brownstein: werner herzog shines a light on young montreal director
harley chamandy captured the iconic german filmmaker's attention with the poignant allen sunshine, made on a shoestring budget in the eastern townships.
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montreal director harley chamandy was just 22 when he began shooting his debut feature film, allen sunshine, two years ago. little could he have dreamed when filming began on his next-to-no-budget movie — made for under $400,000 — in the eastern townships community of georgeville that the finished product would capture the attention and imagination of one of the world’s most iconic directors, werner herzog (aguirre, the wrath of god; heart of glass; stroszek; fitzcarraldo, among his 60-plus credits). so much so that the german director’s werner herzog foundation recently announced that chamandy’s poignant and strikingly shot allen sunshine, about a music producer mourning the death of his famed singer wife, is the winner of the 2024 werner herzog film award. chamandy, the youngest ever recipient of the prize, will be given the award dec. 6 at the munich film museum.
allen sunshine, which had its world première at the munich film festival in june, makes its commercial debut tuesday on numerous rental streaming sites (apple, amazon, youtube et al.). it will also be shown at a sold-out screening tuesday at lincoln center, followed by another presentation the following night elsewhere in new york. it will be shown at montreal’s phi centre on nov. 18.
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“the award came as such a shock to me, all the more so since herzog is my favourite filmmaker of all time,” chamandy says in a zoom interview from new york, where he will be on hand for the lincoln center screening. “what’s so amazing is that previous winners of this award include academy award-winning directors like chloé zhao, who made nomadland.
“to be recognized by herzog is such a huge honour and bigger than anything i could have hoped for. i still have to pinch myself. it’s the ultimate validation. better still, i will be in munich in less than a month at the award presentation doing a q&a with him after my film is shown there.”
it won’t be chamandy’s first meeting with herzog. when he was 17, chamandy, who was already making short films, was one of 55 filmmakers from around the world selected to work under the guidance of herzog at a film school in cuba, co-founded by colombian writer gabriel garcía márquez.
“i’ve been making films since i was 13,” says chamandy, an nyu grad. “and i’ve been grinding it out ever since. this was always my goal and to work at the highest level i could. i viewed film very competitively, almost like a sport.
“when i was 16, i made a little film in ste-anne-de-bellevue called mirage for $900. on a whim, i submitted the film for this herzog workshop the next year, and i got in. it was wild. the next-youngest filmmaker there was 35. when i showed up there, i felt i had this crazy imposter syndrome. my assignment there was to make a short with the people in this small cuban town.”
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chamandy had to finish that film in 10 days. it was nerve-racking, to say the least.
“herzog’s brother came up to me after seeing the film and i’ll never forget this: he shook my hand and told me i had made a film as good as that of anyone here and said, ‘for that, i applaud you.’ herzog himself told me it was time for me to find my own voice. and now i hear from his foundation five years later. so to get this award from him now is just so crazy.”
the subject matter of allen sunshine would seem to be rather foreign to chamandy’s world. the focus is on a middle-aged man (sensitively played by vincent leclerc) who was at the height of his career as an electronic-music producer. but after his wife takes her own life, he becomes so shattered that he seeks refuge in the bush, eschewing all social contact, save for a trucker neighbour and two kids who entice him to tag along on fishing expeditions.
“i’m less interested in a narrative than finding small, delicate moments,” chamandy says. “people seem surprised that someone my age would take this path. but art that is very nihilistic and cynical can be made by people my age. there are a lot of people in my generation who want to offer a fresh sensibility. my goal here was to really make a film about love, and what it means to live without it.
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“just because allen (leclerc) was bound to the reality of fame and success, it doesn’t mean that he can’t now bind himself to a different reality, making art for himself and not for the mainstream. the relationship that he now has with his music is something he never had as the mogul he had previously been.”
chamandy later learned that he had good karma working for him while shooting. unbeknownst to him at the time, it turned out that his closest neighbour was donald sutherland.
“i have been so blessed here. everything just came together.”
at a glance
allen sunshine starts streaming tuesday, nov. 12 on multiple sites. it screens monday, nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the phi centre, 407 st-pierre st. for tickets and more information, see eventbrite.com.
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