TNC is really grateful to the Andrew and some of the cast of what is set to become a very memorable addition to the fringe festival 2011. Hailing from Long Island the Friends Academy was founded in 1876 and this production is only at the fringe between 8th-13th of August and should not be missed.

These questions were posed in a round table format to six of the people involved in We Didn’t Have Time to be Scared.

Gloria, 14 years old – the actor playing the younger Lucy Fischer
Ryan, 15 years old – the actor playing Peter and Arthur
Sydney, 16 years old – the actor playing Berta, Carol and Rita
Liam, 17 years old – the actor playing Ernst Fischer
Elizabeth, 21 years old – the actor playing the older Lucy Fischer
Andrew, teacher – the playwright, composer, and co-director

How are things going, you guys all ready and set for the Fringe festival?

Gloria: Things are going great!

Elizabeth: Things are starting to feel real. Which is surreal.

Sydney: Rehearsals are fun, AND productive. We’re making great progress with our work.

Liam: Yeah, the music is sounding awesome and we’re diving into the choreography.

Tell us a little bit about We Didn’t Have Time to be Scared, how did this come about?

Andrew: Two years ago, Lisa Waldstein – a friend and colleague, mentioned to (co-director) Tracey Foster and I that she had been given a copy of her aunt’s diary, which her aunt had started writing in 1937 in Vienna. Inge kept writing in the diary through the Nazi annexation of Austria and her family’s journey to England, Trinidad and eventually the United States.

Tracey and I saw the possibilities, and asked Lisa about whether we could speak to Inge and Lisa’s mother, Lucy. After reading a translation of the diary and speaking at length to Inge and Lucy, I sat down and started writing.

Elizabeth: The F.A. middle school [students aged 11-13] performed it first about a year ago, and I came home from college to see it. I was stunned.

Gloria: Everyone in the audience was incredibly moved. And sad that we only got to perform for two nights.

Liam: A few parents started talking about the possibility of taking the show to the Fringe.

Andrew: Our school approved the project back in March. This is a new, mix-aged cast, with a tighter, slightly re-written script of last year’s production.

Elizabeth: I’m thrilled that it’s being taken to the Fringe, and even more thrilled that I get to be a part of it. I’m getting to work with adults who were my teachers and kids who were my students, and we all get to come together to tell this story. It’s incredible.

What made you decide to make this story into a musical rather than a play?

Andrew: I’m not sure I can explain that. From the first moment I began conceiving it, it was a musical

Liam: I think that while the play gives you the narrative, the music does a great job diving into the emotional journey of these characters.

Gloria: The songs are so powerful.

Elizabeth: I agree. The script is intense and moving on its own, but the score is downright haunting, and parts of it are so uplifting. I can’t imagine the story without the music.

This is an original piece coming to the fringe a well as a true story, what have been the challenges you have faced with the production?

Ryan: The cast, both the original and the one going to the Fringe, have had various meetings with Inge and Lucy Fischer, [the sisters this story is about]. I think that we really want to make them proud of how we tell the story, and make them happy that their lives have been represented accurately. I think all of us are working very hard so that Inge and Lucy are happy with the final result.

Andrew: I think we also faced the general challenges you face whenever you tour a show. The stage we perform on at school is very different than the stage we’ll be performing on in Edinburgh. We are adjusting the direction and choreography to suit the new space.

What was it about this story that spoke to you and made you want to bring it to the stage?

Ryan: This is an inspiring story of perseverance and hope in the darkest of times. It is a story that I feel people must know about, and needs to be told. It is an important part of history, but not a story many people have heard about. From the girls struggling in an English boarding school and being held in an internment camp in Trinidad, this shows a completely different side of the struggles Jewish people faced during this time.

Gloria: This story has the ability to really speak to the audience members in a way that moves them because the characters are so relatable and real.

Elizabeth: At its core, this is a story about the love between two sisters. That’s what makes the story worth telling, especially because you get to see how their bond has lasted through so many years and so much sadness.

Ryan: After last year’s performance, I came out of the dressing room and I was greeted by people I had never met, with tears in their eyes, telling me what an incredible and moving show it was.

The productions comes from the Friends Academy could you tell us a little bit more about this?

Sydney: Friends Academy is a Quaker school in Long Island, New York. The cast is made up of students and alumni of Friends, and of our summer program, The Artist’s Institute.

Elizabeth: We have an incredible theater program that all of us have essentially grown up in.

Lucy is also going to be at the performances as well. What was the idea behind this move?

Andrew: Lucy’s daughter, Lisa, has been involved with this show from the get-go. Both Lucy and Inge attended last year’s performance. While Inge isn’t able to travel to Scotland, Lucy told us that there was no way she would miss the show.

Sydney: We are so happy she’ll be joining us on our journey and share in this wonderful experience.

Do you think there should be more musicals at The Fringe?

Liam: In theater, we sing when we can’t speak anymore. I love when a piece reaches that point. Musicals are one of my favorite art forms and I’d love to see more of them.

Elizabeth: There should always be more musicals! I think it’s easy to dismiss musical theater as theater that isn’t “serious,” but there are stories you can tell through music that you could never tell through words alone.

Andrew: I was surprised, actually, at how much smaller the “Musicals and Opera” section of the programme was in relation to the rest. But I think we should work to increase the amount of everything. I think the more variety of theater that we have, the more individuals it will appeal to.

What advice would you give fellow students who might want to bring a show to the fringe?

Elizabeth: Well, it’s our first time at the Fringe, so I think we’re the ones who need the advice.

Sydney: I say definitely follow your dreams and go for it! You will have such a great experience-we can’t wait to go!

Gloria: Bringing a show to the Fringe is an amazing opportunity and an incredible experience that requires hard work but most of all, it is important to remember to have fun.

The murder trial that has captivated America has come to an end with a shocking decision. Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first degree murder of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie by the 12-member jury — consisting of seven women and five men. She was also found not guilty of aggravated child abuse and not guilty of aggravated manslaughter.

The jury’s decision was just read aloud from inside the Orlando, Fla., courthouse after 33 days of dramatic testimony and almost two days of emotional closing arguments.

More news to follow.

The 2011 Sheffield Doc Fest was one of the best they have ever put on this year with films, workshops, and parties happening all over the pace. TNC always like it when a festival has a student category as it shows they are more than aware that the next generation of filmmakers are going to come from the hundreds of students who make up a very nice part of the UK film scene.

We are very lucky to share our interview with Raul Paz Pastrana who’s movie “Art of Remembrance” is going to be shown at Sheffield Doc Fest Saturday 11th 10:15am. The films is also in the running for The Sheffield Student Doc Award.

How did you get into filmmaking has this always been a passion?

Foreign films and documentaries have always been a passion of mine. I got into filmmaking in 2003, when a friend invited me to work with him using video to interview the efforts of Indigenous Lakota to bring the Buffalo back to their land at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota U.S. Afterwards I realized the power of documentaries to empower communities and to inspire people into action.

What was the first film/director that inspired you?

Charlie Chaplin is a great inspiration for me. He was one of the first filmmakers to switch the paradigm of the hero from a privileged bourgeois class to the immigrant working class hero. I am also inspired by documentaries that tell powerful unique stories and who take their artistic technique to a professional level. There is nothing worse than to have access to a great story but do a poor job with the film.

The Art of Remembrance trailer from Trailer 88 on Vimeo.

What is it about documentary films that have appealed to you?

The heroes of documentaries are real people struggling against great obstacles or who tell great stories. The human drama that unfolds in documentaries not only changes the audience or the main characters, but also changes history; each choice that the characters make influence people in our world, something fiction can’t do.

Tell us about your film, what is your approach, how do you come up with your projects?

My film is about death. Death is a universal concept. We all die, but all of us in our different cultures deal with it differently. I am from Mexico and although we grieve the departure of our loved ones we make sure to celebrate them once a year with happiness and joy. This however is not a western tradition, it comes from our indigenous roots. In this film my character is Dani Valle a Mexican immigrant in New York City who is creating an altar for the death, and who challenges our notion of the meaning of life and death by explaining the Indigenous version of the Mexican Day of the Dead.

I approach each film differently. Sometimes the story comes as I am shooting, other times when I am editing, but mostly they come when I am reflecting about the story at night, or after walking my dog. However, I am always very respectful of my characters. They are opening their lives for me to document with my camera and it is very important not to forget that.

Somehow great stories seem to find me without much trying. I already have 5 to 6 projects that I want to do. That said I have some criteria that I follow before I start a project; one the hero must be indigenous or from a minority culture hence the obstacle that must be overcome is greater; and two it has to be a social or cultural issue. After I decide to start a film then I brainstorm the idea with people I trust like my fiancée or close friends.

Your film is nominated in the Student category at this years Sheffield Doc Festival , a truly magnificent achievement, have you had time to let this settle in?

I am just beginning to settle on this great honor. This is my first short documentary film and my first project for school and to have it nominated for best student documentary film in Sheffield and as a semifinalist for the Student Academy Awards is just beyond my expectations.

What was did it feel like when you got the news?

It was interesting because Hussein saw the movie and asked if Sheffield could screen the film for the festival, and of course I said yes. Apparently they lost my application but received the DVD copy of the film. I felt in disbelief at first, but that quickly turned into happiness. I guess I felt many things, but at the end I felt happy and a great sense of accomplishment, after all this is one of the biggest documentary film festivals in the world.

What have been the challengers you have faced, what help/advice have you sought?

The world of documentary film is very small in the United States. It is usually the same people who make all the documentary films. The challenge right now is to make my work noticed in the documentary community.

Through my school in NYC I have met professors and other students who like my work and who have been great support for me. I always ask them for help, specially with distribution, which is the hardest thing to learn for me (but am getting there).

What do you want people to take away from your film?

There are many things that I want people to take away from my film. I want people to learn about the Mexican Day of the Dead. I want to introduce them to a great Mexican immigrant artist in New York City. Mostly I want to challenge people about the meaning of life and death, and show them that death also deserves to be celebrated.

What has been your biggest sacrifice or difficulties that you have encountered?

There are many sacrifices that I have made. One was to move to a city as big as New York. I have sacrificed a lot of time from my personal life in order to get started making documentaries. I am really grateful to my fiancé Emily Parkey for her understanding and support, otherwise I don’t think that I could be doing this.

What advice would you give other filmmakers?

Make documentaries that not only tell great stories but that are artistically and professionally well done. Use your camera and editing work not to tell your story but as tools to make the dream of your film a reality, story always comes first before technique. And finally don’t be afraid to get your work into festivals or to ask for help, in the documentary world no one gives you anything, you must ask and be humble when you do it.

Finally, what are you working on now?

Right now I am working on my thesis film for my MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City “THE HUAORANI: Savages of the Oriente | Protectors of the Forest.” The film is about the Huaorani of the Amazon jungle of Oriente, one of Ecuador’s oldest and most isolated indigenous groups. I am about to leave to the Amazon jungle to start shooting in the field, this is the reason why I could not be at Sheffield this year.

Please check the film “THE HUAORANI: Savages of the Oriente | Protectors of the Forest” on facebook and on kickstart page:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002447739471
Kickstart: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/34840787/the-huaorani-savages-of-oriente-protectors-of-the

Opinion: Another boring result from BGT which has simply become and alternative music talent show to rival it’s sister show X Factor. Scottish singer Jai McDowell beat the favourite, Ronan Parke, to the £100,000 prize and will now sing at the Royal Variety Performance.

It seems odd that they want to let so many singers through on BGT which seems to be undermining the whole search for ‘talent’.

The show this year had a host of contestants who showed real talent, namely the kid who made Michael McEntire out of toast, yet it seems like they always fall back on singers. Why are they part of this show, and why do they allow so many people who sing to take par in BGT when clearly they should be part of the other show.

It’s clear that things are not going to well for Cowell at the moment with the disaster that he has faced with the American X Factor and the departing of Cole, this has not been good and has thrown into doubt the success the UK version of that show is going to have.

In my opinion what I would like to see is less singers on BGT and more talent, singing and dancing is all very well and good but it’s time we saw some real TALENT on our screens.