Michelle Rodriguez - New Dimensions

AUTHOR Magazine Founder Oona has an introspective conversation with Michelle Rodriguez about her experiences with the psychoactive brew, Ayahuasca. Here, the award-winning actress reveals the physical and spiritual arcs on the way to discovering other dimensions in consciousness and reflects on the importance of intention.

Ayahuasca. Is it a drug or a prodigious visionary plant, paving the way to regaining a long-lost connectedness to nature, and igniting awareness of what lies deep within our subconscious in order to align our spirit? The recent ayahuasca rush, perpetuated by global high society, has helped propel the spiritual ceremony to fame, rekindling interest in a practice rooted in shamanistic cultures thousands of years old. In this extract from AUTHOR, one of our cover stars, actress Michelle Rodriguez talks about her experience with ancient medicine, engaging the sense that we are connected to something much bigger than ourselves.

Oona: Were you aware of the power of visualization, before you took ayahuasca?

Michelle- With certain drugs you have this kind of ability to manifest the spiritual questions you’ve always had in your own visual cortex. For me, if drugs do anything, it’s that. It solidifies more of my intuition, my inner feeling, and my sensation about the world around me. That’s why I think it has been helpful for me to create awareness, but doing that every month? No. I want to be able to sharpen my tool, my mind, and my body enough to be able to do enough good as a human on this earth to really lift the veil and see what’s going on around me. The idea of doing a bunch of hallucinogenics in a club with a bunch of people partying is the most disgusting thing on the planet to me because I’m so sensitive to energy that I would just be taking on someone else’s negative bullshit. Imagine you have a sea of 60,000 people at Ultra Fest, or you’re at Burning Man. If you do it in the wrong conditions, you could go crazy!

“I´m so sensitive to energy” - Michelle Rodriguez

Oona: Agreed. So the ultimate experience is afterward because it does alter your perception. Does it change every time for you or is the real continuation for this development of the mind?

Michelle-it had changed every time for me, but in general, I think the one thing that I look for is to seek a developmental shift in my evolution. My intention is to try and nda new developmental stage of perceiving the world. If I stop being curious, I just might as well be dead. Because as we keep getting older, we have more opinions about things, we have more ideas about what the world looks like. When you’re a child, you’re like this liquid, goopy, owing conductive thing of energy and when you get older you start solidifying into this manifested crystal. Before I become a statue in my old age, I want to make sure that I solidify into something open-minded that’s always allowing energy and a new perspective of the world in. Without that, I’m not going to evolve. And the older I get, the more opinionated I become, and the less that I let in. You know the actor Sam Worthington, the leading Avatar. He’s a very simple, sweet man. He said something that I will never forget as long as I live. He said that when you’re a kid, you look at the world like this [makes a wide gesture], and as you get older, all of a sudden, your perspective starts closing in, and closing in, and closing in until you’re looking at the world through a peephole. With ayahuasca, I’m trying to get some DMT [N, N-Dimethyltryptamine; the active tryptamine molecule in ayahuasca] into that peephole.

Interview by OONA CHANEL, Pictures by HECTOR PEREZ, Introduction by CHANTAL BROCCA, Make up by ADRIENNE HERBERT, Hair by TRACI BARRETT, Casting by Allyson Spiegelman, ASM Management, Art Department LA, Retouch by Jam Imaging

Emanuelle Béart

Emmanuel Béart is a true force of nature. As our society is increasingly defined by strong women, there’s never been a more important time for female voices to lay their claim. Emblematic of a legacy of willful women, Béart has helped to drive a shift in the status quo. She is an accomplished humanitarian and longtime champion of women’s rights, using her voice as a catalyst for social change and consistently shining a spotlight on rampant ageism, sexism, and racism, which have defined how we view traditional beauty. Here, Béart sits down with AUTHOR founder Oona, to discuss everyday heroes and why she won’t ever be quiet.

Oona: Who is Emmanuelle Béart?

emmanuelle — I can’t answer you... I’m still searching for
that answer.
Oona: When have you been most satisfied in your life?

emmanuelle — Not being satisfied is my permanent driving force. Oona: Who is your role model, and why?

emmanuelle — My grandmother, her love was unconditional. Oona: Tell me about an accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career and in your personal life?

emmanuelle — Staying free against all odds.

Oona: What’s your super-power?

emmanuelle — My pelvic floor.
Oona: Tell me about your childhood.
emmanuelle — I only believe in the present.
Oona: What was your dream job as a child and why?

emmanuelle — Being a cheerleader in Australia. How can you explain a kid’s dream?

Oona: If you could tell your younger self one thing you know about yourself now, what would it be?
emmanuelle — Find what you love and let it kill you. Charles Burkowski.

Oona: Who are your favorite cultural heroines? What appeals to you about them?
emmanuelle — My role models are everyday women because of their courage.

Oona: Looking back, what would you have done differently? What would you do again?
emmanuelle — Nothing. I owe all my achievements to
my failures.

Oona: What does success mean to you?

emmanuelle — Where you are is not who you are. Circumstances matter.
Oona: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

emmanuelle — One, two, three kids.
Oona: How did you balance being a mother and actress? What have you sacrificed at each stage of your career?

emmanuelle — I have never sacrificed anything for them, and maybe that’s why they are happy!

Oona: Is there an interesting fact most people wouldn’t know about you?
emmanuelle — Nobody knows anything about me. Even I’m searching for something!

Oona: In the past you have said: “I want to use all my
powers, open all the windows, all the doors...”
Are you still on the same path?
emmanuelle — I hadn’t realised that was endless. I learned to close certain doors.

Oona: What image have you struggled to get rid of?

emmanuelle — Fuck society’s image of beauty!
Oona: Looking at your career, what was the greatest role
you played? Who were you closest to, that you could
relate to personally?
emmanuelle — It’s as if you were asking a mother to choose
their preferred child! I’ve loved them all.
Oona: Define perfection. What does that mean to you?

emmanuelle — I can’t find an answer.
Oona: You have talked about being a voyager, and now after decades of travelling, where do you find yourself the most at home?

emmanuelle — On a Greek island without any tourists.
Oona: You have referred the importance of great men throughout your career and in your personal life. How important is it to
have a man in your life?
emmanuelle —Overtime,Idiscoveredmymasculinesideisaway to deal with the feminine side of men. This temporary inversion
suits me!

Oona: What is intimacy for you?

emmanuelle — Loneliness. Rupi Kaur said ‘loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself’.
Oona: Do you still feel acting is similar to selling one’s body? That once the money has been exchanged, a producer owns the actor or actress?

emmanuelle — Selling your body is nothing.The only serious thing is to sell your soul.

Oona: You always choose stories with a character you want to share and tell the world about. What attracts you to these roles?

emmanuelle — The necessity of being in the present. At that moment, in that place.

Oona: What is happiness to you?

emmanuelle — Happiness is when my brain shuts up!
Oona: Who was your favorite producer so far to work with and why?
emmanuelle — I am not a woman of producers! I’m a woman

of directors!

Oona: What does beauty mean to you?

emmanuelle — Beauty has no skin tone!

Oona: What would be your advice for women who are building careers?
emmanuelle — If someone is brave enough to tell you that they have been sexually abused, don’t reply ‘are you sure?’.

Oona: What do you think is holding women back?

emmanuelle — In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act.

Oona: What’s your personal mantra?

emmanuelle — DON’T BE QUIET!

Interview by: Oona Chanel

Introduction by: Sebastian Perlman

Pictures by: Sylvie Castioni

Hair Stylist: Giulio Panciera

Makeup Artist: Océane Sitbon Ghoula

Styling by: Fanélie Patras

Assisted by: Iris Lepape

Renaissance Woman - Bambou

The Celebrated Actress On Spiritual Balance And True Happiness

For those who truly understand the elements of style, Caroline Von Paulus A.K.A. Bambou remains as ever an enduring and bold, albeit reticent, icon. One maybe tempted to place her in the context of her late partner, the legendary Serge Gainsbourg, but Bambou is truly a renaissance woman in her own right: actor, singer, model, entrepreneur, mother—she truly transcends any genre or conventional classification. Perhaps now more than ever, Bambou embodies the quintessence of what it means to be a modern woman. In this extract from her extended interview in Author Book 2, she discusses beauty, happiness, and the world.

“Happiness is to feel incomplete agreement with yourself as often as possible”

–Bambou

Oona: Who is Bambou, and who is Caroline Von Paulus?

Bambou - It is difficult to describe yourself as you can not have an objective perspective. Bambou and Caroline are the same person.

Oona: What name you go by in your private life?

Bambou - Bambou.

Oona: Let’s time-travel a little, to when you were the transcendent muse of Serge Gainsbourg in his final years. How did you meet? What attracted you to Serge initially?

Bambou - I met Serge at a gathering. What seduced me was his awkwardness, his intelligence, and his humour. I found him beautiful and incredibly sexy.

Oona: What was your relationship with Serge like once it evolved into collaborations and working together?

Bambou - To work with him was hard. He was looking for perfection.

Oona: When have you been most satisfied in your life?

Bambou - The birth of my son, Lulu.

Oona: Who is your role model, and why?

Bambou -I do not have a role model. Maybe Mahatma Gandhi.

Oona: Tell me about an accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career and in your personal life?

Bambou - My son, Lulu. To have been able to raise him alone, to educate him and to send him into the real world.

Oona: What does perfection mean to you?

Bambou - Perfection doesn’t exist, but we can try and get close to it.

Oona: What is happiness to you?

Bambou - Happiness is to feel incomplete agreement with yourself as often as possible.

Oona:What does beauty mean to you?

Bambou - Beauty is the reflection of the soul.

Oona: What attributes of the people that you surround yourself with have in common?

Bambou - They regain the balance between the Ying and the Yang.

Oona: What’s your personal mantra?

Bambou - Om Namah Shivaya.

Interview by OONA CHANEL , Introduction by SEBASTIAN PERLMAN, Pictures by SYLVIE CASTIONI, Fashion Stylist FANELIE PATRAS, Assistant stylist -IRIS LEPAPE, Make up Artist - OCÉANE SITBON GHOULA, Hair stylist - JONATHAN DADOUN, Talent - BAMBOU, IMG, Casting director - GÉRALDINE L’HENORET, Digital retoucher - LUDOVIC CABRIN Ludovic Cabrin Special thanks to Studio Montmartre

Ageless Elegance - Sophia Loren

The legendary actress Sophia Loren tells us why she had to fulfil a lifelong ambition to shoot a classic monologue by Jean Cocteau

To say that the word ‘icon’ has lost its gravitas in the modern zeitgeist would be an accurate assertion, but there are still a chosen few who can genuinely lay claim to that title, and the enigmatic actress and beloved screen goddess Sophia Loren is undoubtedly one of them. Given her arguably unparalleled status in the history of cinema, it’s perhaps, interesting to note that her beginnings in life were unlike those of the stars of the current era who are often the children of wealth, fame, and privilege.

Living with her grandmother in Naples, Loren witnessed war and poverty in her formative years, disturbing experiences that would come to shape the performance that garnered the attention of the world – the unfathomably resilient Cesira in the multi-award-winning Two Women, a searing tale of a mother and daughter caught in the crossfire of war, who suffer gang rape inside a Catholic Church directed by the prolific director Vittorio De Sica.

While much of her vast catalog of subsequent work was more commercial in nature and witnessed her become the leading lady to revered heroes of the post-war era such as Marlon Brando and Paul Newman, she has never lost her penchant for taking on a challenging role.

Now, in her 81st year, Loren is far from reclusive, and refuses to rest upon the laurels of past successes. In fact, she chose to mark her entry into her golden years by starring in a short film directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, based upon the classic monologue The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau; a short which documents the descent of an aging woman into obsession and madness. Here, she discusses what inspired her to inhabit a character that suggests some uneasy truths about the human condition.

“The Human Voice is a monologue that every actress who has reached the highest peak would like to do, and to do it has been on my mind since I was very young. Of course, when I was young, I could not do it, as it needs a woman in the later years of her life. There is no real tragedy when you are young because you have your whole life ahead of you. It’s when you are older than the problems start, and I think you begin to die emotionally after a little while; in a way you die and that’s just the way it is. So, when I finally reached the right age, I spoke with my son, and I said, ‘Let’s try and buy the rights, and let’s think seriously about doing this short.’ It was wonderful because it was really something we started together – our project. He wrote the project with another author and they worked very quickly. When they came to me with the scenario they had created, it was a beautiful one, and it was exactly what I always had in mind for the monologue. It touched my heart completely.

When you live a difficult life, you start to build something inside of yourself, and you can use that in difficult situations when you’re acting. For us Neapolitans, it is a very difficult life, but there is something very successful in it, because, for Neapolitan people, just the fact you are alive can make you happy – that is our philosophy. Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, I don’t like what I see in the world, but I am a very positive person, and I like to see positive things in front of me, and, at the beginning of the day, every day, I know, I have to start living. It’s the beauty of the soul, the beauty of how you see life that’s important – the beauty of finding the joy in being alive, and how you see and receives love.”

CREDITS

By John-Paul Pryor

Pictures by Ormond Gigli

Arbiter of style - DIANE PERNET

The Founder Of ASVOFF Tells Us How The Convergence Of Fashion AndFilm Has Re-Ignited Creativity In Style Culture

The communication of fashion, at its very best, is an aesthetic communication of a unique cultural viewpoint through the lens of style. It has little, or nothing, to do with commerce but is about a pure expression of individuality – a celebration of an artistic adornment of the self that projects identity and delineates an alignment with an often subcultural mindset. The last ten years have witnessed a genuinely transformative era in the history of fashion, whereby that pure artistic expression, outside the realm of commerce or advertising, has boldly found its natural home in the film.

This transitional period has been championed in no small part by the singular vision of one woman – the black-clad front-row figure of inimitable cultural provocateur Diane Pernet. With her unmistakable personal style, Pernet is one of the fashion sphere’s most recognizable, multi-faceted, and enduring individuals, and she has almost single-handedly

pioneered the fashion film genre with her much-lauded film festival (ASVOFF) A Shaded View on Fashion, which has screened works by Steven Klein, Bruce Weber, Ellen von Unwerth, and Chris Cunningham; taking into its sway everything from transgender issues to surreal flights of fancy that Magritte would undoubtedly have loved to have had the technology to be able to create.

The festival is now firmly entrenched in the consciousness of the style community, arguably scaling new heights in 2015, being presented at Centre Pompidou, Paris, and presided over by the guest president of the jury, Jean-Paul Gaultier.

With the festival in its ninth year, the founder of ASVOFF tells AUTHOR exactly what she looks for when accepting submissions and why the key element that she seeks out in the work is whether it has something to say in the wider cultural context of the zeitgeist.

“I don’t think you could find
a designer today who doesn’t make fashion films”

-Diane Pernet

“Fashion and film are my two personal passions, but the idea behind ASVOFF was always to reward excellence in a young genre that needed a platform and an environment to nurture the talent behind it, along whatever path it should take. The festival format was important to me because it is a broader, fresher way to connect the fashion and film industries – there has always been a synergy between the two but they’ve never had a dialogue like this before, and there is something about projecting it on the big screen that lets you appreciate fashion film for its true potential. ASVOFF is now in its ninth year, but I actually started my first festival in Los Angeles with the precursor to ASVOFF called ‘You Wear it Well’ at Cinespace on Hollywood Boulevard. That was back in 2006 and, to be honest, it was a struggle to even find enough quality material to do an entire fashion film festival. All that feels like a lifetime ago now.

I don’t think you could find a fashion designer today who doesn’t make fashion films. The growth of fashion film feels exponential to me. To begin with, the technology behind filmmaking itself has become so much more affordable, so fashion film is an accessible genre for everyone – designers, creatives, directors, and photographers, young and old. Bigger budgets usually help, but with enough imagination, talent, and drive, you can still achieve something powerful; you can even make a successful fashion film on a mobile phone so, in that sense, it is such a level playing field.

The other tech dimension is that broadcasting has completely opened up thanks to the internet, so we can build critical mass audiences and even nurture niche sub-genre audiences all around the world for fashion films in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before. And let’s not forget that video-enabled social media is a perfect distribution channel for short film genres; they’re a natural fit for viral content. It’s really a perfect storm where technology has converged with the emergence of the fashion film genre.

Fashion film needs an annual festival like ASVOFF to chronicle and critique it – because it is such a dynamic genre that is constantly evolving in tandem with these parallel technologies that are evolving so fast. When we are judging the entries for ASVOFF the more important criteria is that the films have to be moving and touch us. I want to see something that takes my breath away. For the Grand Prize, I try to direct the jury to use the sort of criteria that we’d use assessing any good film – narrative, great acting, great camerawork, editing, the list goes on and on. I mean, we have to keep in mind that fashion should somehow be the protagonist in the film, but that doesn’t mean it should overpower the film. On the contrary, the fashion element can be extremely subtle and still be powerful.

We have different prizes, so we look for what moves us about the sound design, the art direction, the acting, the styling, and so on. If the film has been made by an emerging talent, then we ask ourselves what the film says about their future as well as what it says in itself. We also try to keep in mind the context and the purpose of each film – for example, how it fits into the wider cultural context or the state of the world. It is a matter of taking the whole package into consideration while leaving yourself open to feeling something visceral that points you in the direction of a particular film instinctively.

There have been so many high points so far, but for me, one of them has to be the whole family of Alejandro Jodorowsky doing a panel discussion after the screening of Dance of Reality. I’d wanted Alejandro for six years, and in 2014 it became a reality. Also, every moment spent with Jean Paul Gaultier was incredible. He was a genius President of the Jury and a great master of ceremonies for the closing two years ago. I cannot find enough words to express the total joy of working with him.”

CREDITS

By John-Paul Pryor
Pictures by Miguel Villalobos and Alan Gelati