Our eleventh week features films by Frit Sarita Tam, Orla Smith, Mariana Zuvire, Sofia Castro, and Jillian Vitko.
"Holiday Park Run" by Frit Sarita Tam
Frit has 10 years of filming experience. Starting within the videography and photography industries, Frit moved into filmmaking to tell stories that made an impact on her. She recently set up her film studio, Passionfruit Pictures, to add diversity to the adventure industry through filmmaking. She believes that adventurers of all colours, abilities, sexualities and ages are out there, but they are not getting their fair share of the spotlight. She set up Passionfruit Pictures to change this. Based predominantly in the UK, Frit lives part-time in her van and travels to national parks, coastal towns, and the mountains to infuse the outdoors into her everyday life.
Holiday Park Run documents a young woman, Frankie Dewar, who on a complete whim after watching 'A Mile An Hour' by Beau Miles, wakes up the next morning and decides to embark on her own challenge of running round her block of houses on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours. Raising money for Help Refugees/Choose Love, Frankie overcomes her fear of the dark and shows that even during the Coronavirus Lockdown, adventure and positive action can happen right on your doorstep!
Find Frit here:
• Website: www.passionfruitpictures.co
• Film studio Instagram: @passionfruitpictures_
• Personal Instagram: @fritstartingat30
"RAICES" by Mariana Zuvire
From Mariana:
"This short film was made from my reflection and experience on the pandemic where I came back to my childhood's home. In this film people who are no longer with me join me through the voice of my tree."
Mariana is on Instagram @marianazuvire
"14 days" and "Twinstrumental" by Jillian Vitko
Jillian Vitko is an actor in NYC. She loves creating her own work, and she's made several short films during lockdown. Twinstrumental is a musical comedy about twins who are quarantined separately, and 14 Days is a mini-doc about self-isolation after travelling outside of NYC. She's thrilled for both films to be a part of Essex DocFest!
Find Jillian on her website www.jillianvitko.com
"Spinning for a Minute" by Sofia Castro
Sofía Castro studied art direction for film in Buenos Aires. With her first short film (Maids), she participated in residences for experimental film and video-performance and in forty international film and dance festivals including, Leeds Film Festival, Cinedans, In/Motion Chicago, Dance Camera West (with a semi-finalist status) and POFF Black Nights. In 2019, she was a featured artist in FIVER (Madrid) and the Encounters of Videodance (Valencia). In 2020 she was nominated for her work in the British Film Institute’s Future Film Festival for young talent. She was also awarded an Argentinian National Grant for the Arts for her contributions to social transformation. She is currently working on projects that explore the relationship between British and Argentine Sign Languages and choreography as languages of movement.
Instagram: @scastrosofia Facebook: @sofi.castro.509
"Checking In" by Orla Smith
From Orla:
"Checking In is a short documentary film about communication during social isolation, made during lockdown in London with the resources I had at home. The experience was revelatory to me, because I realised how few resources you actually need to make a good film, as long as you have a distinct point of view. With this film, I wanted to portray the importance of checking in on your friends in times like these, whilst also exploring the limitations of communication online."
Twitter & Instagram: @orlamango