Coco Schrijber’s cinematic examination of boredom evokes Kierkegaard: “Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings.” Narrated by John Malkovich, the film uses readings from Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground and Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho as touchstones. The opening profile features notorious school shooter Brenda Spencer, who shot 11 people when she was 16 to “make Monday more interesting.” Other characters include a Wall Street broker, a pie factory worker, an artist who has been painting time for more than 42 years, the last living World War II female spy and a Saharan nomad. But is boredom always bad? Many philosophers and scholars consider boredom the precursor of creativity; others think that boredom is proof of existence. The film intercuts and sometimes overlaps images and narration to tease out boredom’s place in human affairs. In a bold cinematic move, an uncomfortably long, static shot of train tracks deserves admiration for perfectly creating boredom. Lena, the pie factory worker, pursues a music career by night and takes responsibility for extinguishing ennui: “The world is everywhere. It has endless possibilities. It’s up to me to spot them.”

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
Coco Schrijber studied at the Rietveld Arts Academy, Amsterdam, majoring Audio-Visual. She has made seven films, of which four have been awarded: her first long feature First Kill was selected for the Joris Ivens Award at IDFA. Her last film WONDERFUL WORLD won six international prizes. Schrijber has an interest in tackling abstract subjects such as the beauty of war or the upside of boredom, which results in essay-like films with bite.

What inspired this film?   
My own boredom, and how I really enjoy being bored and doing nothing. It gives me many new and original ideas.

How did you find your subjects?
I just dreamt them up while lying on my sofa and decided to go out to find them. It wasn’t hard but it was exciting to find people I hoped existed. Meeting them was a thrill.  

What were some of the biggest challenges/surprises?
Meeting Opalka, the painter who has been painting ‘time’ for 42 years, was a surprise. I originally thought he was a fraud until we, the crew, were standing in front of one of his canvasses and we were all moved almost to tears. He is a very smart man.  

Who are some of your favorite filmmakers?
I get all of my inspiration from fiction. Scorsese was one of my eye-openers. Terrence Malick is one of the truly great filmmakers and follows his own mind, not distracted by anyone or anything.  

What is your all time favorite documentary?
It doesn’t exist, but bits and pieces of many films haunt me, inspire me, help me to capture reality in various ways.  

What other projects are in the pipeline?
I am writing a screenplay with a Dutch comedian about the house squatting and AIDS period in the eighties in Amsterdam; a period piece so to speak. It’s very funny and heart wrenching at the same time.  

Why did you become a filmmaker?
It was the only job I could hold since there’s no one to fire me. All my other jobs and I mean all of them, I got fired from. Being a filmmaker is just doing what you feel like doing and hopefully people enjoy your imagination.

What are some of your creative influences?
Scorsese, Haruki Murakami, Kubrick, Malick Keith Richards, Dostojewski, my teacher in art school.  

Did you go to film school?
No, self-taught filmmakers are the real deal.  

What do you shoot on?
Always on Super 16mm. So far, I still think it’s the best.  

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen since taking the film on the festival circuit?
Catching hepatitis in Rio and seeing 40 students in Thessaloniki watch my film standing... Unbelievable.  

Why did you want to screen your film at SILVERDOCS?
I need to get out more....