Anthony Bila’s New Short Film Questions Perception and Reality in Isolation

The Isolationist feels like a 17 minute-long existential crisis. Drawing inspiration from the Charles Bukowski poem Alone With Everybody, the non-verbal short film by Anthony Bila aptly captures both the obscurity and familiarity that comes with being alone. During a time where our options for connecting with others and the world are limited, the release of Bila’s latest body of work is welcomed. 

Themes of mental health, perception versus reality, and dissociation are present throughout-along with how we have come to connect through technology, and how it falls short of the real thing just as often. Anthony explains that he intended to leave the door open, inviting an array of different viewpoints and interpretations: “I think it’s interesting that everyone has perceived The Isolationist in their own way. The way I code my art and the way others decode and consume the very same thing is an exciting experience-it hardly ever happens the same way for everyone”- he shares. 

Are we alone with everybody or is every body alone? A man is set apart from the world, writhing in the pangs of isolation. All around and all at once what surrounds him isn’t as it appears. Written & Directed by Rhulani Anthony Bila Cinematography by Rhulani Anthony Bila Edited by Rhulani Anthony Bila Colour by Rhulani Anthony Bila Titles by Rhulani Anthony Bila Set design by Rhulani Anthony Bila Sound Design by Rhulani Anthony Bila Visual Effects by Thomas Vanz Music by Caroline Shaw Music by Jessica Meyer Music by James Blake (FRNGE sleeping pill edit)

When we first speak, he notes that he has been devoid of any human contact for more than 100 days, and that it provided a unique lens from which to envision his new project. He goes on to dissect the experience: “The idea for this film has lied dormant for a long time, and has evolved very much since its inception. It was a surreal experience for me... Being both the subject and the filmmaker...I had to get to a place where I could cry on command and still have to make sure everything was in focus”.

Anthony traces his winding and varied path, leading right up to the very moment that we sit down for this interview. His journey from Kempton Park to an integrated model C school in Johannesburg at the tail end of Apartheid is an experience he has carried with him since he was 9 years old. “I had to adapt really quickly, and just as quickly construct my defense mechanisms. I remember the white boys in my class [urinating] in my school bag,-a very jarring first encounter with bullying and racism for me” he says. He continues to expand on how this manifested later in his life, leading to him leveraging his intelligence and way with words to fight back.

He fondly lists his four siblings, accompanied by what they do for a living. When he gets to himself, there is an uncertain pause- “I’m not sure what to call myself, after all this time I can’t pinpoint something that just sums it all up”, he admits. 

The reason such a seemingly simple identifier proves challenging to Anthony is revealed as the conversation winds on- he shares the multitude of industries he found himself a part of through the years. From his first job at a grocery store, to being behind multinational advertising campaigns while still studying and eventually landing some pretty noteworthy local and international gigs as a (self-taught) photographer and filmmaker, it makes so much sense. A word, a phrase, would fall short in capturing the entirety of everything he has done and continues to do, to be who he is when we sit down to discuss his latest offering.  

“I am proud to still be here. To have made it this far as a black man-alive and being able to create every day is a blessing when the odds were stacked against me from the moment I drew my first breath. ”

— Anthony Bila

When I ask what he’s proudest of, his answer has very little to do with the work he has put out: “I am proud to still be here. To have made it this far as a black man-alive and being able to create every day is a blessing when the odds were stacked against me from the moment I drew my first breath. There’s not a day that goes by that I take that for granted” he confesses. 

As for advice for others wanting to take the plunge into a non-conventional career path, he is very clear on the matter of intention: “you have to create from a place of sincerity, and be able to sit in the fact that you might never be able to monetize your craft” he states frankly. “My commitment is to my work, what happens once I put it out into the world holds no value to me.. If people resonate with it, great. If not, so be it.”

Watch The Isolationist by Anthony Bila here.