A Window to the World
For many 2020 has been a year of sensory overload, be it the arrival and ravages of the Coronavirus or a bitterly contested American presidential election. All these events felt for many to be overwhelming, with the lives of individuals lost. The Research in Film Awards, created by the Arts and Humanities Research Council celebrates films which champion the lives of these very individuals. Films which highlight their challenges and by doing so help to give us a greater understanding of each other.
Andrew Thompson executive chair of the Arts and Humanity Research Council states “film has an ability to make distant people, places and ideas immediate, visually accessible. In the strange times we are living in, film – and connecting people and places through visual media – is more important than ever. In truth for many of us around the world whole countries, cultures and communities are often inaccessible to us, but the coronavirus lockdown has placed everyone at a distance. I hope that the five years of RIFA have led to many more films being available, shared and discussed among with wider community, and I’m very excited to see what films are entered this year.”
Bathroom Privileges | by Rupert Williams
The films nominated for awards this year include the charming Bathroom Privileges, made by Rupert Williams, a social worker and Ellie Land, an animator. Bathroom Privileges is an animated short which looks at what should be a human right, the ability to use a bathroom. Something quite basic but something which is surprisingly problematic throughout the world. Be it to use the bathroom of your assigned gender for trans men and women, be it access to bathrooms specifically designed for the disabled, be it young women, in emerging countries, right to use bathrooms safely without fear of sexual assault. This lovely film highlights the fact that what we often take for granted is still for some a luxury.
Voices Apart | by David Heinemann & Elvina Nevardauskaitė
Voices Apart looks at a trio of individuals, all from Lithuanians, who hear voices. The film asks the question which is, is the ability to hear voices a blessing or a curse? Interesting all three individuals who the film follows have experienced a trauma, one leaving home with her mom after her father’s death, another finding himself in a mental crisis after the breakup of his family, another juggling four jobs and dealing with the pressure of having a father imprisoned from murder. The three see these situations as the trigger from them beginning to hear voices and the director seeks to take the audience into the minds of these individuals.
Voices Apart was made by David Heinemann and Elvina Nevardauskaitė as part of David’s doctoral thesis and it is a cinematic representation of psychosis, specifically in relation to the role of the voice. Using actors, this short documentary, filmed in Lithuania, explores voice-hearing using first person testimony from three contributors: Agnė, Laurynas and Mantas, who all have very different relationships with the voices they hear. The film employs the technique of verbatim theatre where recorded interviews with Agne, Laurynas and Mantas is then lip synch by actors so the audience can in fact go on the personal journey with these individuals. In many ways this film allows you to empathize with what these three very different individuals are going through and we see both the positive as well as the destructive consequences. It’s interesting to note that in some tribal societies (as well as many religious communities) hearing voices is seen as a blessing from god and a way in which they can connect to our own spirituality. Laurynas, suggestions that “From the inside psychosis is a spiritual journey. But when you see it from the outside its mental illness.”
A Short Film About Ice | by Adam Laity
And finally the utterly beautiful A Short Film About Ice, made by cinematographer Adam Laity, where a selection of poetry and other writing is read as a kind of cinematic love letter to the Artic. The juxtaposition of stunning visuals and iconic literature, from Lord Byron to Allen Ginsberg, to a vanishing landscape. This beautiful film is both poignant and heart-breaking as it highlights the stark reality of climate change, in many ways this film is a call to arms as it points to the horrific consequences of a potential environmental disaster if we choose to ignore it.
These films along with others nominated for the awards highlight how it’s these stories of individuals which should be important in the world today and sadly it’s these very stories which in our busy age are being lost. The awards point to the need to work harder to make sure their voices are heard.
form-idea.com London, 10th November 2020.
A Short Film About Ice | ©Adam LaityFollow Us
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