SFFILM’s Young Filmmakers Camp 2020: Students and Instructors Reflect on Remote Learning and the Importance of Film Education

Reflections on Teaching the Art & Craft of Film During a Pandemic
by Maddy Leonard with support from Davia Schendel, Rachel Gamson, and Jeanette Paak

When I found out that SFFILM was not going to have Young Filmmakers Camp in person in July of 2020, I knew I still wanted to find a way to serve the young artists in our community in a fun and innovative way. Since teens were going to be forced to spend their summer in isolation, I proposed that we redesign camp to build an online resource and community support system for young filmmakers to gather, learn, grow, and develop stories they care about.

These are the goals I had going into camp:

• Create meaningful relationships that students can draw from in the future — account for one-on-one time with teachers, so that students feel supported and have the opportunity to build a mentor/mentee relationship with their teachers.
• Develop students’ independent filmmaking skills, so that they can emerge from camp as more self-sufficient filmmakers.
• Train skills for online media creation that will help students be creative and innovative filmmakers and use the resources they have at their disposal to create art and film.
• Finish camp having created several small but polished projects that students can add to their portfolios.
• Provide the opportunity for students to learn from a diverse group of filmmakers.
• Create safe spaces where students can ask questions and discover what working in the film industry feels like.
• Introduce students to online and free resources that can be used to experiment with film outside of camp.

With these goals in mind, I began outlining a two-and-a-half-week-long schedule for campers that consisted of Zoom lectures, pre-recorded lessons, Zoom “check-ins, workshops, film screenings, guest presentations, and student activities. I understood that students had been forced to have classes on Zoom since the beginning of the pandemic, and they were probably suffering from Zoom fatigue, so my co-teacher Davia Schendel and I designed a daily curriculum that was diverse in terms of platform. Campers would spend a few hours a day doing solo work, and a few hours a day on Zoom in either large or small groups.

Campers were divided into two groups: beginner and advanced campers. The beginner campers started a few days earlier than the advanced ones, so that they could get oriented in the world of filmmaking by learning some basic terminology and film history. Once the advanced campers started their session, the students spent most of their time collaborating as one large group. Campers were engaged daily in Zoom lectures and supplementary activities on topics around film production, theory, and history, media literacy, and the social and cultural impacts of film. Outside of that work students were doing with their instructors, they also had the opportunity to speak with some pretty incredible guest speakers.

We had the pleasure of having Jonas Rivera, a producer from Pixar who produced Up, Inside Out, and Toy Story 4, as our first guest lecturer. Jonas shared his journey working for Pixar and the behind the scenes making of these beloved films. Jonas’s extensive art knowledge proved to be valuable during the story development process at Pixar, and campers learned much from him about how different aspect of the creative process intersect. He reassured the campers that they could always be part of the filmmaking creative process no matter the level of their technical skills by advising that “understanding art is equal to being an artist.”

Daniel Freeman was our second guest lecturer at camp. Daniel is a SFFILM FilmHouse resident who is currently working on a feature-length narrative film called Teddy Out of Tune. The campers loved chatting with Daniel about his process. He stressed how important it is for filmmaking to be accessible to everyone, and gave the campers excellent advice about how to get started on films with a minimal budget.

We were extremely lucky to have another FilmHouse resident come speak at camp. Reaa Puri, a cinematographer, director, editor, and founder of Breaktide Productions, brought her two other co-founders to camp to speak about their filmmaking careers. Breaktide is a production company that is owned and operated by women of color, and they work to democratize filmmaking while elevating underrepresented voices behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Gabby, an advanced camper, told me her favorite activity at camp was the guest speakers, because “they really offered insight into what it’s like to make films as a career.” She added, “my favorite lecture was from Breaktide Productions, because as a girl it was so inspiring to hear from an all-female team. I learned that film is a process, and about all the steps that are generally taken before and during the movie-making process.”

Anaiis Cisco, a filmmaker from Brooklyn and an Assistant Professor of Moving Image Production at Smith College, spoke with the campers about halfway through camp. At the beginning of her scheduled hour, she took the time to learn every student’s name and hear about their filmmaking interests. This activity not only helped Anaiis get to know the campers, but it also helped the campers get to know each other a little better outside of the normal camp day proceedings. Many of them described how they developed new interests during camp and were excited to dive deeper into these aspects of filmmaking.

The day after Anaiis’s lecture, Andy Jimenez of Pixar Animation Studios spoke with the campers about his collaborations on several films, such as One Man Band and The Incredibles. Incorporating his pre-production documents and animatics for both live action and animation, Andy shared an incredible wealth of materials that the campers were truly fascinated by. Sharing with campers that the road of an creative artist can be winding, Andy reassured them that everything one does in life will become part of their art practice in surprising and very useful ways.

Alice Wu, director of Netflix’s The Half of It, joined us for a very special guest lecture towards the end of camp. She shared some background information about how The Half of It came to be, but focused a lot of her time connecting on a personal level with the campers. She was very honest and vulnerable about the lessons she’s learned throughout her career. She reflected on her experience with us by saying “I really loved getting a chance to chat with the young filmmakers at SFFILM. The way they think about storytelling, about their lives, is so fresh and sophisticated — so much more sophisticated than I was at their age — and I say with pleasure that these kids are almost certainly coming for our jobs! And it’ll be a good thing.”

The last filmmakers to join us as guest lecturers were Anne Flatté and Marlon Johnson. This director/producer duo spoke to the campers about their newest film River City Drumbeat, a documentary about music, love, and legacies set in the American South. They also facilitated a lengthy discussion with campers about the ethics of documentary filmmaking and sparked the curiosity of these young filmmakers.

Our last presenter was SFFILM’s very own Rosa Morales, who works as part of the SFFILM Makers team. Rosa had a wonderful conversation with campers about how to market yourself as an artist and filmmaker, and helped them understand how they can stay involved with SFFILM in the future if they are ever in need of support or funding.

Among my favorite parts of camp were the moments when the campers, other instructors, and I had radically honest conversations about how film and media play into this moment in US history. I was so impressed by the introspective comments students shared about representation in the media they consume, and how they want to make the film industry a more just industry to work in. Here are just a few examples of the insights campers shared while Davia was lecturing about diversity, representation, and allegory:

“There’s a big shift happening in representation in media — we’re not all the way there yet, but let’s not disregard our accomplishments.” — Rose

“She-ra in the new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was the first lesbian kiss I had ever seen, and the first gay main character. As someone who was obsessed with 80s She-ra as a kid… I was again inspired by her in the new one as a lesbian main character. It really helped me come out to my family.” — Shayla

“The show Sex Education on Netflix… represented women so well and in an accurate way. They represent them with goals other than chasing boys or dating which I thought was important. I really appreciated women being seen as powerful without having to actually be tough.” — Gabby

Here are some other very insightful reflections students had when we were discussing why it’s important to learn the history of race in film:

“I thought that the evolution of black representation in film was interesting… I found that it was important to have diversity in the film industry because it inspires younger girls and people of color and gives role models to them.” — Ella

“I think that diversity in film is extremely important. As children we are very impressionable, and seeing ourselves on screen makes us realize that we can do anything. When movies are more diverse, they are relatable to a broader group of people. It is also important to portray different groups of people in diverse roles so that they aren’t just playing the same types of roles every time. I think that studying film is important, because it is a big part of our society today.” — Grace

“We need to study film to learn about our past just as we study history in schools. It is extremely important to make sure you understand the mistakes of the past so as a nation and society we do not repeat them. But like any part of history we must be careful and think about who is the one creating the film and what biases they might have. In the early years of film, there was not much diversity in the cast and crew, now as we are entering a new era of digital film we are realizing the importance of having diversity in organizations such as Hollywood to inspire different types of people across many generations.” — Lathrop

Over the course of camp, I was really impressed by the vulnerability these teens were willing to share with each other. They really connected as a group, and made plans to stay in touch after camp to support each other’s art. These campers didn’t just learn how to make films but they learned how to support other filmmakers. It was really special to be able to see the constant encouragement they had for each other’s projects, and the friendships that they formed.

Maddy Leonard (she/her) is a filmmaker, artist, and the former Education Program Coordinator at SFFILM. She is a creative educator who has spent half a decade teaching youth about film and media literacy, and mentoring youth as they produce their own films. She has a degree in Cinema and Women and Gender Studies from San Francisco State University, and has a passion for learning from and creating socially aware documentaries and experimental films.

Guest Post: FilmHouse Resident Ed Ntiri on Sound Design, Hip-Hop, and “A Lo-Fi Blues”

“The ear is much more creative than the eye.” 
 — Robert Bresson
 
“Back in the days when I was a teenager,
Before I had status and before I had a pager,
You could find the Abstract listening to hip-hop,
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop,
I said, “Well daddy, don’t you know that things go in cycles?”
— Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest)

Sound as Character in “A Lo-Fi Blues”
by Ed Ntiri

When people share their favorite moments from the films they love, they’ll often talk about images. For me, it’s always been sounds. Like in The Battle of Algiers, when the intensifying sound of drumbeats heightens the tension of the three women planting their bombs. Or how Walter Murch used the shrieking sound of a subway car to amplify the infamous restaurant scene in The Godfather where Michael Corleone kills the man who tried to kill his father. Or Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped, where all I remember from the film is the sound of cups clanking against a hand-rail, amplify the haunting monotony of being trapped in a prison cell.

Each of these moments resonate with me more than images themselves ever have. Films are as much a sonic experience as they are a visual one. That’s why when I began to develop my first film, I focused on sound before script, images, or casting.

Our film, A Lo-Fi Blues, is the story of an aging blues musician who believes that his late wife is trapped inside of a song. The film follows his relationship with a young lo-fi hip-hop producer whose ability to sample music becomes the only thing that can save her.

My fascination with sound started early. I grew up in New York during the golden era of hip-hop music, and its ethos informed nearly every aspect of my personal and professional life. It taught me the importance of voice, how limitations can become strengths, and the value of community. Officially, there are four elements that make up hip-hop culture: the emcee, the DJ, the graffiti artist, and the break-dancer. The one they always forgot, in my opinion, was the producer.

Producing hip-hop music seems simple, but it’s actually a science. The sample-based method involves finding old albums, carefully selecting bits and pieces of them, and creatively processing and re-arranging them into new compositions. Sampling, when done creatively, breathes new life into old songs. So, a tune like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ “A Chant for Bu” becomes A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursions.” Or, you find a record like Roy Ayers’ “Searching” only to later hear Pete Rock flip it into his bass-heavy interpretation.

Developing the story and the sound of the film began with an exploration into the ways that hip-hop evolved from jazz, which evolved from the blues, which evolved from spirituals, which were the only way slaves could keep their language when they were taken from the shores of West Africa. The frequencies within our music hold this history. As I developed a closer relationship with the records that I would sample, I became fascinated with the idea of music as a language we unconsciously carry.

The SFFILM Makers community has helped tremendously with developing a script to support our sound. As a musician, I treat each version of the script as a remix, which we continue to evolve until the tone sounds right. Embedded within the script is the music that we’ve developed with our music supervisor, Jason “Asonic” Garcia, and SmartBomb, a collective of lo-fi musicians here in Oakland.

The majority of the characters in our film are already musicians, so part of our process has been how to create a distinct sound for each of them. We started by writing music profiles for each character, including their favorite albums, mixtapes they’ve made for friends, and a list of three albums each of them would bring if they were stranded on a deserted island.

A film I thought of a lot while having these discussions is another film shot in the Bay Area, American Graffiti. What I love about this early George Lucas film is that every character is listening to the same radio station throughout the night, turning music (in his case, early Rock ‘n Roll) into a character of its own.

In A Lo-Fi Blues, we’ve taken a similar approach. We created our own fictitious podcast that everyone in our film listens to on various devices. Unlike American Graffiti, which was made when licensing songs was much cheaper, we are not licensing anything. We decided that since we’re all musicians anyway, that we’ll create our own score.

Using our connections to the music community in Oakland, we began composing all of the original jazz, soul, and blues music that you’ll hear throughout the film. For example, when we introduce Leonard, we’ll hear this record. We’re also composing the beats that the young producers make from samples of the songs made for the film. When we’re in the studio with one of the younger beatmakers, you’ll hear one of their actual beats playing. The idea is that even if you choose to watch our film with your eyes closed, you would hear sounds progress, distort, and transform, which embodies our theme of letting go and embracing new life.

The camera is a tool of magnification. A wide shot establishes a scene. A close-up makes you feel closer to what a person is thinking. A handheld shot can give an impression of chaos or uncertainty. Sound achieves the same. The amplification of inaudible sounds is the magic of sound design. The creative manipulation of sound can be as impactful as a great line of dialogue, or a beautifully composed image. We should employ this magic and give our ears a treat so that they can go on adventures as rich as those designed for the eye.

Images dominate our consciousness. We intake more images today than at any other time in history. When you sit down and watch a film, the experience is made up of the juxtaposition of both images and sound. To study their craft, some cinematographers will watch a film on mute, in order to isolate the image. To study my craft, I often close my eyes when a film is on, to see how the story plays out in sound.

In an interview in Robert Bresson’s book Bresson on Bresson, he explains that if you can replace an image with a sound, always use the sound. Because the ear is more creative than the eye. As storytellers, it’s our job to invoke all of the senses in order to give viewers an emotional experience that they’ll always remember, in more ways than one.

Ed Ntiri is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker who has been based in the Bay Area since 2007. His work has been featured in Vice, WaxPoetics, the Oakland Museum, and the Berkeley Art Museum. In 2017, Ntiri wrote and directed his first short film, Snow Mountain, which won audience choice awards at the SF Urban and Liberated Lens film festivals. His first feature, A Lo-Fi Blues, was awarded a SFFILM Rainin Grant for screenwriting in 2019. He is currently completing a SFFILM FilmHouse Residency in 2020.

For more information about SFFILM’s artist development programs, visit sffilm.org/makers.

Filmmaker Q&A: ‘River City Drumbeat’ Co-Directors Anne Flatté and Marlon Johnson

On the occasion of the streaming release of River City Drumbeat, the SFFILM-supported documentary by Anne Flatté and Marlon Johnson that was originally scheduled to screen at the 2020 SFFILM Festival, we asked the filmmakers a few questions about their creative and collaborative process. Flatté and Johnson are close to the SFFILM Makers family, Anne having been a FilmHouse resident throughout the production and post-production of River City Drumbeat and both having been guest instructors at this summer’s Young Filmmakers Camp.

River City Drumbeat opens Friday, August 7 at the Roxie Virtual Cinema.

Hi there! Tell us a bit about your film and how SFFILM was involved in helping it get made.

Anne Flatté: When River City Drumbeat begins, we meet Edward White, who has devoted his life to leading the African-American drum corps he co-founded with his late wife, Zambia Nkrumah, in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the corps’ three decades, Mr. White and Ms. Nkrumah connected many young people from West Louisville to the cultural traditions of their ancestors and to the arts. The film follows Mr. White as he gets ready to pass on the leadership of the drum corps to Albert Shumake, whose destiny was shaped by the drumline. Meanwhile, student drummers Imani, Jailen, and Emily navigate adolescence and a world in which systemic forces challenge the fulfillment of their dreams. The creative community that surrounds the drum corps mentors them and supports their journey. River City Drumbeat tells a story of music, love, and the power of legacy set in the American South.

Marlon Johnson: We were very honored that River City Drumbeat was produced with the support of a 2018 SFFILM FilmHouse Residency made possible with the generous support of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the SF Film Commission. The residency provided stellar mentorship and a fantastic cohort of narrative and documentary filmmakers who together engaged in artistic development, workshop opportunities, and support for each other’s efforts. That year at FilmHouse was a critical time in the editing and post-production phase of River City Drumbeat. The dedicated community of artists and industry professionals encouraged us to stay true to realizing our artistic vision and also propelled us to finish the film and launch it into the world.

What was it like working together as co-directors on this project?

AF: Given how long it can take to complete a feature-length documentary (in this case, four years), it was wonderful to have a creative partner to share the work, develop the vision, and help each other by sharing the highs and lows of the process. We feel our complimentary artistic approaches and cinematic styles helped us create a more truthful film.

MJ: Working with Anne as a creative partner definitely expanded my perspective and deepened how the story was told. We each discovered elements we would not have seen both during production and in the editing room, and these ended up being realized onscreen in a beautiful and transformative way that reflected this directorial collaboration.

What inspired you guys to make this film?

MJ: The film was inspired by the tireless work of the founders and current leaders of the River City Drum Corps (RCDC). We observed the impact RCDC was having and the role they were playing in saving the lives of kids in the community of Louisville. The power of the arts to steer one’s own life toward the best version of themselves is exemplified in this film. Often, art films involving youth follow a competition model; however, we wanted to take an emotional, narrative approach that more closely aligned with River City Drum Corps’ non-competitive philosophy. Mr. White has taken the long view when it comes to his corps members — building up their inner leadership and life skills so they can go on to carry those lessons into the rest of their lives. As a result, the drum corps is a strong tree rooted in African American culture, and its members and alumni are the fruit of that tree.

When we met Albert Shumake, the new leader of the corps, he was juggling a number of roles and personal milestones. He was a new father, his mother was gravely ill, and he wanted to continue working as a DJ and an artist while stepping into the very large shoes of Mr. White. His was a compelling, relatable story arc about identity, legacy, and duty. It has been a joy and a journey making this film over the last few years with the drum corps community. Their stories resonate deeply with my own experience of growing up in Miami and finding my path through the saving grace of the arts.

AF: I’ve always been drawn to stories about artists and how they create art to both reflect and shape the world inside them and around them. As a parent, I have come to understand and appreciate the work that is required to raise children by not just parents but an extended community of caring adults and mentors. These themes are at the core of River City Drumbeat. Working on films about artists has led to some beautiful creative partnerships such as this one. 
 
After Marlon and I met five years ago while working together on a video series about music in Miami (Music Makes a City Now), we knew we wanted to work together again. Our producer, Owsley Brown, was raised in Louisville, and is dedicated to independent documentaries that explore the power of art and music. He knew Edward White, the drum corps founder, and introduced us to the idea of doing a film on the stories of the community-based drum corps in west Louisville.

When Marlon and I each first met Mr. White, he shared some intense stories about his life’s work, and all of us felt this film had to happen. At that time Mr. White was at an important crossroads. He had decided to step down as leader of the corps, and spend a year mentoring Albert Shumake, a drum corps alum who returned to Louisville to take up that leadership mantle. Mr. White and Mr. Shumake quickly became our partners in telling their life stories and revealing their emotional journeys. We also followed the next generation of young drummers, including high school seniors Imani and Jailen. Ultimately, it was the collective effort of all the children in the drum corps that would drive the film’s powerful heartbeat.

Are their specific films or other media that have made an impact on the way you shaped your film?

MJ: The film Searching for Sugarman inspired me because it is, at its core, a film about a transformative journey, a film about discovery and the inherent power and effect music can have on a community. Additionally, it tells the tale of unrecognized individual brilliance. These are all themes that impacted my most recent work. The first time I experienced the film, like many, I was unfamiliar with the artist, Sixto Rodriguez. Despite this fact, the filmmaker was able to weave a passionate story of social, political and personal depth that both surprised and inspired me. Parts of that experience helped me to remember to continue to trust your instincts as a storyteller and to keep giving your audience the credit they deserve.

Similarly, in River City Drumbeat, my/our approach was to have the viewer purposely set out on a constantly unfolding journey with unfamiliar individuals and circumstances and experience the impact on a community that would eventually reveal the brilliance of those in the film. Other inspirations were Hoop Dreams, Treme, and the music of Alice Coltrane, and Shabaka and the Ancestors.

AF: There are so many films that inspire me, and I wanted to stretch stylistically and deeply explore the emotional landscapes with this film — Wings of Desire is a major influence. I love the way that film begins with reflections on childhood and you get to listen in on all these people’s interior thoughts while watching them go about their lives, and also of course the aerial shots from the perspective of the angels. For sheer visual imagery and vivid storytelling, I love Daughters of the Dust and Queen of Katwe. L’Avventura showed me that a character can have a presence in a film even after they are gone. That helped me understand how Zambia could be an important part of the film.

Working on this film about the importance of mentors also reminded me of the huge impact my own teachers and mentors had in nurturing and shaping my love of filmmaking, including Jan Krawitz, Kristine Samuelson, Nathaniel Dorsky, Jerome Hiler, and Allie Light. Playing and listening to music has always shaped my entire perspective on the world, from the time I was a child until now, so it’s a very wide range of influences.

Got any pandemic picks? How are you keeping busy while sheltering in place?

AF: I’m at home with my husband and two teenage sons, and after dinner we all like to watch shows together, and look for series that work for everyone. Since the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period began, we’ve watched: Locke & Key, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place. I’m really enjoying The Good Place because it’s about four people stuck with each other in an existential crisis and it’s also a comedy about mortality and ethics. Somehow this resonates right now…

I also have a group of friends I watch films with on a regular basis, and we moved to streaming and then meeting up on Zoom to talk about the film. We watched Crip Camp together and everyone was so glad we did. On my own, I’ve watched the series I Am Not Okay with This and Anne with an E. I’ve also taken a lot of dance breaks with Prince and other music videos on YouTube to lift the mood.

MJ: I am currently sheltering in place with my three daughters, and we’re watching HBO’s Westworld. As I move from non-fiction narratives into exploring the fictional world, the show has given me a great sense of what is possible in storytelling and how far you can push the boundaries creatively. Shows and films like Westworld and Jordan Peele’s Us are refreshing because they challenge the audience to be active participants in interpreting the world they portray, which leads to great conversations afterwards. I am also taking this time to explore other entertainment options, including a few great reads including the novel A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James as well as a few inspirational podcast series.

Since the local premiere at the SFFILM Festival was canceled, this weekend’s opening at the Roxie is the Bay Area’s first chance to see the film. What do you hope people take away from it?

AF: We hope the film moves our audiences emotionally, and that they leave the film feeling connected with the film’s protagonists, either because they recognize a community familiar to them, or because they recognize the spirit and passion embodied by the west Louisville community they get to know.

MJ: We hope this deeply personal story of cultural connection and determination, challenged by the reality of this country’s history and circumstances, will inspire and engage audiences in a lot of different ways. We also hope the film inspires audiences and communities to become more active supporters of the arts and especially youth arts programs wherever they live.

Watch River City Drumbeat starting Friday, August 7 at the Roxie Virtual Cinema: https://www.roxie.com/river-city-drumbeat/

SFFILM members have access to a live-streamed Q&A with the filmmakers and special guests on Wednesday, August 12 at 6:00 pm: https://sffilm.org/event/online-filmmaker-qa-river-city-drumbeat/

Anne Flatté is a filmmaker based in San Francisco. Her ongoing fascination with exploring the world through music and film has spanned many years and award-winning documentaries. She is director and producer of River City Drumbeat (SFFILM Festival 2020), Symphony for Nature (PBS National Broadcast, 2019) and the shorts series Music Makes a City Now (YouTube, PBS.org). Flatté is a producer of the feature documentary Serenade for Haiti (SFFILM Festival 2017). Her editing credits include Monumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America (2004), What Do You Believe? (2003), Daughters and Sons (2005) and Devil’s Teeth (2005). Flatté has a M.A. in documentary film and video from Stanford University, where she directed the award-winning shorts Interlove Story and Body of Tradition. She has a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley. Since 2002, her other major occupation is parenting two children, who are now teenagers.

Marlon Johnson is a ten-time Emmy award-winning producer and director. He has worked on award-winning documentary films exploring music and cultural issues like Singular (2019) Symphony in D (2017); Sunday’s Best (2010) and Coconut Grove: A Sense of Place (2005). The Ford Foundation commissioned Johnson to direct the documentary Breaking the Silence (2006) which chronicled the rise of HIV infection in the Black American South. Johnson served as Head of Production and Senior Producer/Editor for Plum TV and helped create TeleAmerica Broadcasting Network. His documentary Deep City: Birth of the Miami Sound (SXSW 2014) aired nation-wide on PBS. He has a B.S. in Communications from University of Miami.

SFFILM’s FilmHouse residency program is currently accepting applications for the 2021 term; the deadline to apply is August 31. Visit sffilm.org/makers for details.

Guest Post: FilmHouse Resident Tasha Van Zandt on the Power of Storytelling in a Time of Isolation

COMMUNITY AND CONNECTION THROUGH ART: THE MAKING OF “ONE THOUSAND STORIES”
by Tasha Van Zandt

“We tell our stories in order to live.” — Joan Didion

Storytelling is at the core of humanity. Long before humankind developed the tools to read or write, we shared information in the form of oral storytelling. Humans have been sharing stories since we first learned to communicate, and it is the device that has always connected us. As generations grow older, it is the stories we tell that are passed down that shape our future generations and the way we understand the world. As we look back on our history, it is the stories of our past that shape our present.

From the Chauvet Cave paintings found in France, to the songlines of Indigenous Australians, to the Epic of Gilgamesh, to the Egyptian hieroglyphics, these stories give messages to future generations. Today, we tell stories through countless methods, and they are the web that guide the way we structure our lives. Through the experience of processing stories, we are able to expand our understanding and better connect with the world around us. Story at its most basic level is a device designed to unify people and is the way that we relate. In reality, we are all storytellers, building the web of the understanding of the world around us through the tales we tell. When we ask ​“how are you?”​ on a daily basis, we are asking for a story. We are asking each other every day to be storytellers in some small way. It is the tool that connects us all and holds the profound ability to build cultural bridges that lead to greater global understanding.

For me, being a storyteller is at the core of who I am. Documentaries are one of the most profound forms of storytelling as they allow others to see the world from a new perspective. They so often can be a tool for connection, education, and growth. Documentaries often motivate us to evaluate and ask critical questions of ourselves and the world around us, leaving us with answers that can transform our own worldview. As a documentary filmmaker, I’m driven to telling stories that spark change and create impact. I’ve been drawn to the power of stories since as far back as I can remember. Now, in this time when we are all part of the same story due to the pandemic, I have been thinking more deeply about storytelling as a tool for connection and community. As the first generation in my mother’s family to be born in the United States, stories were the tool that connected me with our history and expanded my worldview. The stories my family told bolstered my own personal history and connected me with the path I wanted to pave. It is through storytelling that I realized the power of connection and community.

My short documentary film One Thousand Stories: The Making of a Mural explores this power of storytelling as a tool for connection. The film follows renowned French artist JR in the creation of his first ever video mural project, ​The Chronicles of San Francisco​, which brought together over 1,200 people into one work of art. I happened upon the project very serendipitously while walking through the Outer Sunset in San Francisco. I stumbled upon a 53-foot semi-truck trailer emblazoned with a large pair of wheat-pasted black and white eyes on the side. Upon further inspection, I realized that the truck was serving as a mobile photo and video studio for artist JR, whose work I had admired for years. JR and his team were on their first day of a month-long project called ​The Chronicles of San Francisco, ​which documented the residents of the city through video portraits and audio recordings. As I approached the truck, I was invited to become one of the first participants of the mural on the very first day.

Upon entering the truck, I was fascinated by JR’s process, and noticed that there was no one to document the creation of the piece itself. After introducing myself and my work as a documentarian to JR, I asked if I could come back the next day to begin following their journey in the creation of this piece. Given the small space within the truck and the rapid pace of the project, I documented the process as a one-person crew, handling the camerawork, as well as sound. After all was said and done, the project brought together people from all walks of life into a single work of art from locations across the city. Over the course of a month, JR and his team set up his mobile studio in 22 locations around San Francisco, where he interviewed and photographed people across the city’s multifaceted communities. Everyone was photographed in the same light and same way, and no one was turned away. Long-inspired by the work of Mexican painter Diego Rivera, who completed three murals in San Francisco beginning in 1931, JR reimagined how a whole city and its diversity of residents can be represented together through art.

Throughout the project, I gathered as much coverage as possible to create an immersive edit with my editor Dana Laman, who is a close collaborator of mine. Together we worked for months after the project was complete, going through the footage to build the film in a way that felt immersive and true to the experience of the creation of the piece. The mural itself is a project that celebrates the power of connection through storytelling. In the completed work, a digital mural scrolls across a seamless bank of screens, bringing together the faces and untold stories of the people we encounter every day. As you go through the mural, you can click on the face of each participant and hear their story through an app that the team created.

Throughout the creation of the project, I was moved by JR’s energetic embrace of the artistic process. He was constantly in such a present state of awareness with each participant, and was able to forge a genuine connection with so many people on such a large scale which was transformative to be able to see. One of the aspects that I find most beautiful about this mural is that everyone was able to choose how they wanted to be represented in the mural. In this way, it truly became a collaborative and participatory work of art between the artist and participants. It has been very special to reflect on this project during this time of isolation, and it’s a reflection of community within a city that is often divided. To see so many individuals united in one project is a powerful experience, and especially now that the world has changed so dramatically due to the COVID crisis, it truly feels as if this mural has become a time capsule into the past. The notion that JR was able to amass these disparate voices and characters into a single mural is a remarkable feat that has transformed my personal perspective on the power of art.

Much like JR stitched together the portraits and images to make the mural, my editor and I worked to stitch together the footage to create the edit that is ​One Thousand Stories.​ After the film was complete, it screened with JR’s mural at SFMOMA, and later was selected to screen in the Golden Gate Awards competition at the 2020 San Francisco International Film Festival as well as DOC NYC, Big Sky International Film Festival, the Museum of Moving Image, and the International Center For Photography. The film was the first of many collaborations with JR, and I have since had the opportunity to work with JR on the TIME magazine ​Guns in America​ project, The Chronicles of New York City p​roject, and The ​Chronicles of Cuba ​project. Currently, we are in development together on a feature-length documentary about his work at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

It’s been very special to reflect back on this project currently at this time of isolation. At the time of making the documentary and observing the creation of the mural, it certainly felt like a unique experience, but we could have never expected how truly remarkable it would become today. Currently, I am a 2020 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident, which has been a transformative anchor this year. With the pandemic, we’ve all had to adapt to immense change, but the robust and thriving film community in the Bay Area has been wonderfully supportive. The FilmHouse community has felt like a space where we can adapt and move forward into this new world together, and it’s been a privilege to learn from so many other filmmakers in this time.

Stories, much like life itself, have three parts: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Right now, it feels like we are all at the beginning of a new story, one which none of us can fully predict the ending yet. As Margaret Atwood once said, “when you are in the middle of a story it isn’t a story at all, but only a confusion. It’s only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story.” Although this is a time of great uncertainty, it can also be a time of discovery as well in the way in which we choose to build our new ending.

Storytelling, and specifically the craft of filmmaking, is such an important tool to transport us into perspectives outside of our own and build bridges that can lead to greater empathy. I fully believe in the power of film as a tool for change. The stories we tell matter. They shape our futures, and record our pasts. When I recall the mural that JR and his team created, I imagine the way in which future generations may regard it in a similar manner as the cave paintings or frescos of the past, as a document of a moment in time that helps us reshape our future.

Tasha Van Zandt is a documentary film director, cinematographer, and Emmy-nominated producer who has traveled on assignment around the globe across all seven continents. Her most recent film,​ After Antarctica,​ is a feature-length documentary that follows the life of one of National Geographic’s most celebrated polar explorers. The project is supported by the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and SFFILM, and will be released in early 2021. Van Zandt’s previous film, ​One Thousand Stories,​ offers an intimate look into the creation of the artist JR’s first interactive mural which was exhibited at the SFMOMA. The film was selected for the 2019 DOC NYC Festival, the 2020 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, was selected to screen in the Golden Gate Awards competition at the 2020 San Francisco International Film Festival. One Thousand Stories can currently be streamed via several virtual cinemas nationwide. Her award-winning documentary series ​Five Minutes from Home with Stephen Curry garnered millions of views around the world, and featured guests such as E-40, Daveed Diggs, and many more. Her work has been commissioned by TIME magazine, the Guardian, PBS, NPR, Google, and Adobe, among many others. Throughout the year, Van Zandt leads photography and filmmaking expeditions around the world for National Geographic in places such as Tanzania, Iceland, Australia, and Japan. She is a 2019 Film Independent Documentary Lab Fellow, a 2019 Sundance Institute Fellow, a 2020 SFFILM Sloan Stories of Science Fellow, and a 2020 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident.

For more information about SFFILM’s artist development programs, visit sffilm.org/makers.