2032MAPA Documentary Praxis

Workshop 1:

100 word Proposal

I want to base the 3-minute documentary on the story of an immigrant and/or the subject of being an immigrant. This idea is based on both of the themes of transgression and resistors. There are many hardships that are faced with leaving your home country, whether that is for a better lifestyle or for other personal reasons. In recent years, immigration or rather illegal immigration, has been a prominent topic up for debate in the media. Though this is a very broad matter, I feel that a personal story of someone’s journey of leaving their home country will inform and educate different opinions on this issue.

30 second visual Essay:

I treated this visual video essay as a way to visually represent my idea and its semantics and essentially using it as a mood board for the ideas I have for the documentary. I have used archival footage as well as home videos. I included personal home videos as it is a personal story to my family. The videos were filmed by my father in 2001, when he returned to kosovo for the first time since immigrating to the uk. This was also 3 years after the kosovo-serbia war, so there was still destruction in Kosovo.

Time stamps of footage used:

00:00-00:05: personal home video

00:05-00:08(AP Archive 2015):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJRVDbLK4lU

00:08-00:10(National Geographic 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiujzFNgHcE

00:10-00:14: personal home video

00:14-00:17(The New York Times 2018): https://youtu.be/dqAGMyPIfpc

00:17-00:25: personal home video

00:25-00:27(AP Archive 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJRVDbLK4lU

00:27-00:33(National Geographic 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiujzFNgHcE

The inspiration and thought process behind my initial idea:

The two themes stated in the assignment brief:

Transgression: What happens when we break boundaries? Find somebody who has committed an unusual act or been involved in an event with an unusual twist to it. It does not have to be earth shattering by media standards but how do ordinary people cope with situations they are put in that involve personal conflict, breaking of barriers, a regret, unrequited love, a lucky break. Perhaps they live on the edge of society or are viewed by society in a negative way. What’s their story?

Resistors: Find somebody who is taking a stand against the mainstream and who has independent and/or radical views from the majority. Their concerns could be political, sexual, social or any other personal view on society. Consider dropouts and optouts. Whoever you choose you must make a film about their views as a lived reality. In other words this is not a soapbox piece but an exploration of alternative realities.

The subject of immigration/immigrants falls perfectly within these two themes as from personal anecdotes and also the way immigrants, especially illegal immigrants/refugees can be represented negatively in the media . The act of immigration and/or seeking asylum is a complicated matter, though it can be viewed as transgression in some cases. However this subject also falls under the theme of resistors as it evidently is a political matter and the relocation of a country is a lived reality within itself.

I am passionate about the topic of immigration as my parents were refugees who were forced to leave their home country, Kosovo. This was due to the ongoing war with serbia which divided Yugoslavia, leaving their homes in destruction which caused many other kosovars to flee their homes in 1998. I can personally relate to the hardships my family and others have faced, as without my parents’ relocation to the uk my own privilege would be jeopardised now. I am inspired by my parents’ story as well as many other immigrants who were forced to work their way up with no support system, from having some sort of lifestyle and plan in their home country, to nothing in a new society. I would like for the creation of this documentary to enlighten and educate those who do not know about the emotional and physical effects of leaving your home for many reasons but mostly to escape the destruction of war; and for those who may disagree with the process of seeking asylum.

As a ‘first-generation immigrant’ there is a type of pressure of not wasting the privilege your parents have worked so hard to provide for you. I came across a Ted Talk, ‘Why Children of Immigrants Work so Hard | Colleen Bies | TEDxOshkosh'(TEDx Talks 2019). Colleen states that being an immigrant or having a family of immigrants ‘takes away the option of easy'(TEDx Talks 2019) . She expresses and explains how having immigrant parents has shaped her mindset and has given her the motivation to work even harder. This Ted Talk was another source of inspiration for my idea as this is a topic I can completely relate to. Though my initial idea for the documentary is to focus mostly on an immigrant’s story and their journey, the Ted Talk on this subject offered some interesting views on being a child of an immigrant and how it is also an important part of an immigrant’s story.

References:

Media:

TEDx Talks (2019)Why Children of Immigrants Work so Hard | Colleen Bies | TEDxOshkosh.[online]available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lRUVfFGVxQ>[25 January 2020]

AP Archive (2015)KOSOVO: NATO AIRSTRIKES ON CAPITAL PRISTINA LATEST.[online]available from<https://youtu.be/XJRVDbLK4lU>%5B25 January 2020]

National Geographic (2016) Syrian Refugees: A Human Crisis Revealed in a Powerful Short Film | Short Film Showcase.[online]available from<https://youtu.be/hiujzFNgHcE>%5B28 January 2020]

The New York Times (2018) How a Texas Immigration Law Silences Domestic Violence Survivors | Times Documentaries.[online]available from <https://youtu.be/dqAGMyPIfpc>%5B27 january 2020]

Watch: ‘Sans Soleil’ by Chris Marker

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sans-Soleil-Chris-Marker/dp/B00HS9EBFG

Sans Soleil is described as ‘a meditation on the nature of human memory, showing the inability to recall the context and nuances of memory, and how, as a result, the perception of personal and global histories is affected’. Though, the main point I took from the entirety of the documentary is how chris marker is curious on how others live in different parts of the world. Though he could also be curious about the way he should be living his life, as he observes others.

Personally I feel that this documentary must be viewed more than once as there’s so many elements to this film that can unraveled, though not on the first viewing. There wasn’t exactly a clear narrative, as it cuts between scenes in Tokyo and scenes in west africa, possibly accentuating the difference in lifestyle. The film is essentially a mixture of journey from the opening scene on the ferry to a dream.

At the time stamp of around 12 minutes, there is a long scene focusing on the cultural dancing in Tokyo which felt significant as it was an unusually long scene though it made me feel, as the audience, that I was experiencing the same memory through the use of quick closeups and the hand held camera. It felt personal, as did the entire film in fact.

Throughout the entire documentary, a woman is reading letters from a man she refers to as ‘he’ which could be Chris Marker himself though its not exactly revealed. However, the narration over the moving images felt like an open letter or someone essentially thinking out loud about the way of life.

I understand Chris Markers goal and approach to the way he made this film. I also appreciate the cinematography in this film; as I mentioned previously, it is personal, almost as if the audience are travelling and observing with him. However, I personally felt that the narrative was not strong as it was not exactly conventional. This is understandable as the film challenges the viewer to think deeply about the context and meaning of the images as Chris Marker definitely makes creative choices from using his own footage to using archival footage. The film did cause me to lose interest at certain points, though maybe it’s the matter of a modern audience.

Make: A one minute documentary film (stills or moving image) on a subject you find interesting. Anything goes.

https://vimeo.com/386255808

I created the 1 minute documentary on being ‘A mum’. I feel that a longer documentary can be made out of the 1 minute video I created, as there are many elements and also hardships of being a mother that could be explored.

However in this video, I tried to capture one element of being a mother, which is the relationship a mother has with their child. Though trying to show an entire relationship and its dynamic is broad and quite frankly difficult,though it unmistakably begins with love. I think a mother’s relationship with their child is criminally underappreciated and complicated, as when the child is younger, its unchallenging; emotionally that is. As they grow older, it understandably becomes more difficult as the child is no longer by your side at all times and as a mother you cannot shield them from problems they will face.

Documentary film essentially tries to capture reality, so I filmed the mother and son going about their typical saturday and encapsulated their positive moments of embrace, conversations between each other; accentuating the close relationship they have. I feel that this video also shows the patience a mother has with their child which of course is undeniable, but again should be appreciated. This video is primarily a tribute to all mothers who love unconditionally.

(video is password protected: password- 2032)