"Who am I?” is theme of Sussex film-making competition
South Downs Film Makers community film club have announced their first public film-making competition, with the theme of "Who am I?” It comes as the group works to ensure its survival after years of dwindling members.
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00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06 to be speaking to Alan Cross from the South Downs Filmmakers about a very exciting project
00:12 you've got, a film competition coming up, but one that comes from quite a serious place,
00:17 doesn't it? Because what you're needing to do, to an extent, is to rejuvenate and to
00:23 reinvigorate the club. But tell me first, what are you looking for in the films and
00:28 how do people submit them? Give me an idea of what the competition actually is.
00:32 Okay, the competition came about really because we're looking for more people to join the
00:40 club, new members. We ideally want younger members as well, because this kind of club
00:47 is a bit of a dying breed, but it's so important, I think, to keep them going, because there's
00:53 nothing like meeting real people in a hall and discussing, talking about the things you
00:59 love to do. And South Downs Filmmakers is a great club and it's been going since 1989.
01:05 So with the competition, we thought it would be great to throw something out to the public,
01:12 first of all, so that it raised awareness of the club, and to get members of the public
01:17 to make a film. And it can be any length up to, I think the limit was 10 minutes, but
01:26 it might be 15. That'll be in the application form. But the theme of the film is 'Who am
01:34 I?' So we're looking for people to make a short film, something interesting about their
01:39 life, about them, who they are, where they come from, what they do, and maybe some of
01:43 their thoughts. So it can be anything you like, any genre. It could be about sport,
01:50 it could be about something creative, it could be about anything you want to make a film
01:54 about. So it can be a documentary, it could be a narrative film. And we're just looking
01:59 for films that are entertaining, that have a certain level of craft about them, the actual
02:09 technical side of the film. But I think most important, when you watch a film, is that
02:15 it has some sort of emotional content. So, you know, if it moves people...
02:22 Alan, when you say a narrative film, do you mean fictional? Can someone weave a story
02:26 around that?
02:27 Yeah, so if it was a fictional film, so you had a storyline running through the film,
02:35 you could have a bunch of kids playing, acting, playing roles, and with a storyline to it.
02:42 And so it could be... that's a narrative film. So yeah, that's what I meant.
02:46 Yeah.
02:47 Sorry, long word.
02:48 Not at all. No, the point is that you don't need vast equipment to make a film which will
02:53 be suitable for this, do you?
02:54 You can literally use your phone. I mean, there's nothing stopping you going out and
02:59 using your phone. One thing I would say is, don't film it like this, film it like this.
03:04 Or even like that. So it's a 16 by 9 ratio on the screen. And we're looking forward to
03:12 seeing what people come up with. So we can screen all the films on the big screen at
03:17 Ferry and Village Hall at some point, probably in October, I think. So... well, it might
03:25 even be November, because I think we'll need time to view all the films with the club membership,
03:30 and it'll be the club membership that will be voting to select the winning films.
03:34 That sounds like a really exciting project. And the point is, you would like the filmmakers
03:39 who come forward with their films to actually become members of the society, the club.
03:43 Well, that's it. And also part of the prize for the winners will be a half price subscription
03:51 for the first year to the club. So there'll be, you know, apart from other prizes, which
03:57 we have yet to announce. But we'll get around to that eventually.
04:02 But I guess the point is, as a club, you can't just carry on meeting, you've got to actually
04:06 do something that drags people in, haven't you?
04:09 Well, this is it. And you know, it's no secret that the club membership is quite elderly.
04:15 And there's a lot of 60, 70 year olds in the club. We do actually have a young member,
04:20 he's only 13, he's just joined recently, and he's full of beans ready to get on with making
04:26 projects, which is great. But we really do need to find new members that are more, you
04:34 know, in teenagers, 20 year olds, 30 year olds, 40 year olds. That's the sort of the
04:39 core age group that I'd like to see coming through the door and to give the club a good
04:45 future, you know.
04:46 Fantastic. Well, good luck with that. Keep us posted. Hope it goes well. And yeah, it
04:52 should be a great evening when you show all the films.
04:54 Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun, you know, to see what I mean, we
04:57 might not get any films, we might get three films.
05:00 You'll get something.
05:02 Something will come. Yeah. And I just want to encourage people just to get out and make
05:07 something you know, because it's, it's, it's a big hurdle in your head. Once you get going,
05:14 once you get making something, it's fun to do. And there's nothing like it.
05:18 Good luck. Good to speak to you. Thank you.
05:21 All right. Thanks very much.