I’d never have dreamt that I would make my graduation film about monkeys. I am interested in border spaces, and Gibraltar initially caught my eye for the tit-for-tat behaviour between Spain and the UK over ownership of the rock. However, upon visiting this British enclave, and taking in the atmosphere of this bit of the Mediterranean that had somehow become part of the UK, I realised that there was a timely story to be told.
Encountering a monkey on my first visit to Gibraltar, he gave me an insolent stare, as if to say ‘who do you think you are?’, and I was immediately fascinated by the rebellious spirit of these animals. When I returned from my recce, my editor, Nina joked that I should make my film about the notorious monkeys of Gibraltar. On reading more on the subject, I discovered that they had been there longer than the British, and that some of them were due to be ‘exported’ from Gibraltar for their daily invasions of the built up areas. The story jumped out at me, and I started to take the idea seriously. Here was a film about territory, but through the prism of the struggle between humans and animals against the backdrop of this disputed piece of land.
The hardest thing about filming monkeys is their unpredictability. Time and time again we set up somewhere the monkeys would usually be, only to learn a few hours later that they had taken a different route that day. However, over time I learnt to watch them and predict their behavior, with the help of the peashooters. The monkeys were of course initially fascinated by us and the equipment, particularly the wind shield on the boom (see picture with sound recordist, Barry), which they thought was a small fluffy animal. One of the baby monkeys actually took to grooming it.
Getting access to film the monkeys and the peashooters was more difficult than anticipated. The Gibraltar government is quite protective of the image it projects of its monkeys, and I had to negotiate through several levels of bureaucracy before being granted permission. The peashooters would have made an excellent film in themselves. Teresa and Matthew are extremely hardworking and see themselves as protectorates of both the monkeys and the people. Barry and I grew very close to them through filming, and they were of huge help in letting us know where they thought the monkeys would go next!
We went into the edit without the final scene of the monkeys being exported, because the government kept putting back the date of their departure. Finally, three months after the end of my initial shoot, after countless phone calls to the Gibraltar Ministry of Environment, I was given a rough date. I believe this final scene brings a serious and thought-provoking note to an otherwise carefree and amusing film. I am glad to have been able to be in Gibraltar to document such an absurd historical moment!
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Territory is nominated for Best Student Documentrary at The Grierson Awards 2015.
Eleanor Mortimer for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank
