An Hour with Jia Jhang-Ke | TIFF Festival 2015

One of my favourite directors coming out of undergrad was Jia Jhang-Ke. Having watched and written about The World (2000), I was fascinated by his ability to capture human emotion by isolating characters in digitally and architecturally distinct spaces. 

When I looked at the programming this year for the TIFF 2015, I was flabbergasted when I saw his name appear. I wooped for joy. Loudly.

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Jia Jhang-Ke and Cameron Bailey at TIFF 2015, Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, Toronto.

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Jia was mesmerizing. Cameron Bailey was present to stir the conversation forward. Jia was calm, collected, and intelligent. He started by talking about his time in film school. China was changing socially, and people where struggling to understand themselves in this unsure environment. What really caught his attention is that people were NOT making films that reflected this movement.

Inspired by Hou Hao Hien (Chungking Express) and Vittorio Di Sica (Bicycle Thieves), Jia set out to capture a sense of beauty in realism. He described The Bicycle Thieves as

"[a film whose] visual moments are moving. [Moments we find] in every day life. [They are] both real and poetic." - Jia Jhang-Ke

They then discussed one of the major themes that runs through most of his films: alienation. Jia says that "loneliness is a big part of human nature." The Chinese culture before the social movement was group based. The shift to the individual is a strange moment. The struggle of the individual to create one's own self. The search for the self is often a lonely process.

This theme is captured in a very auteuristic style, if you will, one that we can see building over time in Jia's canon of films. Using mostly long takes, a certain sense of romanticism, and adding in fantasy / sci-fi elements to the story. With the advance of technology, devices are introduced into the narrative as a way to break up the plot. There is something futuristic about his films, poignantly heightened in The World. Not only do devices play a role in the internal plot, but also with the external world of the director. The advance of digital technology, Jia mentioned, is that he is able to achieve the look he wants with new equipment. The long take becomes economically viable.

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The World (2004)

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The World (2004)

Both the cinematographer, Nelson Lik-wai Yu, and Jia share the same desire to find beauty in everyday life. Having made every film together since 1998 and carrying this aesthetic forward.

Jia ended the conversation by saying that he and others have "responsibility as film artists." His focus is portraying change in people over time.

This is one experience that shall stay with me throughout life. Having heard him speak and being a long standing fan of his work, Jia's eye and directing sensibility stand top notch for me.

- Jenn

A Night with Jacob Tierney | Deanne Foley | Vic Sarin

After the 2015 DGC Awards Film Festival, TIFF hosted "Meet the Directors." This event featured three Canadian film directors: Jacob Tierney (Preggoland, 2014), Deanne Foley (Relative Happiness, 2014) and Vic Sarin (The Boy From Geita, 2014).

What delights me thoroughly at events such as this, is that they highlight Canadian talent, proving that we are indeed creative, strong, and innovative in the film industry.

Furthermore, when events ring FREE, industry people should flock to them... even if the Jays are in a playoff game.

What blows me away (still) with the three keynote speakers, is the diversity of talent on stage, and proving how creativity can play a major role in filming when the budget is small. Deane Foley admitted that they had 16 days to shoot the entire film.

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I really felt attracted to each director in a different way. Jacob was at once personable, funny, and witty. Deanne was a major advocate for showing strong female characters in lead roles, and characters we don't normally see on screen. Vic Sarin was a WISE WISE man, offering philosophical advise that still resonates with me weeks later.

These are just a few of some of the words I heard:

"Gathering moments" in the editing room - Deanne Foley

"documentaries show, not tell" - Vic Sarin

"telling stories with unconventional female leads" - Deanne Foley

"documentary has to be as pure as possible. No narration. As is" - Vic Sarin

"I enjoy the journey of discovery. The idea has to grab me." - Vic Sarin

"each film takes me to a new place." - Vic Sarin

From dramedy, to strong female leads (who are flawed - yes, women ARE flawed too), to a powerful story, Canada sure seems to have it all.

Thank you DGC for organizing this event. I look forward to many more to come.

- Jenn

The Toronto International Film Festival 2015

The city was alive last week with the International Toronto Film Festival.

King street was a buzzin' from University to John street. The Hyatt was full of industry delegates and filmmakers from all over the world.

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Here I found a home amongst other cinephiles - dare I say cinefilles. 

From entertainment, to networking, dining out, and watching a selection of 300 hundred, it's no wonder why Cameron Bailey loves his job so much:

"I invite everybody to 300 birthday parties and show movies" - Cameron Bailey, Twitter.

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As an industry member, I was fortunate enough to witness keynote speakers from across the creative spectrum: 

1. Justin Benson (Director, Producer, & Filmmaker) and Aaron Moorhead (Writer, Producer, & Filmmaker), the creators of SPRING (2014)
2. Stephen Frears, director of THE PROGRAM (2015)
3. Jia Zhang-ke, director of Mountains May Depart (2015)
4. Bianca Goodloe, legal concierge - state of financing and co-production
5. Nicolas Chartier, producer of A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (2015)
6. Michael Moore, director of WHERE TO INVADE NEXT (2015)
7. Barbara Twist (Art House Convergence), Mark Fishkin (California Film Institute), and John Vanco (IFC, NY)
8. UPFRONT: Uncovering Unconscious Bias - Gender Issues
9. David Garrett
10. Phil Hunt (Producer), *thinks that MUFF is "brilliant"
11. Asif Kapadia, director of AMY (2015)
12. Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, directors of THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (2015)

Stay tuned the next few weeks where I will be highlighting the major speakers and my most memorable moments.

The movies were spectacular. At least the select few I was able to see (12). ANGRY INDIAN GODDESS shook the ground and wrenched out my heart. A movie everyone needs to see. LEGEND, a gritty tale based on the true story of the gangster Kray twins, East Enders in 1960s London. One close to home, BEEBA BOYS by the brilliant Deepa Mehta, also had be rivetted to my seat!

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An unforgettable time with the best people!

- Jenn

A Night with Noah Bingham, The Secret Trial 5

In my final week Bootcamp Producer course with the DOC Institute, Toronto, I had the privilege to hear the story of Noah Bingham's extraordinary journey.

Noah Bingham is the producer of The Secret Trial 5, a documentary that had its festival premiere at Hot Docs 2014 and a theatre premiere the following year.

A quick snippet of the synopsis from the website:

"Imagine spending years in prison without being charged with a crime or knowing exactly what you're accused of. A film about the human impact of the “War on Terror,” The Secret Trial 5 is a sobering examination of the Canadian government’s use of security certificates, a Kafkaesque tool that allows for indefinite detention without charges, based on evidence not revealed to the accused or their lawyers ... Through the experience of the detainees and their families, the film raises poignant questions about the balance between security and liberty."

The journey started in 2009. Noah's school friend Amar Wala, director & producer, had just finished creating a short film about one of the families described above. The film was called The Good Son. 

The Good Son is director Amar Wala’s award winning short film. It is the story of a young Egyptian refugee who is asked to translate for his father as CSIS (Canadian Securities and Intelligence Services) officers question him in their home. Slowly, the questions become more and more hostile, and what started out as an interview, strategically turns into an interrogation. It is based on the true story of Ahmad Jaballah, son of security certificate detainee Mahmoud Jaballah. Find out more info at: www.secrettrial5.com

Both were so excited by the intense story and were interested in developing the idea into a feature length doc. The project began with a "lean production" and an "out-of-their-pocket funding" model.

Both wanted to pitch to a broadcaster to source traditional funding for their feature. They were rejected and never back. Not willing to give up, they sourced other methods to raise money. This propelled them to create a kickstarter / crowdfunding campaign. The first campaign, largely supported by friends and family, raised enough for them to continue production and pay for the website and promo video. Noah Bingham showed us the video on their first crowd funding campaign and I was immediately pulled into the story and awed by the creativity and way the story was told. 

This is an introductory video to The Secret Trial 5, a crowdfunded documentary in-the-making that examines the human impact of Security Certificates in Canada. Security Certificates are a tool that allows for indefinite detention with no charges, and secret evidence. Learn more, follow our progress and help us tell this story: www.secrettrial5.com.

Production continued. Two years later, Noah and Amar launched another crowdfunding campaign. After building a community of followers and interested activists, this campaign grew to be very successful and they were able to pitch their idea at Hot Docs with the Cuban Hat. While not winning the final votes, they won over the industry and created enthusiasm.

This led to contacts which led to money being invested into their film. They got an office space, editing suite and continue the film into post.

Still no broadcaster and no solid investor that would have otherwise made their lives a lot easier. However, Noah did remark how grateful he was to have been allowed to see the full process from start to finish due to budget constraints, because everyone was wearing multiple hats.  

Three years into production, Arts Council Toronto came in and offered funding. Noah and the team headed to DOC Ignite (2013) and reached their goal, receiving more funding and reaching new audiences.

With a film in post and needing monetary support, Noah approached Telefilm Micro Budget. They were able to apply because

1. Amar had only been out of school for three years, and
2. they planned on carrying out a hybrid distribution strategy:

• both in theatres and digitally online.

With the film done, The Secret Trial 5 became a Hot Docs 2014 Festival Selection and sold out all three nights. They successfully completed a deal with Blue Ice Docs, a distributor. The film was a greater hit in the festival than it was in theatres at the Bloor Cinema. There are no monetary assets given to the filmmakers at the Bloor.

Noah wanted to create an even greater buz and expand their thriving online community further. They launched a third successful crowdfunding campaign. This gave Noah and Amar enough to travel around the country touring their movie.

You can check out their movie online here, for one small payment of $9.00.

This story proved to me that through hard work, commitment, and dedication, you really can bring your ideas to life with support and creativity. 

Congratulations Noah, Amar, and the rest of the team! This is one story I will never forget and look forward to diving head first into your film.

Click HERE to purchase the film online.

- Jenn

A Night with Tassie Cameron, Showrunner Rookie Blue

I had a rare honour of sharing a few hours one evening with Women on Screen. This month's salon event was hosted by Tassie Cameron.

Tassie Cameron is an award winning screenwriter and producer. She has worked on Degrassi: Next Generation (TV), Cake (2005, film), Flashpoint (TV), and my personal favourite, Rookie Blue (TV).

Tassie Cameron (B.A., Trinity College) is the co-creator and head writer of Rookie Blue Visit us on the web at http://www.utoronto.ca Join our facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/universitytoronto

Among many things, what sincerely sparks my interest is her ability to write witty, humorous and emotional characters with fully developed lives.  Characters that draw you into a storyline that never seems to "get old."

Graduating from University with a BA in English Literature (like myself) she pursued her MA at NYU. After completing school, she entered the film industry and explored many post-production roles. Not really enjoying being on set or coordinating post work, she landed a job working for HBO and found her calling.

She said with a reflective smile, "in my twenties, I was making rent, and enjoying life." But, at HBO she felt different somehow. The change happened when she was introduced to the writing process: highly creative and in her field.

She had some great honest wisdom to pass down to the eager ladies (and one gent?) sitting in an intimate room on King Street West. Here are her writing tips:

1. don't be too personal
2. write with act breaks
3. never leave a character too long on screen
4. dig deep, be real
5. feel your writing ("if I don't cry in a sad scenes then something is wrong")
6. speak out loud when you are writing
7. try an improv class
8. go to CFC (Canadian FIlm Centre)
9. be a part of the film community
10. volunteer on short films
11. cut out children, night scenes, and car chases to preserve the budget
12. practice your pitch a MILLION times
13. speak with authenticity and passion
14. use coloured pens when you are recording different feedback on your script to keep your head sane
15. don't worry so much about outlines

With some extremely insightful and some more humorous tips and tricks, I feel very blessed to have been sitting in a room with an intelligent, hard working, and dedicated Canadian writer.

- Jenn

A Night with Nickolas De Pencier: DOC Masters' Series Class

One of the many organizations I have joined this year is the Documentary Organization of Canada. I came across this gem at Hot Docs Film Festival 2015.

DOC offers programming to emerging film professionals for a variety of roles.

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Technicolour studio

This month's masters series class was on cinematography and lead by Nickolas De Pencier. He is known for his TIFF success, Watermark (2013). 

Nickolas graduated from school with a BA' in English Lit. and Art History. Growing up as a photographer who developed b / w photos from film, he carried this love over to working on set in a variety of roles. 

Laughing to himself, he says he never chose film as a career. Especially not documentary. He started working on feature film sets for drama and fiction. From PA'ing to grip, he tried out every role to get a good sense of the entire process.

"Start small and be excited about everything" - Nickolas.

On his spare time, he worked on dance films. His roommate at the time knew a group of dancers and Nickolas developed his cinematographic eye through fun experimentation.

After deciding that fiction film was not a long term career for him, he jumped ship to documentary filmmaking. Not only did he change subject matter, but he made the leap from film to digital.

My favourite part about De Pencier's talk was his philosophies, some of which I will share with you below:

"Rare link between subject and what you are reporting"

"Authentic subject = unobtrusive cameraman"

"Use what is there, the mechanics of production. The smaller the better"

"creatively owning camera is better"

"Ask yourself what can this camera do..."

"ethics of DOC filmmaking: good practice leading to stronger material"

"there is a difference between an authentic relationship in film and an expose film"

He then shared two of his personal mantras that I shall carry forward with me for life:

"never move until it improves on stillness"

"something human is more dear to me than all the world"

Nickolas ended his talk by addressing questions from the audience, one of which asked about the future of DOC filmmaking in terms of finding funding. He suggested that the current model of sponsorship may change in five years. Most DOC full length films attract a niche audience, meaning it is hard to make a solid living off of it. He has, though, and is living proof. Perhaps that generation is dying out slowly but it is good to see someone who is able to make it while still inhabiting the outskirts of the filmmaking industry. Further, as a filmmaking you might have to weigh in whether your sponsor has the same agenda as you or is looking to improve business through product placement and ads. This can affect the authenticity of your film and whether your film receives funding or not. It is always a delicate line to balance on.

Thank you DOC for such a great evening spent at Technicolour (Toronto) and the chance to play around with top gear sponsored by Vistek.

- Jenn