Our tenth week features films by Moses Parlindungan, Jason Gregg, Julia Shuvchinskaya, Paulo Fajardo, Hasan Qureshi, Yudji Oliveira, and Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad.
"Memories Fortress" by Moses Parlindungan
An Indonesian student in London attempts to deal with the absurdity of confinement and immobility due to then-ongoing coronavirus lockdown by talking to his parents – who also face the similar movement restrictions in Jakarta – over the phone.
Moses Parlindungan is an Indonesian journalist and documentary filmmaker. In 2019, he received a Chevening Scholarship award from the United Kingdom government to study MA in Ethnographic and Documentary Film at University College London.
Instagram: @tersuruk.
"Closed Until Further Notice" by Jason Gregg
From Jason:
"Conspiracy theories, love and turmeric! A family cut off through isolation come together via a conference call.
Created remotely from home on a zero budget during the COVID-19 lockdown.
During the lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I decided to make a film based on our current situation. Originally I wrote the short script ' Closed until further notice' for a BBC script competition called Interconnected based on lockdown. The 4 chosen winners would get their scripts made into short films. Closed until further notice made it into the 2nd round and made the top 8% of 6803 scripts. Sadly it did not go any further in the competition so I decided to make it myself. I put a casting call out via social media and received over 200 emails from actors wanting to get involved. After a long process of making a short list after receiving and watching their audition tapes I made my selection based on their performance and looks as to create a believable family. With online direction the chosen actors all filmed themselves individually performing the whole script and sent me their footage and I pulled an all night edit session to piece it all together. I needed to get it made as soon as possible whilst the subject matter was still current. I was pleasantly surprised how well it all went and how it came together. It has been a welcome distraction whilst being in lockdown to have a project to work on. This is the first time I have ever made a film in this way, it could have been a total disaster as the film had a zero budget and was all made remotely from the comfort of my home in Cornwall. The roles of Olivia (Tallulah Bond) from London and James (Benjamin McCann) from Cardiff all filmed their footage separately and have not met each other except for Gramps (Chris Kibbler) and Nanna (Amanda Gail Clarke) who are a real couple living together in the Midlands. I myself am an actor by trade but very quiet times due to the present situation so no current trips to London for any auditions. My background in acting includes the roles of reoccurring characters Eli Clemmow in BBC Poldark and Gary (Gary N Simon) in BBC Gavin and Stacey . I have been making self funded and zero budget projects since 2008, 2020 has presented itself as a challenge for film makers and I have embraced the situation and attempted to write and direct something current, reflecting, and in a sense it has been good therapy for myself during this worrying and uncertain time."
"YuJoy" by Julia Shuvchinskaya
From Julia:
"I am very inspired by the changing conditions of the world. I get a burst of adrenaline through my veins from complex tasks. Quarantine, but I can’t live without filming! To the question “what to do?” The solution came: an attraction for everyone.
Many friends complained that they lacked motivation to do something in a lockdown, that life is boring and sad. The Eternal Clown In Me has awakened in a desire to entertain everyone.
So our project with YuJoy happened, driven by love for friends, for music, for nature, for the body, for oneself, for lightness and beauty.
We wrote very detailed instructions, made a video invitation to participate, Yura (YuJoy) shot himself with a phone, I edited a karaoke video with transliteration as an example. And we began to send it to friends! Then there was a live broadcast and a bunch of emails with video archives.
In the process of collecting videos, I talked with many people with whom I had not been in contact for a long time - a good excuse appeared. For two months in self-isolation, the window in the upper right corner of the screen became a symbol of life, communication, human warmth and a new era (well, when did you spend so much time in Zoom?), and as you know, art should reflect the surrounding reality, and I could not ignore it. I am very proud of this invention!
And there is my dad and the best school friend, with whom we had not talked before quarantine for 15 years!
I was very strongly supported by the editing emotionally. More precisely people, these beautiful luminous smiles. And they don’t even know me! The editing of the video fell on a rather difficult period of isolation for me, when my one-room apartment a in the center of the metropolis started becoming a minefield and a fighting club for me and my boyfriend. But, fortunately, there was a lot of work and every time I got up from the computer I had a good mood. It felt like I have taken a walk by the lakes of Switzerland, danced barefoot in Italy and spent some time with a former Buddhist monk on a snowy electric tower.
Although this is a clip for the wonderful music of YuJoy, it turned out to be very personal for me.
As beloved Maria Lopukhina said, "it is like a breath of warm wind" I prescribe to everyone as an emotiologist! It turns out I'm a pretty cool dancer too!"
Idea and Director - Julia Shuvchinskaya https://www.shuvchinskaya.com https://www.facebook.com/vesta.miaau https://www.instagram.com/julia.shuvc... - Music - Yujoy https://www.yujoymusic.com https://www.instagram.com/yujoymusic https://www.facebook.com/yujoymusic
"Bird in a Cage" by Paulo Fajardo
From Paulo:
"A canary lives in social isolation until one day a family of Common Redstarts make a nest right next to him and make him dream of freedom.
A short film written, produced and directed in social confinement during the coronavirus pandemic."
Paulo César Fajardo was born in Figueira da Foz, in1980, Portugal. Developed various documentary projects as an independent producer and made his directorial debut in 2000 with the short film “Outono/Fall”. Worked as a freelancer camera operator, editor and director for several TV shows for national and international networks. Finished in 2011 his first feature film “Summer Dream” and in 2012 created the web tv BairradaTV. He now works as a freelancer news camera operator and editor for the SIC and SIC Notícias tv news channels.
Instagram: @paulo.cesar.fajardo
"The Journey" by Hasan Qureshi
A film about returning home at the peak of the pandemic and how chaotic things got after landing at the destination. The story moves forward with interviews of people from Romania(Ramona Vornicu), United Kingdom(Kit Harford), Canada(Arsalan Iqbal), USA, & China(Kenny) talking about how their lives have been affected by the global pandemic. They discuss their initial thoughts, daily challenges, and how pandemic impacted their professional life.
Hasan Qureshi is a Canadian/Pakistani indie filmmaker & teacher based in Beijing. He's played many roles in the field of filmmaking from starting his career as a background artist to being a director & producer of an award winning feature film. The same goes with his career in business education from being a teacher to mentoring new teachers and designing curriculums. He feels the only way to move forward in life is be honest and work hard. Success and failure both are going to come in the way and are a part of our lives.
Hasan is on Instagram @hasanqureshifilms and YouTube as Hasan Qureshi Films
"The Detachment Figure" by Yudji Oliveira
From Yudji:
"The contact with our deepest self may have an abstract perception of an inner search, but it is not. Knowing yourself beyond our shells and pre-assumptions becomes liberating, but not before tormenting us with our facts which we hide even from ourselves. Once we manage to survive in our clutches, we reach the point of the need for self-love, with attention to exercising a constant friendship with your innermost self. This astral adventure is barely noticeable in our physical world, but self-understanding is an important step towards bringing our opposing aspects closer together and concluding what we call "Alchemical Marriage". This path is not easy, much less definitive, it is a constant search that exists in the trajectory of every human being.
It is important in this moment of global chaos, that we can approach ourselves, understand each other and even forgive ourselves because it is from this moment that we will reflect what we want from a new world, and also what we prefer to leave behind.
This film can honestly demonstrate the moment of quarantine and social isolation. I am a Brazilian artist living in Portugal, I experienced loneliness and longing for my family, worrying about them, and afraid of Brazilian politics. We must not go through this without learning, the film reiterates the freedom of the questioning human being. A tribute to the victims of COVID-19 and your families, and the eternal Jonas Mekas."
"Run Away" by Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad
On the day of the pandemic of coronavirus in Bangladesh, the story of the movie revolves around a Bangladeshi garments worker. At home, she has a mother, a younger sister and a restless father. Can a garments worker go to her mother who lives in village? Can she buy red clothes and shoes for her sister? Or not!
Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad is a young film maker. He spent his entire childhood in Rangpur.He is now studying for film and media studies at Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University.His short films directed by God Gift (2019),Las Consecuencias (2019),Ruido (2019),The Shooting (2020),Attention (2020),The Last Marvel Of Peru (2020),Run Away (2020) .These short films have been screened at various film festival in the country and abroad.