Friday 15 July 2011

In conversation with Alma Har'el

Moments after the UK premier of her first feature length film, Bombay Beach, I managed to pull aside Israeli music video director Alma Har’el for a few precious minutes in order to discuss, over a good old brew, her journey into the realm of documentary film.

Alma Har’el has without doubt accumulated waves of new fans and admirers following her recent run of the UK’s two most important film festivals, Sheffield Doc/Fest and Edinburgh Film Festival with her documentary film debut Bombay Beach. The film highlights the lives of 3 sundry characters inhabiting Bombay Beach, a humble and isolated area of Southern California situated on the Salton Sea with small population of around 300 residents. It is not the first time that the location has been a point of interest for documentary film (Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea by C. Metzler and J. Springer) or for photographers thanks to its unique and aesthetically appealing geography. In fact, it was during the making of the Concubine music video for her friends in the band Beirut that the director chanced upon meeting Benny Parish on the shores of Bombay Beach, an encounter which flourished into a two year documentary film project and one that formed a strong, symbiotic relationship with the Parish family and subsequently the documentary’s two other primary subjects, CeeJay Thompson and Red.




Yet, beyond the enchanted beauty of the Salton Sea landscape, one that Har’el tactfully and charmingly captures on film, its geography recalls a rather gloomy history. Originally destined to be the American French Rivera during the 1960’s and a holiday haven to rival that of Palm Springs, Salton Sea soon became an abandoned American dream as a result of harsh environmental factors and soaring construction costs. Ultimately, property developers became interminably distanced from the location and investors decidedly alienated themselves from the venture to construct the idyllic, go-to vacation resort. Nowadays, the region is sparsely populated with pockets of marginalised communities, such as Bombay Beach and occupied by derelict, deteriorating buildings which represent glimmers of bygone hopes and dreams.

Returning the focus back on the director, as previously mentioned Har’el is more habitually distinguished as an accomplished music video director, featuring in several Top Music Video polls and having received a VMA nomination for her music video of Beirut’s single Elephant Gun. Upon meeting the director I was keen to understand more about her career background in making music videos beyond the pages of Wikipedia. Originally working as a television presenter for a music show in Tel Aviv, Har’el’s passion for music is self-evidently marked from the outset of her working life. Moving on, the director reveals that she would deem her ‘first gig’ in directing to be a show she did for National Geographic, after this Har’el  kicked off her filming career by mixing live video content with performers and artists whilst also pursuing an interest in still photography. Having not attended any film school institution and only having taken a year-long foundation course in editing on VHS tapes whilst residing in London, the Israeli director is without doubt a self-taught filmmaker who has a natural flair for poetic cinematography.
 

With regards to her work with music videos and the status of the music video today, Har’el expresses that there was indeed a time during the 90’s when the music video ‘was more of an art form’ and that this decade stands as a ‘golden era of music videos with the likes of Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek and Michel Goundry.’ In this digital modern age with filmmaking becoming affordable on low budgets the director believes that music videos, although many being ‘beautiful’, are being produced on a mass scale and that the current issue regarding these videos is that no television channels exist for them anymore. The classic music channels such as MTV and VH1 are slowly dying as they now only show reality shows and have to compete with the continued rise of on-line broadcasting platforms such as Youtube and Vimeo. As a consequence, less and less attention and importance is being placed upon the production of music video and this is surely a trend that spurred on the director to pursue a new film path. 

Before being whisked away to her next interview, I quickly asked Har’el whether her reception she has experienced so far in the film festival domain has drastically changed after making the directorial transition from music videos into documentary film. To this the she replies that whilst she attended film festivals as a music video director that ‘nobody ever talks to you when you go there.’ With that said, now with thralls of journalists eagerly waiting to meet and talk to Alma Har’el ‘the documentary filmmaker’ the transformation in reception must have surely been a mini shock to her system.

Nonetheless, the director seems to be adjusting well to the new limelight and judging from the gleaming, positive reviews of Bombay Beach and even a Tweeted thumbs up from American actor Alec Baldwin, Alma Har’el has unquestionably made a wise move into the world of documentary film.

Gina F Willis. 

Monday 20 June 2011

Bombay Beach/Alma Har'el Interview

http://www.vimeo.com/25341232


An insightful interview with director Alma Har'el about her debut documentary 'Bombay Beach', a beautifully lyrical tale of ordinary people facing the struggles of existence, set in the melancholic rural-Californian wastelands. Filmed at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011.


by Alex Keegan

Friday 17 June 2011

Exclusive Youth Jury interview with Daniel Lucchesi and Alex Ramseyer-Bache...

*SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST 2011 YOUTH JURY AWARD WINNERS*


A fantastic interview with Daniel Lucchesi and Alex Ramseyer-Bache, directors of 'We Are Poets'. The film is the pair's first feature-length documentary and focuses on a community group based in Leeds called Leeds Young Authors. After premiering at this year's Sheffield Doc/Fest, the film was chosen as the winner of the Youth Jury award.


Go to http://vimeo.com/25201610 to watch the interview and all the others from this year's Doc/Fest.


Enjoy!


Jack Ranson

Thursday 16 June 2011

Exclusive Youth Jury interview with Robb Leech...

A very interesting and in-depth interview with tree surgeon-cum-filmmaker Robb Leech, whose first feature-length documentary, 'My Brother the Islamist', aired on BBC Three in April and was met with fantastic reception at a screening at this year's Doc/Fest.

Go to http://vimeo.com/25194635 to watch the interview - enjoy!

Another exclusive interview, with the directors of We Are Poets, coming soon!

Love,
Jack Ranson

Exclusive Youth Jury interview with Morgan Spurlock...

A hilarious insight into the world of Morgan Spurlock, director, producer and all-round entertainer; he made a name for himself globally with 'Supersize Me'. His latest film, 'POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold', was the opening night film at this year's Sheffield Doc/Fest.

Go to http://vimeo.com/25177058 to watch the full interview.

And there's plenty more where that came from so watch out!
With love,
Jack Ranson

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Memorable moments from this year’s festival.

So what do members of a Youth Jury get up to when equipped with a delegate pass and let loose to experience the U.K's most important documentary and digital media festival
Besides watching as many documentaries as possible, below you'll discover more about what we wild young things accomplished over the course of 5 action-packed  days and nights....


Wednesday 8th June: The Grand Opening Night.
© Jacqui Bellamy 2011
Following the Youth Jury’s participation in DFG’S DocDay 101, one of several engaging Doc/Fest workshops aimed at up-and-coming documentary filmmakers, we all highly anticipated the festival's opening night film - the U.K première of Spurlock's lastest documentary blockbuster: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greated Movie Ever Sold. Alas, one member of the jury of youth (not naming names) had not been lucky enough to get their name featured on 'The List' in order to obtain a rather snazzy pink ticket to the sell-out event.  
And so our work began, the first Youth Jury mission : succeed in getting all of us into the screening.
Here's a breakdown of the series of events that occurred within the 30 minutes leading up to the opening of screens that recall the tale of one youth juror's quest to gain access into the doc film première.
  • 18:30: Four out of the five members of the Youth Jury are in possession of a golden ticket to the evening's event. The buzz surrounding Spurlock's film soars and crowds waiting to enter Screens 3 and 4  begin to assemble. The other two potential documentaries of the opening night decidedly loose their appeal as the minutes go by. 
  • 18:46: A moment of intense deliberation for the aforementioned, unfortunate jury member - should they honourably join the already lengthy stand-by queue or should they take a chance and make a run for either screen 3 or 4 as soon as the doors are announced open? 
  • 18:55: Hesitation and uncertainty on the rise. Moments before ticket holders are allowed to be seated, a mini Youth Jury reunion and last minute discussion takes place - a plan of action urgently needed!
  • 18:58: Desperately seeking advice, a ray of hope comes in the form of the following suggestion given by a certain member of the Doc/Fest team : 'act important, act like you are meant to be there, that way you will get in.' (Thanks Joe!) 
  • 18.59: Several queues of doc lovers and delegates assemble to watch Spurlock's film, the Youth Jury approach the stairs leading down to screens 3 and 4. Volunteer ticket checkers appear to flustered about what they are meant to do/where they are supposed to stand.  
  • 18.59 and 30 seconds: THE GOLDEN, OPPORTUNE MOMENT. The jury of youth each grab a complimentary bottle of POM juice (FYI now available in you nearest Tesco store) and make their descent towards Screen 3 (ultimately the superior screen of the night due to the fact Spurlock had his Q&A there.) 
  • 19:00: After a brief separation and a split-second moment of panic, all members of the Youth Jury are successfully and comfortably seated in Screen 3. Mission accomplished.
Thursday 9th June.
Tweet meet with Alma Har'el, director of Bombay Beach
Never mind recycling but with Twitter, the possibilities are certainly endless. For the benefit of the Youth Jury blog, I decided to embrace the almighty power of this particular social network in order to organise an interview with the wonderful director Alma Har'el who was promoting her first documentary feature film. This was definitely my first tweet meet, and I'm pretty certain it was her's too.  
My interview with Alma Har'el shall be posted in the not too distant future so keep your eyes peeled on the blog! In the meantime, all I can say is long live the Tweet Meet and the Twitterlution!  
What happens when you give a bunch of documentary fiends some skates, an oyster bar and vodka? 
A very surreal, merry and eventful evening is bound to be expected when you take read the mélange of this soirée! Proudly representing the Youth Jury on the festival's second night, I plucked up the courage to swap my shoes for some skates and dared to brave the dancefloor and bust some moves to the best collection of 80's disco classics! (This only occured of course after having acquired a bit of dutch courage.)
The most memorable shenanigans of the evening involve the following incidents: trying my first oyster with acclaimed documentary critic, Jennifer Merin who helped me opt for the hotsauce rather than the lemon, skating against the Swedish director Michel Wenzer of At Night I Fly and of course revelling in the sights of drunken skaters fall - priceless comedy!  
So muchos gracias TFI Madame Ivana, the Zorokovich Vodka Company and of course Skate Central Sheffield for hosting this extraordinary and unique Doc/Fest party.
Saturday 11th June.
Outdoor screening of Grey Gardens.
In spite of the typical British weather that Sheffield braced on the fourth day of the festival, the 'Documentaries on Devonshire Green' event, a brand new addition to this year's programme, proved itself to be a great success (indeed, this was before the outdoor screen decided to conveniently brake during the latter course of the afternoon.)
The film highlight of the day was without doubt the well attended screening of Grey Gardens which was shown after the Edie-attired parade in celebration of Albert Maysles drew to an end. This truly historical moment for Doc/Fest was heightened by the presence of the legendary director himself who introduced his film in front of an audience comprised of both festival delegates and the general public.  This special screening was made even more enjoyable thanks to the generosity of the Fancie Cupcake crew who provided everyone with yummy cupcake goodness!
Albert Maysles Masterclass, Lyceum Theatre. 
© Jacqui Bellamy 2011
It's fair to describe Saturday as a day-long celebration of Albert Maysles. The experience of being sat metres away from one of the most important and respected documentary directors in the world was enough to give me goosebumps. As soon as Maysles graced the Lyceum Theatre stage, you  instantly perceived the entire audience become awestruck by the director's  presence. This unanimous feeling that united the audience was maintained throughout the duration of his entertaining and informative masterclass as every documentary critic, director and the like held on to each word and sentence that Maysles so elegantly expressed. 
It was certainly remarkable to witness how at his great age, Maysles continues to convey to the world the same amount of zeal and enthusiasm for the documentary film genre as he has done throughout his career as a director. Suffice to say, this masterclass reinforced the fact that Albert Maysles is an outstanding role model and inspiration for budding documentary filmmakers. Furthermore, after being privileged enough to watch an exclusive preview, I'm certain that everyone is now eager to know the release date of his new documentary in which, after more than 40 years, we see the return of Maysles filming and working with Paul McCartney
Other notable highlights of the festival include.....
  • Perfecting the art of flattery and schmoozing.   
  • Attending the alternative Friday night party – Sheffield Fringe.
  • Watching French artist Calvet create his painting in the Showroom Café 

© Jacqui Bellamy 2011
  • Tweeting on a computer in the Workstation whilst sat next to Rudolph Herzog. 
  • Having Tom, our appointed co-ordinator and P.A kindly fetch you coffee/water in times of severe tiredness and thirst - big up to Tom!!
  • Writing our award speech at 12.30am in the Mercure hotel lobby surrounded by a throng of highflying people from the doc industry, including a merry looking Spurlock. 
  • The moment when Nick Broomfield introduced himself to the Youth Jury before his masterclass.
Gina Willis. 

Exclusive Youth Jury interview with Dan Gordon...

An insightful and interesting interview with Dan Gordon, from VeryMuchSo Productions, director and producer of 'Match 64: The Final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup' at this year's festival. 

Go to http://vimeo.com/25127846 to see the interview and learn more about Dan's work.

Look out for more exclusive interviews in the coming days!

Jack Ranson