In 2020, I, like many others, watched Charlie Kaufman’s film I’m Thinking of Ending Things, starring Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis, and Toni Collette. I, too, like many others, was immediately captivated early in the film when Buckley’s character recites a poem called “Bonedog.” It’s an incredible moment.
After the film finished, I emailed the poet Eva H.D., who wrote “Bonedog,” to express my admiration. We had a brief exchange and that was that, until a year later, when it turned out that Eva and I had many unexpected connections. My uncle had been her English teacher here in Toronto, and they were still in touch, while she was also friends with my former sister-in-law and niece. As Huey Lewis sang, it’s a small world.
“Bonedog” was the first collaboration between Eva and Charlie Kaufman; the second was the short film, Jackals and Fireflies, released in 2023, written by Eva and directed by Kaufman. Their third work is another short, How To Shoot A Ghost, which was shot in Athens, Greece and reunites Kaufman and Buckley.
Here’s the logline: Visionary director Charlie Kaufman reteams with actress Jessie Buckley for an impressionistic short that exhumes spectral traces of the personal and the political from the city of Athens. Buckley, in her second collaboration with Kaufman after 2020’s I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, plays the ghost of a young woman captive to the elliptical memories of her life. She roams the streets of Athens as an unseen spectator, documenting the people of the city with a gold-plated instant film camera. Josef Akiki plays her compatriot in eternity — a former migrant, now a soul roving the liminal spaces between remembrance and absence. Haunting alongside them are the casualties of the Greek junta. Each block of pavement and stone echoes with lives lost, with history visible and invisible. Combining archival footage, street photography and narrative material shot on location by Michal Dymek (EO, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE), the film’s ruminative reverie recalls the work of Chris Marker in how it melds person and place. Written by poet Eva H.D. and featuring an elegiac score from Ella van der Woude, HOW TO SHOOT A GHOST packs an extraordinary amount of talent and substance into its concise runtime. –Travis Weedon
In advance of their upcoming screening of How To Shoot A Ghost at Toronto’s Paradise Theatre on Wednesday, November 5, I had the chance to talk to Eva H.D. and Charlie Kaufman about their work together, the state of cities, and much more. You can watch or listen to our chat below.
Thanks to Eva and Charlie for their time.
Here are details on their upcoming Toronto screening: Eva H.D. and Charlie Kaufman bring How To Shoot A Ghost to Toronto’s Paradise Theatre on Wednesday, November 5. The event begins with short musical sets from Corin Raymond and Emily Steinwall, followed by the film, and a Q&A with Eva H.D. and Charlie Kaufman, moderated by Canisia Lubrin. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, suggested price $35. No one turned away for lack of funds. All money raised helps support the artists and the West End Phoenix.
