That’s why I started to use mics more on a distance. With that, we were able to create the situation where the camera was there, but we both forgot about that at some point. Most of the time it was just him and me, and we had a very open and safe environment.

© Douwe Dijkstra

B: How did you come up with this particular documentary style, did you have a specific inspiration?

D: There are a lot of things in my previous works that come together in this film. Before, I also worked with scalemodels, which are very flexible. This allows you to control a lot of things in a small environment. So, I continued using that, as these objects are also a great conversation starter in the context of making a documentary. Moreover, I used re-enactment. There are some interesting re-enactment documentaries like "The act of killing". This documentary re-enacts very violent stories with people who actually committed these crimes. That film definitely was an inspiration. But, the difference with my film was that in “The act of killing” you don’t see the director. I wanted to do the re-enactment with Abdi, but also show myself. By this, we were able to show that it was a process between me and him.

This was very important to me. I wanted to be careful while telling someone else’s story. Who seems to have a completely different background. Dealing with the questions like: why and how am I telling his story and so on, this was sometimes tricky. By being very transparent and showing myself, I created more authenticity.

© Douwe Dijkstra

B: Oh, this brings me to another question. In the film it is mentioned that you as a director "only" suffered from the divorce of your parents, why was the comparison important to you, and what was the intention behind the mention?

D: Haha, yeah, I remember the scene. Abdi was 11 years old when he came to the Netherlands. He went through war and there was so much happening in his life at a young age. Compared to Abdi, I hadn’t gone through anything at that age. Of course, I had to go through something like, for example, the divorce of my parents. But it fascinated me that two lives’ can be so different.  The more I learned about his life and what he hadbeen through in his life, the more you rethink your own life. It puts things in perspective. It is important to never judge someone based on how they look, where they come from or whatever. There is always a big story behind everyone. Especially with Abdi, his life is or was connected to a lot of things that were out of his control.

© Douwe Dijkstra

B: The film shows in an impressive way the different realities in which children grow up/people live. Some are more privileged, others don’t. The reason for certain criminal actions may be the hard past. The accompanying responsibility of acting morally right often leads to double standards. What is your approach to this message with “Neighbour Abdi”?

D: I did not want to convey the message that a hard life is an excuse for what happened. And I certainly did not want to frame Abdi’s story as a success story. Like “oh you come from these problematic events and then there is this criminal history, and now he is doing great”. No, it is not that simple. He had a lot of luck. There are also a lot of people who went through the same situations and for them, it didn’t end well. In Abdi's situation, this was also a possibility. The message is that you are always shaped by the circumstances in which you find yourself, and there is always the possibility of change. Like Abdi says in the beginning of the film: “Your actions don’t define who you are”. It is a factum, that he did some things that he went to jail for. But in the end, he turned his life around. Yes, I think it is about getting to know the other person's story first, rather than being too quick to judge. Especially with immigrants, they all have a huge story. It is only when things settle down and life slows down that the process of dealing with the past begins. Sometimes we are very quick to judge, and some would even say: "Go back if you can't behave". This is tough. Abdi has to prove himself all the time. 100% more than me, in everything he does. Now he is doing these amazing projects, talking to so many justice departments and addresses the social workers and so on. But to get to that point, the fights he has to deliver, it's quite something.

B: What are your next projects? Do you have any?

D: Well, at the moment I am researching new ideas for films, but I cannot mention any specific yet. I want to continue the hybrid form of documentary and visually constructed narratives. Especially what I learned with this film was to have that dialogue and to engage with somebody else. Throughout the process of making this film, I learned a lot as a filmmaker and as a person. I would like to continue with a project like "Neighbour Abdi", where I can make a film on a professional level and develop a deep dialogue or even collaboration with the protagonist.