Cables and Cameras + friends
This month we have a collection of posts from more creatives and filmmakers from Bristol & Birmingham.
I hope you enjoy and share this link.
To increase diversity, we need to look at different models for engaging, targeting and coaching BAMEs in how to get into the film and TV industry, at varying levels and across various roles.
Film matters and bringing BAME films back to Bristol is very important.
If you want to make a change and make a difference get involved contact me ?.
Akulah Agbami Artistic Director Sheba Soul Ensemble
Hello everyone,
Sending wishes for wellness in body and spirit to one and all. At SSE, we have been busy preparing FLY! Festival of Black Women’s Film. In the present circumstances, we have made the decision to switch to an online format.
This is the plan :
Saturday 30 May 5-10pm BST. Via zoom. Join us for a celebration of short and feature films produced by Black Canadian and Caribbean film-makers based in North America. We are still finalizing the programme but the session will include live conversations with film-makers and a chance to get creative in your audience response to a series of films. Please register to join us by emailing sheasoulensemble@gmail.com- -we will send out the zoom link and the programme on the morning of 30/5.
Saturday 6 June 5-10pm BST. Via zoom. Join us for a celebration of short and feature films produced by Black Australian women film makers . Please register to join us by emailing sheasoulensemble@gmail.com- -we will send out the zoom link and the programme on the morning of 6/6.
Saturday 13 June 5-10pm BST. Via zoom. Join us for a celebration of short and feature films produced by Uk-based and Europe-based Black women filmmakers. Please register to join us by emailing sheasoulensemble@gmail.com- -we will send out the zoom link and the programme on the morning of 13/6.
Join us!
My top 5 lifestyle recommendations :
1. The boxset Snowfall available on bbciplayer is brilliant. Brilliant acting, lots to think about – characters that are complex and rounded and a plotline which is hard to predict.
2. Get new skills! A load of knowledge is a dangerous thing. There are so many amazing FREE courses online, many designed by top world universities, in pretty much anything you could hope to study. Check out the courser.org website
3. I’m a sucker for poetry - so have been immersing myself in amazing words and poems on https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets. They’ve got a great section on Harlem Renaissance (I live in hope that there will one day people will talk about the Bristol Renaissance as being a wave of unimaginable levels of creativity emanating from Bristol).
4. Jazz piano music is my thang. Robert Glasper is one of the many artists I have fallen for over the past few weeks. So much brilliant work available for free on youtube.
5. Baking and culinary creativity. Soda bread is the easiest thing in the world – no yeast, no kneading. Takes 2 minutes and 30 mins baking to make a loaf that will delight you.You can use plain flour and milk – this is a great recipe. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/simple-soda-breadAlso now is elderflower time – again, making your own cordial is a cinch. I’ve been telling my kids for months that that’s what all the empty wine bottles are for...Our first bottle of cordial is chilling in the fridge – ready to be turned into an irresistible spritzer when diluted with chilled Chardonnay and a slice of lime for delectation on those heedy summer evenings.
Bashart Malik
I have worked as a director/dp in music videos, features and commercials for over 16 years. By pushing the art direction and post production techniques I have been lucky enough to discover a style that is personal to me and at the same engages the audience. The art of pacing every cut and directing the story at the edit stage naturally opened up the pathway for concept development and writing treatments for artists such as Doc Brown, Natty and Kyan.
Current project is I Am Judah - a drama/documentary about Bristol Rastafarian community elder Ras Judah Adunbi who was tasered in the face by police while walking his dog in Easton in 2017. The film explores the first-hand experiences of Judah as he became the centre of international attention.
Status - post production
This film gained international attention through a successful crowdfunded and as a result we are in discussions with The Brief Encounters Film Festival and Africa Eye for a co partnership screening package through a Bristol road show, UK tour then to screen in India, Norway. With links in Africa, America and Jamaica on the table.
I Am Judah project partners - BCFM, Ujima, The Bristol Cable, Screenology, David Sproxton (Aardman MD, recently retired), Bristol Media and Film at 59.
Credits include
‘Golden Years’ - Production company Moli Films, Channels 4’s short form strand 'Random Acts' and an extensive range of music videos. and a constant hunger for new interpretations of common themes, with an abstract, expressive approach, making the impossible possible using ambitions art direction or ground breaking edit techniques.
Collaborating with artists accepted on the BBC New Creatives scheme and one of the Execs for art project CARGO.
The wealth of experience got me thinking about the challenges many people face trying to get a foot in the door so independently developed opportunities to offer the next generation. In Bristol I have become known for being a committed advocator of developing and providing opportunities for diverse film makers, students, graduates looking to get into film and TV. Through self managing my own projects I can naturally develop and upskill new talent by offering high production value opportunities.
Recommendations
Fight Club
A Most Violent Year
‘I Am Judah’ teaser :https://www.facebook.com/iamjudahfilm/videos/398610257393992/
Bashart Malik
www.bashartmalikdop.combashmalikdop@gmail.com
Jessica Olivia Neill
I’ve been out of the UK since November last year, travelling through east and southern Africa. Starting in Tanzania, I’ve journeyed almost 4,000 miles since then, overland through Malawi, Mozambique, and now South Africa where I’m currently under lockdown.
It’s strange to be still after months of continual movement. Not to mention my proximity (or lack thereof) to home. Social distancing and stillness I can handle. But being separated indefinitely from (almost) everyone I love, by continents and oceans as well as a pandemic, adds a whole new dimension to it all. But there’s always WhatsApp, etc. And being split between two places is really nothing new.
In 2015, my brother and I returned to Jamaica (the place of our birth) for the first time since childhood. Two friends filmed (and are now editing) the experience―we’ve been shaping it into a documentary ever since.
Our team is tiny and we’re all self-employed―Green Hillsgets made in the gaps between paid work. The time afforded by COVID-19 could be a silver lining in the cloud of unemployment. But we’ll see. One thing’s for certain, we’re closer than ever to completion. And there’s not much we can be certain of these days.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @jessolivianeill
Recommendations
Book: Letters to a Young Poetby Rainer Maria Rilke. Timeless wisdom from one poet to another. A constant companion on my travels.
Book: Under the Skinby Michel Faber. I loved this from the first sentence, the best thing I’ve read in ages. A woman drives through the Scottish Highlands, picking up male hitchhikers. The reason will stay with you for a while.
Film: Under the Skin(2013) directed by Jonathan Glazer. The book led me to the movie. It wasn’t what I expected but still an excellent adaptation. The score by Mica Levi is unreal.
Podcast: Where Should We Begin?with Esther Perell. Sneak a peek into the office of an iconic couples therapist. The most recent episodes are about living together in lockdown.
Netflix: The Last Dance- a miniseries about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 series. A compelling, well-told story, whether you know jack about basketball or not. (I fall into the ‘not’ category.)
Kam Gandhi
The last two months have been utterly surreal. You can feel the fear and anxiety everywhere. Like many of us who are without work and can’t be furloughed our worries hang in a strange kind of limbo.
I’ve also been trying to work on a screenplay but I can’t. I’m stuck. The story is about the hopes and dreams of a group of teenagers, but I’m now wondering what exactly are my character’s hoping and dreaming for?
Four weeks in and I’ve stopped rushing around trying to ‘get things done’. Interesting how we still feel we have to be productive while we’re stuck in our houses. Perhaps there’s a fear that with time to think we might discover the lie behind the story we’ve been told, the one that says we have to produce and consume until we die.
It turns out that in lockdown the nation has been having vivid dreams. Are we beginning to dream up different stories, ones that reflect our relationship with our environment and reject the one that’s portrays us as consumers?
Thinking about it perhaps I’m not stuck. I’m just waiting to see what kind of a world my characters will be stepping out into. Now is the time to dream differently because the stories we tell each other do matter.
Stay safe, stay hopeful and be kind to yourself.
Kam is a screenwriter who is interested in narratives that move on the experience of being black, female and British. Since lockdown she’s done very little.
Films that I did manage to watch.
Why Is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow (1994) Directed by Kidlat Tahimik
A long-form collage film exploring a decade of American neocolonialism in the Philippines and the US. Filtering a wide range of political and cultural concerns through an intensely personal and familial lens
I signed the petition Directed by Mahdi Fleifel
Immediately after a Palestinian man signs an online petition to boycott Radiohead, he is thrown into a panic-inducing spiral of self-doubt over his choice to publicly support it. I signed the petition is both funny and informative.
Black Sheep Directed by Ed Perkins
The story of Cornelious Walker whose life changed when Damilola Taylor was killed
Lunchbox - Directed by Ritesh Batra
Bobby - Directed by Raj Kapoor
Both Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor died in April. My first memory of cinema was watching Bobby in the Southall cinema and the last film I saw Irrfan Khan in was Lunchbox.
Michael Ellis
Michael Ellis is an award winning filmmaker from Birmingham, United Kingdom. He has achieved an award for Best Short Film at the Birmingham Black Film Festival and an award for Best Thriller Short Film at the Padova 4th Wall Indie Filmmaker Festival in Italy.
He graduated Birmingham City University with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication.
Michael loves to immerse himself in films from around the world, learning and admiring the craft of storytelling and the art of taking a story from paper to the screen. He sees film as a tool for highlighting social issues, creating thought provoking conversation and stimulating positive change.
He has worked in the community delivering filmmaking workshops for beginners, giving individuals a basic insight into the filmmaking process.
Michael has written and directed a number of short films and is currently in the process of writing his first feature film, which focuses on youth culture.
Michael’s most recent work is his short film Boys In The Woods. A film that touches on bullying, theft and comeuppance.
Synopsis
Deep in the woods a young boy flees from two pursuing bullies. Finding a safe place to stop and catch his breath, he encounters three gunmen who have gathered at their meeting spot after a robbery that went terribly wrong. An encounter that changes the little boys life forever.
With this film Michael sought to provide opportunities for individuals seeking a career in film but who have not had any experience. Co written with first time writer Charmain Henry, Michael found it a pleasure to translate it from script to the screen and also to dabble for his first time in a genre he had never tried before. The film includes a cast of some first time actors who did really well, fashion designers and jewellery makers exhibiting their work in film for the first time. Michael is pleased with everyone’s input and also the outcome of the film.
Michael’s work can be viewed using the following links:
www.youtube.com/michaelellisfilms
Instagram: Michaelellisfilms
Recommendations
FILM
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete - 2013
Directed by George Tillman Jr
BOOK
Devil in a Blue Dress
Walter Mosley
Lorena Pino Montilla
On Sunday 1st March 2020, I attended the last workshop of a six month course entitled Beyond Boundaries 360, a training programme which was organised by Film Hub South West at the Watershed, Bristol to provide new skills and networking opportunities to people from minority or disadvantaged groups interested in film curation and film events production.
That was my last day in Bristol before the lockdown. Everyone left with ideas, plans and in my case, with two film events approaching as a result of this training. Firstly, the Feminista Film Festival & Tour in Trowbridge Town Hall which was successfully delivered on International Women’s day. Secondly, the film screening of Honeyland at Trinity Centre in Bristol, on Friday 20 March which had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Since 2017, I have been organising community film events in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. This project started with the support of West Wiltshire Multi Faith Forum, a local charity which gave me the opportunity to organise a film screening to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2017. The positive reactions of a remarkably diverse and multicultural audience led me to the organisation of fifteen multicultural film events until March 2020, under the name of “Getting Together Through Films”.
Just before the lockdown, I was looking for ways to keep this film project alive. As a migrant from Venezuela, I have been trying to find my place in the film industry and I have slowly been overcoming barriers, especially with language. My first steps in the UK in this field, were in 2012 when I became a volunteer for FilmBath. I have been volunteering since then and now as a member of the programming team. I also work every summer as part of the marketing group for Cinema Rediscovered, which was sadly cancelled this year.
I am passionate about films as a route to share and connect with different people and as a resource for a better understanding. Currently, while I am minimising outdoor contact, home schooling my daughter, delivering Spanish lessons online and dealing with news from all fronts, I am continuing to research and watch films, and at the same time connect with a global communal experience through some of the many great initiatives that are being streamed and discussed online!
Social Media: @lorenapinom #GettingTogetherThroughFilms
Some of the things I have been watching, following, listening to, or reading during lockdown and I would recommend:
Twitter:
@_CarolMorley and her #FridayFilmClub
@clubdesfemmes #CultureClub
Instagram: @CineRedis
Blog: Tara Judah https://tarajudah.com/
Websites:
-FilmBath, For news, filmmakers’ opportunities, Live Q&A events:
-Birds Eye View, for live Q&A’s, films to stream in the UK, events, female representation #ReclaimTheFrame: https://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/events/
-Jayu, for streaming film events from Canada and Q&A’s #LastTuesdays http://www.jayu.ca/lasttuesdays
Podcast: Mark Cosgrove, Film Curator at Watershed
https://www.watershed.co.uk/audio-video/category/podcast
Films:
Some recommendations from Venezuela here:
-El Tinte de la Fama (The Color of Fame) 2008 by Alejandro Bellame:
Keep an eye on 10 -day streaming film festival We are One from May 29 to June 7
https://www.youtube.com/WeAreOne
More about diverse Trowbridge and how I started my journey and got inspiration linking community work and arts:
The Trowbridge Song Project, documentary by Samiha Addeljabar, 2016
Rediat Abayneh
Happy Ethiopian and Eritrean Easter
Hello, my name is Rediat, a visual artist based in Bristol. I graduated from UWE in 2016 with BA Animation. Since then, I have been working (Employed and Freelancing) within various creative roles. Such as; digital painting, making short films, editing, teaching animation/film making, and I now work in a design department for kids TV show called Chugginton which is a 3D animation.
Besides my full time job, I try to keep working on my digital paintings. My style is inspired by the ancient Ethiopian & Eritrean paintings, which is where I am from. Here is the latest painting I've done during the lockdown, for Easter. ( See attached )
5 things I recommend :
The Platform - Great movie!
Telegram - a perfect messaging app.
SarahBethYoga - yoga channel on youtube
colorbyfeliks and Tesfayetra - amazing artists to follow on instagram.
myairbridge - A free file transferring site for up to 10gb.
Contact info
Instagram: @yabesha_Lij
LinkedIN: Rediat Abayneh