Talking Pictures Films Showing on Thursday, September 29 A SONG OF WATER by Juan José Castillejo Martinez—Despite her mother’s best efforts, a young girl who lost her father in a tragic fishing accident, stubbornly takes to the sea. How did you find yourself getting into filmmaking? Since I was a kid, I liked films so much. I remember movies like “The Fly” from the eighties, The Godfather, the Disney movies… When the time came, I first studied architecture, but that was not my thing, and when I was looking for a film school, I was not able to find one. In that time, Colombia produced two or three films a year. Tops. Obviously, there are not many film schools, so I decided to study radio and television production. I worked as a freelancer for some years, and as a writer for a few magazines. Last year, I was chosen among other persons to become a beneficiary of the scholarship INI (Imaginando Nuestra Imagen—“Imagining Our Image”), a government program to teach filmmaking in towns like mine, where there is not these kinds of opportunities to learn how to make movies. And because of INI, A SONG OF WATER was born. What inspired you to make this film? The original idea of the film is from the producer, Jean Jurado. Initially, there was a boy, not a girl who lost in the sea, but gradually the story was changing. What do you hope to achieve with this film? Our principal goal is that people see the film. In Colombia, it is very hard to show your work. This little film is a huge step for us, and we really want to show it to as many people as we can. What’s next in your career? Right now we are producing a documentary for local television. It’s about a former paramilitary man who is now working with kids in his soccer school in order to prevent these boys from following the path of people like himself. It is a story about peace and redemption. OH-BE-JOYFUL by Susan Jacobson & Kayleigh Llewellyn—Rita is about to kick the bucket, but before she does, she’s got one final job to do: drag her granddaughter out of the closet. How did you find yourself getting into filmmaking? SJ: I always wanted to tell stories in a visual way. After I finished university, I went to work for the Academy-Award–winning director, Richard Attenborough, who really inspired me to keep going. So I started small, making a few very bad short films, which gradually got better as I learned the art of storytelling. KL: I was already writing for television and finding the process frustrating— creating worlds and characters and stories that I was in love with, and then leaving them in a drawer for a year whilst a television exec decided if they wanted to develop the concept or not. And then Katie Campbell (producer of OH-BE-JOYFUL) alerted me to a competition that was being run in the UK—”Funny Girls”—which was intended to fund short film projects, which were helmed by women. So I decided to take the plunge; recruited Susan Jacobson to direct and Katie Campbell to produce; and I was to write the script and star in the film... It’s not all sunshine and roses, because we weren’t selected for the competition. BUT by then we didn’t care, because we were so in love with the project. And moreover, finding it so thrilling to work with one another—three women who inspire and challenge and elevate one another. It’s brilliant. So we found an exec producer in LA, who was willing to fund the project, and five months after we conceived of the idea, we were shooting it. It was the single most rewarding experience of my career so far. What inspired you to make this film? SJ: Kayleigh and the story she had to tell; the distinct voices of the characters; and most importantly, the story. What this film is about, the real message, is profound and heartwarming, and its told through laughter. What better combination? KL: I grew up incredibly close to my grandmother, Margie. She was the love of my life, and in all of my work in some way, I’m trying to capture an essence of her or work out questions I have about a life she might have led, if she’d been afforded different opportunities. This particular concept for OH-BE-JOYFUL came about through me exploring our relationship, and the life Margie led before she took on the role of “Grandmother,” and the life I might have led if I’d never left Wales. What do you hope to achieve with this film? SJ: To make something that for a moment connects with people and even moves people. To make an audience laugh. For the film to transcend beyond the LGBT community (which we seem to be doing) and connect with everyone. KL: It’s the oldest cliché in the book, but this film was a love letter to my Grandmother, and in that sense it’s already achieved all I wanted it to. But more than that, it’s brought together our filmmaking team, who I hope to work with for a very long time. And of course, it’s been so wonderful seeing the film embraced at festivals around the world. Our achievements so far have really blown us away... WINNER—Audience Award: Best Narrative Short Film, Outfest, Los Angeles 2016 WINNER—Best Comedy: London Short Film Festival 2016 WINNER—Audience Award: Best Short Film, InsideOut, Toronto 2016 WINNER—Special Short Film: Mix Milano Film Festival, Milan & Florence 2016 SPECIAL MENTION—Best Female Director: London Short Film Festival 2016 SPECIAL MENTION—Best Short Film: Mix Milano Film Festival 2016 What’s next in your career? SJ: The entire OH-BE-JOYFUL Team is currently working on the feature film, SOMETHING CHANGED. KL: Team OH-BE-JOYFUL is now developing a feature film, SOMETHING CHANGED, a lesbian rom-com set in London, about how a serious head injury can sometimes be the best thing that ever happens to you. I’m also currently writing on a new comedy TV series for BBC1, HOSPITAL PEOPLE; Ruth Jones’s STELLA for Sky1; and developing a comedy series for a production company in LA. North Shore Towers Courier n September 2016 49
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