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Aida Ballmann - Film, Television and
Theater Actress |
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In 2019 Riveting Riffs Magazine interviewed actress Aida Ballmann, born
on El Hierro, one of the islands of the Islas Canarias (Canary Islands),
of German heritage (her parents) and completely fluent in German,
Spanish and English. Just a few months after that interview Spain, and
much of the world was plunged into the COVID pandemic and the film,
television and entertainment world came to a jolting stop. Fast forward
to a few weeks ago and we caught up with Aida Ballmann again, a very
busy Aida Ballmann we might add.
With recent films, and series completed in the past couple of years and
more in pre-production, we decided to start with one that was filmed
during COVID, a short film titled Five Minutes, written and directed by
Genesis Lence.
It was a very hard piece to shoot, because it was during the time of
COVID and we had to cancel it twice, before we could shoot it. That also
meant we had to do the rehearsals using Skype. The co-protagonist is my
sister Serai and it was the first time that we acted together. That was
great. She is younger than me and she has not done much (acting), but I
was really surprised to find out what a great actress she is.
The special thing about this (film) is it that it is just one piece and
she did not edit it by bringing together different frames. It is just
one like in the theater. We did the rehearsals like that from the
beginning until the end. That was very hard, because my character was in
an emotional state trying to survive. She is hungry and she can’t
breathe and she has to fight. It was very extreme to shoot this, but it
was an amazing experience at the same time,” says Aida Ballmann.
The film is set in a world where the air is no longer breathable.
“Yes, and it was written before COVID. It had so much to do with what we
went through. During COVID I had many thoughts about what we as human
beings are doing to the earth. It is like we are killing ourselves by
using the resources and not thinking about consequences or doing
something about it. How can we ensure that we still have what we need in
the future? In particular the theme is about how we contaminate the air.
It affects our health. Human beings do things without thinking about the
consequences. We want to have money very quickly, but we don’t do
anything to ensure that it is a safe way to act. This is just the
beginning and we don’t know the consequences for our health.
They say they are doing something about it (plastic), but they aren’t
really doing anything about it. Many times, when I go to the supermarket
and I want to buy vegetables, they are already packed in plastic. I
don’t even have the choice to buy it differently. It is annoying,” she
says.
We wondered how surreal this all must have seemed when one considers the
film was shot during COVID.
Aida Ballmann agrees, “Yes. I think what these two topics have (in
common) is about breathing. I have had many thoughts about how it would
feel if you had COVID and you couldn’t breathe. I then thought about
contamination, which is the same. The lungs don’t work anymore and there
is not enough oxygen in the air. It is what we need to be alive (you can
hear a bit of frustration creep into her voice). It was so frightening
to see that this could be our future. We won’t be able to breathe
anymore.”
The film was screened at Cannes (2021) and several other film festivals,
including the Vienna International Film Awards (VIFA) in 2022 where Aida
Ballmann was nominated for Best Actress.
This will not be the last time that Aida Ballmann and Genesis Lence will
work together, as there is a feature film in pre-production, in which
her character Elena befriends a bipolar person named Vega.
“The relationship that I have with Genesis Lence, is so creative. She
has many ideas and she always shares them with me and when we get into
conversations, we make that story grow by talking about it and then she
goes back and writes about it. We seem to have the need to talk about
the same topics that are important to us. In that way we can enrich the
other one,” she says.
As for other film projects, “Last year I did a movie in Iran, The
Metamorphosis of Narcisus. I was the main actress and it was right
before the revolution in Iran. When I was there, I had to wear the hijab
all of the time. At the beginning I thought it would be easy and I could
adapt, but it was so hot and it was so hard to keep that scarf on my
head. It was moving all of the time and I didn’t understand how people
would be able to (keep) it on their heads. It was difficult for me. I
went there for two months, but stayed there for three, because we were
not able to finish it on time. I was not allowed to go out onto the
streets for safety reasons. It was difficult, because I didn’t
understand the language. At the same time, I got very close to the
people, because Iranians are so open and funny. Many times, I used body
language to communicate even though I had a translator with me all of
the time.
It was hard and funny at the same time, because we were in the middle of
the desert. It was so hot and I had to wear all of those clothes. I had
the feeling I was living with my character. What I was feeling were
similar feelings to what my character should have been feeling.”
We told you she was busy, as she continues, “Also, there is another
movie, in German called Gleich. It was shot in Tenerife (in the Canary
Islands, where Aida Ballmann lives once again).
It was shot in July and August of 2021 and has not yet been released. My
character was Ebba, a German woman who lives on El Hierro (interestingly
enough for Aida Ballmann was born), with her husband. It is a film about
mutism in children, due to posttraumatic stress.
The character in the film, a boy stops talking after a traumatic event.
He travels with his dad to El Hierro where he meets a disabled person
and they become friends. They are able to communicate without using
words and little by little the boy he is able to recover.
At the same time, there is a secondary story between three adults and a
love triangle develops (including her character Emma), her character’s
fiancé and the little boy’s father.”
While
Riveting Riffs Magazine was in Spain in late March, Aida Ballmann was
the main actress in the play Recetas Para El Alma (Receipts For The
Soul), which was staged in Burgos.
Aida Ballmann talks about the play, “In
Spain the way they handled the COVID situation with older people was so
unfair. There was a phase when they let them die without attendants,
because they didn’t want to bring them to the hospitals. They wanted to
make sure the younger people still had a future and that there were
hospitals they could go to. That
is why they did not attend to the older people. We thought we should
honor those people who (are no longer here).
It (the play) is about how an old grandma who is losing her memories and
her granddaughter (my character) tries to write down all of those
memories and to help her, during that transition when she loses her
identity and everything. We did it in that way, so people would feel the
importance of those relationships and enjoy them with their families,
before they are gone. We always managed to make people cry at the end of
the show. It is done with so much love even though we talk about very
tough things. There is a lot of poetry and a lot of music with (live)
musicians. Sometimes they even played while we were acting. I loved
doing that show. It is for both children and adults.
We also used puppets to recreate the moments that the grandma and the
granddaughter have lived together and the stories that the grandma used
to tell her. It is lovely. It is a very beautiful show.
One of the things that I aim for when I do art, is I want people to feel
when they go to a show or they watch a movie. When they go home from the
movie or the show, I want it to be different than before they watched
it. There is a transformation for the audience. Sometimes they dream of
or think of or find similarities between the story they are watching and
their own lives. That can help them to get (another) perspective of it
in their own lives. Those are things that art should give to the
audience.”
Since we last talked Aida Ballmann has also appeared in the BBC series
Crossfire and that was also filmed in the Canary Islands, this time in
Tenerife. She muses, “It is funny, because when I was eighteen, I left the Canary Islands to start my career. I have not done much on the Canary Islands even though they are famous for bringing big projects from Hollywood and Europe. I had the chance to be in this series for BBC. It was half an English crew and half a local crew and I met many people with whom I worked before. It was so funny how these two cultures worked together. Even though they spoke different languages it worked very well.”
The Canary Islands have become a popular place for films and series to
be shot and Aida Ballmann is appearing in more and more productions, as
we have discussed throughout this interview, so with that comes
recognition and now the film industry is seeking her out.
“I have thought about it a lot. When I left the Canary Islands, I
thought I needed to know the world, because I grew up in such a tiny
place, I wanted everything and to know each part of the world and their
cultures. After ten or twelve years I went back to the Canary Islands
and no one knew me, so I felt a little bit lost. Then some films came
out and people started to know my work. Now that some years have passed,
I am getting the opportunity to be in more important projects. They see
how I work and they trust in my work. That is so nice, because I get so
many opportunities now without even having to do the casting (audition).
I have always hated the castings, because I don’t like being watched and
judged. It makes me nervous. Once I start shooting, I am not in the
casting moment anymore, so I feel freer to give everything I have.
During the casting I am normally very nervous. (She laughs) now that I
have the opportunity to skip that part it is great,” she says.
This is probably an appropriate time to talk about two future projects
for which she has been cast.
“I am preparing for a TV series, which will be shot in the south of
Spain. It is about the second war (WW II) and what was happening in
Spain in relation to that war.
I am also waiting to start a film in Chile. I am the main actress. I am
looking forward to it. It is about drug dealing and my character is a
journalist who goes to Chile to find out about the drug dealing. As she
gets deeper into it, she finds out what is behind it is bigger than drug
dealing. At the end she has to fight for her life. It is interesting,
because it is an action film and I have also dreamed of doing that.
Right now, I am waiting to find out when we will start (filming),” she
tells us.
Please visit Aida Ballmann’s
website here. You can also follow Aida Ballmann
on Instagram.
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“I
knew Genesis Lence from her photography and television series and then
she started writing and directing. This is not her first short film. I
think it is her second or third. She says she is very proud of this
(film) because it represents the way she wants to talk with her art and
it (reflects) her personality. 