Trojan Women

Against the arresting backdrop of the East African bush, Haley Bennett portrays a young woman at a crossroads in life in this daring film by the critically acclaimed director Cary Fukunaga, commissioned by the distinguished fashion brand Maiyet. “We showed up in Africa with a one-line idea of what we were trying to do,” says the young auteur, whose cast and crew spent three days in Kenya. “It was really experimental in that sense.” Maiyet founders Kristy Caylor and ex-human rights lawyer Paul Van Zyl’s decision to shoot on location in Kenya falls in line with the company’s mission to cultivate business and craft in unexpected place, wherever there is genuine skill. The result plays with the conventions of movie advertising: this is a trailer with no feature attached. Instead, Fukunaga created a 30-minute series of short vignettes featuring the Maiyet Resort 2013 collection, to premiere in London this week. After receiving the directing award at the 2009 Sundance Festival with his debut feature, Sin Nombre, the 35-year-old American filmmaker took on the latest adaptation of Jane Eyre, starring Mia Wasikowska with Michael Fassbender. Set to a sweetly evocative score, this recent work sees actress and singer Bennett forge a tender connection with her ranger guide, played by Swedish actor Fares Fares, as they explore lush new environments. The intensive process of filming had its own immersive, cinematic moments. “On our first or second day there, a herd of giraffes started charging us,” recalls the director. “It was so beautiful that we filmed it until we realized we should probably get out of the road.”

The seductive curves of a toned figure are slowly unveiled by the ultimate seamless shave in designer, animator and photographer Bart Hess’s sleek new film. Inspired by the aerodynamic forms of swimmers currently battling it out in the Olympic pool, Hess was aided by a pair of human shavers manipulating a two-meter long blade in turning a mechanical act of grooming into a strangely hypnotic performance. “What is important to me in my work is a sense of estranging,” admits Hess, who added the white bar in post-production to compound the uncanny feel of the film. “I want to show the spectator an image that may not be recognizable right away.” Collaborating on textiles with designers like Ann Sofie Back and Iris van Herpen, and sculpting unique outfits for photographer Nick Knight’s editorials for AnOther Magazine and US Vogue, Hess is known for his experimental treatment of materials, like the 15Ib slime dress created for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way album and video. “Normally within my work I am looking for the limits of a material,” says Hess. “But in this film I was looking for the limits of the shaving ritual by scaling it up to include the whole body.” Here, Hess takes NOWNESS beneath the skin of his shoot. 

STATS FROM ON SET 

Location
Studio Bart Hess, Canalstreet, Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Shoot duration
Ten hours. 

Cast
One male model, one director, one cameraman, and two shavers.

Amount of shaving cream used
Twenty-eight cans.

Cuts from shaving
Five.

Body surface covered in foam
2.1m².

Amount of hairs shaved during the shoot
Approximately 24,000.

Closeness of shave
0.0001cm.

Wardrobe
Supermarket b-brand shaving-foam; one tiny pair of Speedos to avoid cuts to the more sensitive body parts.

Sound effects
Manipulated real-life shaving sounds.

Shaving appliance
Two-meter-long metal blade.

Olympic record to beat
21.3 seconds (men's 50 meters freestyle). 

Potential health hazards
Choking on the foam (luckily the model was a swimmer so he could hold his breath).


Director's motivational speech
“You are brilliant! Let's do that three more times!”