Last week saw the launch of the 5th BFI Future Film Festival which aims to give 15-25 year olds a unique opportunity to showcase their films and gain essential knowledge and skills from some of the UK biggest names in the film industry. This years festival will feature actor Dexter Fletcher, who’s directorial debut “Wild Bill” will be getting a special screening, Will Sharp & Tom Kingsley Bafta nominated directors of “Black Pond” and VFX expert Ed Hall who is about to start working on the new James Bond film.
TNC is proud to share our next with a Future Film Festival nominated filmmaker Sam Haire, director of the comedy film Portrait D’un Français (Porttrait of a Frenchman) which is nominated in the Best Film category.
More information about the Future Film Festival can be found here and takes place between the 18th & 19th February.
How long have you been making films?
I got a video camera for Christmas when I was around 11 years old so I started to play around with it then. But it started properly when I began my Video Production degree at University in 2005.
What is it about being a filmmaker that your most attracted to?
It’s a great way to express creativity, having a finished film that you have created is very rewarding in a strangely addictive way.
What was your first project like, where there any steep learning curves
My first proper project was at the end of my first year of Uni, it was a medieval comedy about a band of heroes. I was very rough around the edges but I put everything I had into that film. The producing was the most challenging, organising the huge project and arranging two weeks of shooting. I took on way too much, but thats the best way to learn.
Tell us a little bit about Portrait D’un Français, how did the project come together?
I have recently completed a Film and TV course, one of the exercises was to create a monologue beginning with the line, ‘When I was 17…’ The rules were that it had to be one minute in length, one actor, one location. One day a fellow classmate Alexis (who plays the lead) came into University on a pushbike, wearing a black short sleeve T-shirt offering a bite of his baguette. So very French. The idea stemmed from there and once I got really passionate about it I ignored all the guidelines for the exercise.
The humour in this film is amazingly mature, what inspired you to make such a well rounded film?
The monologue format helped create a lot of the ideas for the humour and how the short would flow. I also watched a lot of Jean Luc Godard films before filming began, to get a taste of the French New Wave Cinema style.
When you had written the film was was your next step?
Working with Alexis on translating, I speak no French and the script was essentially the subtitled dialogue. In translating I also got to work with Alexis on the delivery and tone which I had a very specific idea of. I was concerned because by trade Alexis is not an actor, however he had some very emotive scenes. He really pulled it off though, I considered getting an actor in instead at one point but I couldn’t of been any happier with his performance.
You filmed in black and white what where the challengers you faced filming like this?
Filming in black and white means you don’t have to worry about colour temperatures. Much, much easier than shooting in colour.
Your also nominated for the BFI Future Film Festival Award, what was it like to get the news that your film had been chosen?
It’s really rewarding to get noticed. But I have been rejected for a film I submitted to BFI before, so it was a personal goal of mine to get one in.
I would ask if your excited but I guess that goes without saying. But for our readers try and explain what it means to you as a filmmaker to be included in this festival?
The film has been shown at several screenings now and it is always intense showing something you’ve put so much work into on display for others to judge. Making short films is hard, but being involved in a festival like BFI is in a way an acknowledgement that your at least doing something right!
Best advice you have been given and you would give other young filmmakers that will follow you?
Be brutal in editing, the audience doesn’t care how difficult it was to get that lighting setup or how cold the location was. The finished edit’s only priority is to serve the story, not to showcase that fancy crane shot you like.
And Finally what are you working on now?
Strangely enough a Portrait D’un Français short episode. I have enough material left over that I want to make two or three extra short films about Jacques. It will be about a minute long and will be finished later this month.
