We caught up with the Brussels-based filmmaker Jordie Koko, whose latest film: WHERE DO I BELONG? is on T-Port courtesy of our partners at Wallonie Bruxelles Images. 

We talked about the highly personal nature of the film, her studies at the Haute Ecole Libre de Bruxelles – HELB, and her experiences of working in film distribution.

Hi Jordie! Please could you tell us a bit about yourself? 

I was born and raised in Benin, a country in West Africa. At 17, I moved to Brussels to join my mother and little sister and continue my studies. In 2019, after my communication degree, I started studying film, which I completed in 2022 with my graduation project. 

I’ve always wanted to tell stories, especially after spending time with my grandmother, who would often share stories about her life, from her childhood to her adult years. I didn’t choose cinema; it came to me as one of the ways I want to tell stories.

While working on the film, where did you draw your inspiration from?

The film is based on me and my mom. It all started with my own experiences and the questions I had at a certain point in my life. Especially on motherhood, my perception on motherhood as I got older, my relationship with my mother and my two countries, Belgium where I live now and Bénin where I was born and raised.

I also wanted to make this movie because it was an opportunity to have a conversation with my mom about our story and share my feelings, because we usually don’t do that and when you try to say how you feel about something you get gaslit and you’re asked to shut up!

In the case of this film, the camera was there as a witness so even if they didn’t want to listen, I didn’t care. 

What were the biggest challenges you encountered during making your film?

 The film is based on my personal story so it was really emotionally heavy from the writing to shooting and post-production. 

What elements do you think make your film most special, and how did you make those elements happen during the production process? 

To be honest, I don’t think there is something special about the movie. Or maybe the fact that it’s based on conversations between my mom and I. 

Can you share the most important lessons you learned through the process of making the film? 

Making a film is not easy and it can take time so it’s really important to have a good team with motivated people. Also as director it’s mandatory to be clear about your intentions and what you want, but also to be flexible according to the circumstances you may face during the shooting. 

If you could go back in time to pre-production and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be? 

-Be patient and trust your gut

-Every story deserves to be told, so yours does, too

What would you like people to take away from your film?

It’s complicated to answer this question, especially since an artwork resonates differently with each person. I just wanted to share my experience because I think sharing is caring. You never know what will resonate with people. 

As someone who works in distribution, did you learn anything more from distributing your own film and experiencing what your students do?

In fact, I didn’t do the distribution of my own film. It was my graduation movie produced by the school so they have someone who do it for us. To graduate, I had to do an internship and I did it at Atelier Graphoui, a documentary and animation production company in Brussels. There I assisted the distribution manager and do some research about films festivals. 

I realised then that I didn’t know so much festivals besides the big ones such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno…. I was really interested in this part of the film industry but I didn’t distribute my film by my own. 

What do you think is lacking in the process of distributing and promoting short films by upcoming filmmakers?

The platforms and sometimes (or always) money! There are plenty of film festivals in the world and some are dedicated to short films only, but good luck being selected… the competition is tough because choices have to be made since all films submitted can’t be screened. 

Sometimes, the submission fees to the festivals are very expensive and some filmmakers can’t afford them especially when it’s a short film, the budgets are not that high so it can be difficult to pay the fees.

What would you like to see change around the film industry, especially when it comes to short film distribution?

Honestly, when it’s come to short film distribution, I wish there were more opportunities to showcase them, especially on television or on dedicated platforms on the internet. 

What’s your number one piece of advice for students looking to distribute their short films? 

I think that the most important thing is to show the films to audiences and have conversations with people about your work. If you have the budget, you can ask for professionals to help. But if you don’t, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for waivers to the festival teams – some of them are really nice and helpful. 

Do not only submit your movie to the big festivals, instead, do some research about the festivals that can be good and relevant for your films. There are also a lot of school film festivals that are really interesting. 

What’s next for you? 

Right now I work as distribution manager at a filmmaking school and started working on a future film project so the next step is to find a producer and hopefully direct another movie.

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