Mediterranea review- BFI Film Festival

On Friday 16^th of October, I went with my film and media class to watch a screening of Mediterranea at the BFI Film Festival in Brixton. This took place in a small arthouse cinema called ‘The Ritzy’ and it was followed by a short question and answer with the director, Jonas Carpignano who gave some useful information about the production of the film and on the characters which I found very intriguing. This was Carpignano’s first feature film but he has previously directed five short films: La Casa d’Argento Bava (2006), Resurrection Man (2010), Bayou Black (2011), A Chiana (2012) and A Ciambra (2014). A common similarity that I noticed between most of these films and Mediterranea is that they show the journey of the protagonist(s) and at times, the narrative is based upon the director’s historical and cultural background.  Due to this being his first feature and the actors being unknown, the director explained that it was difficult to fund the film and that he had to go to about five different production companies. Jonas Carpignano also wrote Mediterranea and it was produced in 2015 with End Cue and it was first released on September, 2^nd in France. The music was by Dan Romer, the director of photography was Wyatt Garfield, the editing was by Sanabel Cherqaoui, Affonso Gonçalves and Nico Leunen and the production design was by Marco Ascanio Viarigi.

Starring: Koudous Seihon (Ayiva), Alassane Sy (Abas), Pio Amato (Pio), Annalisa Pagano (Cristina Riso), Sinka Bourehima (Ahmed) and Davide Schipilliti (Rocco), Mediterranea is a social realism, documentary drama which looks at the dangerous life of refugees and it follows the journey of Ayiva and Abas as they make their way from Africa to Italy in the search for a better life. What stood out to me most in the narrative was the huge sense of realism which gave me a true insight into the migrant experience regarding their fear, exploitation and survival. Mediterranea developed from Carpignano’s short film, A Chiana which looks at the real-life events and characters leading to the Italian riots and it focuses on the story of Ayiva who of course is the main protagonist in Mediterranea. The cast for Mediterranea is un-professional and Carpignano explained in his Q&A that he met most of them in the small town he has spent a large proportion of his life in, meaning that what is seen in the film are their actual stories so it is a completely honest reflection of the events they have experienced in their lives so far. This really added to the realism of the film and it wasn’t until after that we were told the vast majority of the film was based upon true stories which I thought would have been good to know before so I could have emphasised with the characters to an even larger extent. However, I did feel a strong connection with the characters, especially Ayiva throughout due to such strong, emotional performances and after finding out that they are un-professional actors, I was even more impressed because they had such a powerful delivery.

The cinematography also added to the realism of the film because it was all filmed using handheld camera. I believe the director did this to represent how the lives of the migrants in this film are not constructed or carefully placed into a scripted narrative but instead, they are gritty and real. The camera was also quite shaky at times which symbolises how the characters journeys and experiences were unstable and they were forced to go through terrifying and emotional events which ‘shook them up’ meaning they have not been able to get their lives under control. Regarding the cinematography, there were some absolutely beautiful shots throughout Mediterranea, such as the amazing ocean shot below, with the strong inclusion of bokeh behind the night-life scenes which I found truly stunning and I believe Carpignano included this to represent how although the characters are constantly surrounded by harshness and negativity, they can still look to find the good and beauty in their situations. There was a recurring extreme close up shot that was used of Ayiva and Abas each time they reached a new location and this was an effective way of documenting their journey because the audience were able to see their reactions which were often a look of fear and helplessness because they were completely unsure of what to expect.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed Mediterranea because at times, the narrative was very emotionally moving and I was able to gain connections with a lot of the characters. The messages touched upon were clearly close to the director and a lot of passion and heart-felt emotion went into making Mediterranea which was definitely reflected throughout. Although I found the ending slightly confusing due to the ambiguity and enigma codes that it left the audience with, it was still very effective at expressing the main theme of ‘personal journeys’. The cinematography was incredible, the performances were outstanding and I am going to rate this film 7.5/10. It was not my favourite film from the collection I have watched at the BFI Film Festival (Ayanda was my favourite) but it was definitely impactful and I would encourage others to watch it.

^ The Director- Jonas Carpignano 

BFI Film Festival- my experience

On Wednesday, 7^th October, I went with my Media class to watch six new British short films at the BFI London Film Festival. Each film was completely different and I really enjoyed the experience, especially due to the question and answer at the end which was truly insightful.

First we watched Operator, directed by Caroline Bartleet which was a drama about a 999 operator who deals with a huge fire emergency, giving the audience an insight as to what she does on a daily basis. We do not see the emergency, only the operator talking on the phone, allowing us to see the incident from her perspective. The theme of control was highlighted throughout the film in two different ways. Firstly, the operator had to take control of the situation, telling Gemma (the person trapped in a fire) what to do and she was fully aware that she was holding Gemma’s life in her hands. Secondly, the operator had to take control of herself by staying completely calm throughout and not panicking, therefore reassuring Gemma. Next, we watched Otherwise Engaged which was a comedy about Dave proposing to his girlfriend, Megs and how social media affected this event. The main themes of social media/technology really conveyed how much our generations have changed over time and how before smart phones, more people would live life ‘in the moment’ whereas nowadays, many people feel the need to see events unravel through their phones rather than soaking up the experience through their own eyes. However, this message was conveyed in a light-hearted tone and there was a lot of laughter coming from the audience throughout. 

A film which illustrated similar themes to Otherwise Engaged was C.T.R.L, directed by Mariana Conde. This was a drama about a phone app which is used to take complete control over people and it is demonstrated through two people who cross paths on a street. This film showed the power of technology and provided a subtle dystopian future as to what technology holds for us in years to come. It reminded me of the TV series, Humans which also provides the audience which an unnerving future and I believe the purpose of the short film was to make the audience have an awareness of the possible dangers of our technology-driven future. We watched two films in the genre of documentary: Copycat directed by Charlie Lyne and Lines directed by Cecile Emeke. Copycat was about filmmaker, Rolfe Kanefsky and his story, regarding horror films. It was unique because it was put together with clips from his films, with the narrative being told through a voice over in which Charlie interviewed Rolfe but personally it didn’t grab my interest because I found it hard to follow at times. Lines was about the meaning of song lyrics to a variety of different women and it covered powerful themes such as how something as simple as lyrics can impact someone’s life, change their perspectives and inspire and influence them. The final film we watched was Black Sheep, directed by Cristian Cerami. This was a social realism, drama, documentary about two brothers and their opinions and influences of the EDL. During the Q&A, Christian explained that the film was unscripted and these were the boy’s genuine opinions which shocked me because they were quite harsh, especially at their young age but by having this theme of realism, the audience are given a true insight into their lives. There was also a theme of irony because although they showed hatred towards non-British ethnicities throughout, the ending showed Sam getting his hair cut by a Muslim barber, which highlights his lack of maturity in my opinion.

My favourite films were Operator and Otherwise England because they had gripping narratives which held my attention for the whole duration and I did not feel that sense of involvement in films such as Lines. Operator showed me that you do not need numerous locations and characters to make a powerful short film, but instead you need a strong performance and meaningful messages which illustrate your passion for filmmaking. Otherwise England was a great example of how to write an effective comedy, which I believe is one of the harder genres to perfect and I believe that to do so, you need a realistic, current narrative that your audience can relate to and engage with.

As mentioned earlier, I loved the Q&A with the filmmakers because they expressed their passions and ideas behind each of the films and gave us an insight into what the filmmaking experience is actually like, regarding budgets, production time, challenges and achievements. I also found it very interesting when they spoke about the routes they took to get to where they are today, which were all completely different, because I want to be in the film industry when I am older so it was great to see the various routes. The highlight was being able to speak to some of the directors in person after the Q&A and they gave me advice regarding my future as a film-maker which was incredible useful so I am very grateful for that experience.

Although I am likely to be doing print-based media for my coursework, these short films have given me inspiration for my A2 film coursework (which will be a short film) because I have learnt that simplicity is key and storytelling is hugely important. Also, it is vital to perfect the micro features because for example, in Lines, the sound syncing was slightly off which was noticeable throughout and personally distracted my attention from the actual narrative so I have learnt to take careful care during the production of both my media and film coursework. 

BFI London Film Festival- Testament Of Youth

Recently, I went with my AS Media class to the BFI London Film Festival to watch Testament of Youth. I really enjoyed the experience because at the end of the film, the director and producer did a ‘question and answer’ with the audience which gave me a deeper insight into the film and I gained more knowledge on how it was made. Testament of Youth is directed by James Kent and produced by David Heyman and Rosie Alison; it is a UK 2014 film with a running time of 129 minutes. It was filmed in London, Oxford and Yorkshire and the genre is a British drama because it is based on a true story. It is a film adaptation of the memoir ‘Testament of Youth’ written by Vera Brittain who was born in 1893 and it is about her tragic experiences during World War One. She began writing it in November 1929 and it was published in August 1933. It also covers the genres of romance and coming of age because the character of Vera in particular shows a development and change throughout the narrative and the powerful relationship between Vera and Roland is also emphasized. The main characters in the film are Vera Brittain, played by Alicia Vikander; her Brother, Edward Brittain played by Taron Egerton; her Brother’s friend who becomes Vera’s fiancé, Roland Leighton played by Kit Harington; her good friend Victor Richardson, played by Colin Morgan and Vera’s Mother and Father played by Emily Watson and Dominic West.

Testament of Youth is about a twenty year old Woman named Vera Brittain who defeats the parochial views of her parents by winning a scholarship to study at Oxford University after her brother Edward kindly persuaded their Father to let her sit the entrance exam. She falls in love with Edward’s close friend, Roland who got a place at Oxford along with Vera; however once Edward signs up to fight in the war, with the help of Vera informing Mr Brittain that it is the right move for him to make, Roland follows in his steps and also signs up, to which Vera then decides to postpone her studies at Oxford. She volunteers as a military nurse and experiences the devastating injuries and deaths of the brave British and German soldiers and from there on, her life changes completely as she gradually loses the most important Men in her life. Near the beginning of the film, it shows Vera swimming in a lake and she is soon joined by Edward and Roland, they are all laughing and having an enjoyable time together, creating memories of their friendship. At the end of the film, Vera is shown swimming in the same lake but she is alone. She is alone because both Edward and Roland passed away in the war, despite their struggle to stay safe and alive for Vera and their families. I believe this scene was used because that lake was the last memorable place that Vera had of spending time with Edward and Roland whilst they were all content and not involved in the war and she wanted to remember them in a positive way. She is shown to be swimming off into the distance, portraying her as hopeful for a brighter future, as if she is escaping and clearing her mind from all the disastrous events that have occurred in her life since World War One.

Testament of Youth follows a non-linear narrative because at the very beginning of the film, everyone is celebrating the end of WW1, shouting, cheering and proudly waving the British flag but this scene is also used towards the end of the film after the war has been shown and I think this was done for a reason. As the people are extremely enthusiastic that the war is over, Vera is struggling to make her way through the crowds and she seems to be upset and angry. At the beginning, the audience may wonder why this is and it is only nearer the end of the film that you realise she is so wistful due to the deaths of Edward, Roland and also Victor that she cannot feel happy about the end of the war and she feels that it would be wrong to celebrate.

There are many strong themes displayed in Testament of Youth, two important ones being hope and aspiration. Vera aspired to receive a place at Oxford University and to have a very successful career as a writer in the future. However, after Edward and Roland signed up, this changed because she became a nurse in the hope that she would save lives and be as close to the two men as possible. This was an extremely brave thing for Vera to do because she had to leave behind her dreams and what she had worked towards for such a long time. Her final hopes were that Edward, Roland and Victor would be safe, which is what made their deaths as heart-breaking as they were because the audience connected with the pain Vera experienced to lose her loved ones and her reactions to their deaths greatly emphasized the emotions that she was going through. Other major themes include passion and devotion because despite Vera only knowing Roland for a short amount of time; the love shown between the two of them is immensely powerful and they display a great amount of affection towards one another. Roland shows passion towards Vera when he proposes to her on the beach when he comes home on leave because they both wanted to take their relationship further and it highlights how much he cares for her. Roland also shows devotion towards the war because he wanted to represent Britain and make his country proud so he devoted himself to being a soldier rather than studying at Oxford University with Vera. Additionally, war and conflict are the more obvious themes displayed in the film as they are what the narrative is based upon. However, conflict is not just showed during the war, it is also shown between Vera and her Father at the beginning of the film when he buys her a piano rather than paying the fees for a place at Oxford because he believes it is pointless for a Woman like Vera who can easily get married.

I believe that the cinematography in Testament of Youth was very well thought out and it was to an extremely high quality. For example, when Vera is rushing through the crowds whilst the end of WW1 was being celebrated, handheld camera action was being used to emphasize how chaotic the atmosphere was and to make the audience feel as if they were there with her, making the scene more realistic. This method was used throughout the film such as when the nurses had to deal with a large mass of war victims all at the same time and the handheld, shaky camera showed the panic and urgency the nurses and soldiers must have been feeling. Many close ups were used to show the emotions of the characters. For example, when Vera receives the call informing her that Roland has passed away, a close up is used to show her immediate, shocked reaction and then the tears streaming down her face. Close ups are also used of the wounded soldiers so the audience can understand the immense pain they went through and the amount of courage they had. The contrast between life at university and life as a nurse in the war is shown through sound. Whilst Vera was at Oxford, there was little background noise and the environment she was in seemed very peaceful whereas when she was working as a nurse, there was often shouting or cries of pain in the background, highlighting the intensity of the job. I also noticed that there was a lot of dark lighting throughout Testament of Youth and this may have been because there were many traumatizing moments within the film therefore, the darkness helps the audience to understand the negativity that is surrounding the majority of the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed Testament of Youth because I found the narrative easy to get into and I was able to connect strongly with a lot of the characters. I also found it very emotional due to the themes being extremely powerful and touching and every actor put on a realistic and believable performance. In the ending credits the message: ‘In loving memory of Edward Brittain, Roland Leighton and Victor Richardson’ was shown and this really helped the me to understand how all these events regarding the characters in the film have occurred in real life and how we should never forget all the courageous soldiers that served for their country in the war. 

Love Does Grow On Trees

'Love does grow on trees' is a short film that I watched in class. It is both written and directed by Bevan Walsh.

It is about a boy named Danny who embarrassingly discovers pornographic magazine cut-outs and girls at the same time, so has to make a choice between the two of them. During the film, Danny discovers a large tree which appears to magically grow these images. Before he meets the girl who he really likes, he may have considered the images as 'love' because he did not know any better; therefore, he unrealistically believed that love does grow on trees. The title itself is a pun of the phrase "money doesn't grow on trees". This may have been done to represent how finding true love is not as easy as Danny thinks it is and in order to find true love, you have to get rid of the obstacles that are preventing you from reaching that goal.

This short film was set before sites on the internet were available for everyone, so for Danny to find these pornographic images was quite rare and he got over-excited possibly because he was still young. I think the genre of 'Love does grow on trees' is a romantic coming of age because Danny is growing up and discovering new things, so it is his transition from a young boy to a teenager.

Overall, I enjoyed this film because it was interesting to see the emotions Danny felt when choosing between a girl and adult magazines. Also I found that the clever use of sound was fascinating and effective. For example, when Danny enters the woods and finds the large tree, the music is very fantasy like to show that a situation like this is not realistic and that he feels as if he is dreaming.

Telling Lies

Recently in class I watched a short animated film called 'Telling lies' which is written and directed by Simon Ellis.

It is about numerous phone conversations that take place between the main character, Phil and his mum; Sarah, his ex-girlfriend; Darren, his friend who Sarah had an affair with and Victoria, the Women that Phil had a 'one night stand' with. However, what the characters say is not what they really mean because what they are honestly thinking is written on the screen whilst they are telling a lie. This could be to show that everyone lies at some point, whether it is big or small and that they usually lie either when under pressure or to make a situation better.

Each characters speech has a different colour to imply that they are all individuals who have different thoughts and reactions to the situation. Nonetheless, when a lie is being told, the text of what the character really means is written in white to make it clear that what they are saying is a white lie. A white lie is generally a harmless lie which is told in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Font sizes also vary throughout the short film. When a person is shouting, the font size is much bigger in order to reveal their emotions and show that they are angry or very upset.

Personally, I really enjoyed this short film because it explores the discovery of the truth and lets you know what each character really wanted to say. I also like how only animated text was shown on the screen rather than the people themselves as it was much more effective and the audience were less likely to be distracted by background movement.

'Ralph' Review

Ralph is a short film directed and written by Alex Winckler, with a running time of twelve minutes and thirty seven seconds. It was released in 2008 on the twenty fifth of June and filmed in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhone in France. I would classify this film as a PG because there is no strong language and violence used or frightening scenes that would be unsuitable for people of a certain age. The main genres of this short film are romance and drama because it is a love story based on a plot that could easily occur in real life. There are five characters we get to know in Ralph which are: Ralph, the leading character played by Ralph Laurila; Julie, the waitress played by Julie Dray; Clare, played by Emily Seale Jones; Edouard, the waiter played by Jean-Francois; and Lorenzo who is played by Julien Martin.

‘Ralph’ is about a young boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old, who travels to France in the search for a girl named Clare who is not expecting him. However, when he arrives he discovers that he wrote the wrong number down and in great panic and confusion, he phones numerous numbers to try and get through to her but he has no luck. Eventually, Ralph resorts to a café to which he meets Edouard, the waiter and Julie the waitress to whom he feels an instant connection with. From here, the narrative develops to end with an unexpected plot twist which is very powerful and leaves the audience feeling sympathetic towards Ralph. One of the main themes explored in this film is isolation because Ralph is completely alone when he arrives in France and he cannot properly communicate with anyone as they are all speaking in a foreign language; he is left feeling lost and out of place. This theme is enhanced by the fact that no subtitles are used as this means the audience cannot understand what is being said by the foreign people, just like Ralph. This gives the film a more realistic feel to it and it gives us the opportunity to feel Ralph’s confusion as if we are there with him. Another theme that is explored is love as Clare is obviously very special to Ralph otherwise he would not have travelled all the way to France by himself just to find her.

During this film, there is a great variation of camera shots and types that are all used to create different effects. Medium, over the shoulder shots are used when two characters are interacting which help the audience to feel included in the conversation. Wide shots are used to show the surroundings helping us to engage more with what is going on and feel empathy towards Ralph who is alone in such a big area. Close ups and extreme close ups are frequently used to convey emotions. For example, when Ralph attempts to call Clare at the very beginning of the film and there is no answer, an extreme close up is used to show that he is upset and anxious. Throughout the course of the film, background noise is used to create a much more realistic atmosphere and if there was no background noise then the narrative would have a ‘made up’ feel to it and the scenario would not be considered as something that could happen to anyone. For the same reasons, natural lighting is used which reminds me of a short film called ‘get off my land’ by Douglas Ray which also uses natural lighting. Both short films may have used this feature because it sticks to the genre of drama and gives the films a non-fiction feel to them, making them more relatable for the audience.

In my opinion, I found ‘Ralph’ very enjoyable because as the film progresses I found myself being drawn into it because you are never too sure on what is going to happen next. I also like how such a straight forward story can have so much meaning to it and how the emotions shown through each character can have a big impact on you. I believe that Alex Winckler was very smart and imaginative when it came to writing and directing this short film, especially with the ending because he was able to turn the narrative around and create a plot twist in such a short space of time.  

'Friday Night Dinner' Review

Friday night dinner is a British television sitcom about a Jewish family of four who have dinner together every Friday night, which never goes to plan and almost always ends in a disaster. The events that occur during each episode are unexpected yet hilarious and mirror family life well. It is not your typical sitcom because it has a sense of realism to it and it addresses issues that could well happen to an ordinary family, making Friday night dinner an original and refreshing show. This entertaining show takes situations of little value or importance and turns them into priceless ‘laugh out loud’ moments with the strong cast helping to enhance this humour.

Normally, each episode is different and does not usually follow on from the previous one. This generally makes the episodes more exciting and intriguing as you are uncertain of what is going to happen next, therefore you are left feeling curious and wanting more.  Each individual plot is fresh with new jokes constantly on the go as well as old, consistent jokes which help to make the show unique and engaging.

 The Mother, Jackie is played by Tamsin Greig and can be described as immature yet easily wound up by the behaviour of her sons and husband. Paul Ritter plays the role of the peculiar Father who has a very low attention span and many odd habits leaving him socially inept. Adam is the elder son and is played by Simon Bird, an actor well known from shows such as the inbetweeners. He is a failed musician who makes a living by creating jingles, and quite often is the victim of mishap. The younger son, Jonny, played by Tom Rosenthal, is always trying to play practical jokes on Adam and start fights with him as he knows he will retaliate. Jonny works as an estate agent for ‘Garvins’.

The Families neighbour, Jim often makes a few appearances during the course of each episode. He is extremely awkward and is always leaving gaps in conversation, as well as being terrified of his own dog. His character is rather ironic as the audience want to see more of him whilst the family do not want to see him at all. Jim is played by Mark Heap. Bonus characters that appear in some episodes include the Gran who is Jackie’s Mother, her boyfriend Mr Morris and Val who is Jackie’s best friend.

The overall appearance of the characters is very similar to how a traditional family would look; this makes them more relatable to the viewers because it is much easier to connect with them and their way of life, also many similarities can then be found between the viewers and certain characters.

In my opinion, Friday Night Dinner creates the feel of family life very well and the chemistry between the cast is flawless. Each individual character is hilarious in their own way, meaning that everyone will find something to relate to. The writing of this show is impeccable, providing us with excellent dialogue as well as fantastic humour.

Friday night dinner is created and written by Robert Popper, and directed by Steve Bendelack and Martin Dennis. There are three series and nineteen episodes in total with a running time of approximately twenty five minutes per episode. This programme is intended for teenagers and above due to the adult humour which is frequently used. It can be found on channel 4 and is definitely worth watching, it will have you laughing in moments.