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Nimble Forgiveness and the Filming of SALT IN THE AIR

Published on June 17, 2011

By: Sarah Sherman

Enrico Rossini Cullen has left behind his desktop computer at Arts Engine to follow his curiosity and make his first major documentary, SALT IN THE AIR. He has had many roles on other documentary projects, most recently as a co-producer on PUSHING THE ELEPHANT (2010) with Big Mouth Films at Arts Engine. But, SALT IN THE AIR is really Enrico’s baby; he conceived the project, raised money for production, assembled the crew (consisting of Lesya Kalynska as Producer and Andrej Yakovlev as Director of Photography), and is now directing the film.

When I first heard about the project from Steve Mendelsohn, executive director of Arts Engine, he told me briefly about the Ukrainian salt mines and their remedial effect on young asthmatics. As a woman who has suffered from asthma since toddler hood, I was drawn in by the thought of dense mineral fog permeating my lungs and allowing me to breathe freely.

Enrico described a similar fascination with the therapeutic practice that pushed him to pursue the film. In April of last year, Enrico came across an article in WIRED magazine about a salt mine in Solotvyno, Ukraine, and a nearby hospital that uses the mines to treat asthma patients.

Solotvyno, Ukraine

The apocalyptic photomontage accompanying the article drew him in. Enrico had also been interested in Russia and Russian language since high school, which made the pull of the mines and their story even stronger. Soon thereafter, Enrico reached out to Professor Yuri Shevchuk, a Lecturer of Ukrainian Language and Culture at the Department of Slavic Languages at Columbia University, and the founder and director of the Columbia Ukrainian Film Club. Shevchuk encouraged Enrico to move forward with the project.

And he did—but it was more of a stutter-start than he’d expected. When Enrico and his team arrived in Solotvyno later last year, they found that the mines had been closed, contrary to what they had been told beforehand (in fact, they were encouraged by a contact on the ground to fly out and film).

When the mine was functional, patients could spend five to twelve hours a day well below the earth’s surface in the salt mine’s health facility—which had a library and a church—for more than twenty consecutive days. It’s not clear whether the harsh air full of pure salt is actually curative, but it attacks the mucus in asthmatic lungs, putting the condition into a kind of permanent remission. The treatment is especially effective in children.

Now, the mine is caving in and many parts are filled with water. There are sinkholes of all sizes throughout the town that threaten to collapse at any moment. But the townspeople proceed with life, and seem, according to Enrico, unfazed by the precariousness of the ground they walk on.

The mine’s closure was one of many obstacles the team has encountered during the making of the film. Early in the shoot their cameraman was injured in a car crash and one of their cameras dropped and smashed on the ice. In their second phase of filming, they had hoped to capture the celebration of Orthodox Christmas, focusing on the people of the town and building characters for the story, but the festivities were not what Enrico had expected and did not fit the tone of the rest of the film.

The “SITA” Team
Enrico Rossini Cullen, Director
Larysa Artiugina, Production Manager
Andre Yakovlev, Director of Photography
Lesya Kalynska, Producer

Faced with these hurdles, Enrico has found an “extreme kind of openness to the story.” He doesn’t believe that you can insist on a subject in documentary film and says that he must be “nimble and forgiving.” This, combined with a “cut-throat” direction style, stemming from financial and time constraints, has led to a film that is different from that which Enrico set out to make.

SALT IN THE AIR is coming together as an “aesthetic assertion,” Enrico said. While they do have some footage and still images from inside the mine, they have moved towards focusing on the beauty of the town, which Enrico relishes. He described with pleasure one shot of a man cutting tiles outside, the sunlight cutting through the dust as it floats up into the air. In the trailer, the focus on capturing physical beauty with a painterly peacefulness is also clear, and the beginnings of the film come together as an aesthetic and narrative portrait in that way. There will also be an undoubtedly poetic approach to the film, which is echoed in Enrico’s hopes to enlist a revered local poet for the narration.

“This film is not a news item,” Enrico asserted, and is not overtly politically motivated. However, there is a sense of environmentalism in its appreciation for and focus on the physical. People breathe the land—in the form of salt rocks—and it heals them. This kind of closeness to nature has an old world spirituality and intimacy that Enrico seems to want woven throughout the film.

Beyond these themes, the arc of the story has yet to fully form, but, the crew has plenty to work with. Enrico is confident (though perhaps a little intimidated) about the wide array of narrative morsels at his disposal. Among them is the local practice of homemade herbal vodka distillation.

Andre Yakovlev above Solotvyno’s sink hole

There are also the above ground hospital replications of the salt mines, and (not insignificantly) the struggle of a town under the pressure of economic hardship and environmental collapse (Enrico intends to feature this prominently in the final cut). There is also, Enrico highlighted, the military value of salt mines, which are impermeable to radar. People hide stuff in mines, Enrico emphasized, and if you get too close the government may question your motivations. Well, maybe not the whole government, but possibly the Minister of Extraordinary Situations, a somewhat formidable—and real—Ukranian officer.

What seems most important to Enrico and his team is the mandate to observe one’s surroundings, to roll with the punches, and to not need a story in the traditional sense. The film will show him what it’s going to be about (the distinction between showing and telling is important for Enrico). Enrico hopes to garner more support from Ukranians, and will enlist help from doctors’ societies and lung associations, among other organizations, for distribution. The team intends to finish SALT IN THE AIR by this November.

Photos courtesy of: Enrico Rossini Cullen, Fedor Tokas, Andre Yakovlev

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