contented
GO by Nina Hynes. A music video.
A NEW LANDSCAPE
As the walls closed in and the seriousness of the Covid-19 crisis became apparent, as nurses, doctors, hospital porters, cleaners and supermarket checkout workers, became national heroes, I began to ask myself some questions. How can I make a meaningful difference in the current climate as a creative person? What can we as the Contented team do to make some kind of positive contribution in a rapidly changing world. I don’t have the answers but here’s what I have found helpful.
MUSCLE MEMORY
Firstly, pandemic or no pandemic, creativity is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised in order to continue to work effectively. The longer it slacks off the harder it is to get it back up to speed. Secondly, see limitations as assets rather than liabilities. Use what’s available to you. My kids got so bored while being away from their friends that they were happy to join in creative exercises. We shot several scenes from their favourite tv shows with them in the lead roles. You’ll be amazed at how rich the possibilities are.
RECONNECT
Despite my reclusive tendencies and the constant struggle to get away from the screens, I found lockdown to be a great time to be more active online and reach out to friends and acquaintances. Several years ago I used a track by the artist Nina Hynes on a tv commercial, and since that time we have been facebook contacts without really knowing each other. With a new album out and the prospect of a long lockdown looming, Nina put out a facebook call to filmmakers to ask if anyone might have the possibility to create some visuals to accompany the new songs.
ANAMORPHIC
Meanwhile, I had finally received delivery of a new anamorphic lens that I had purchased from Atlas Lens Co. in L.A. and I was very keen to test it out. At first I thought of just going around the city shooting cityscapes, perhaps with a some people shots too, but I quickly realised that this would be a waste and it would take as much effort to do that as to make something simple but specific for someone else to make use of too, whether they had a budget or not. I listened to the album and one song, Go, stood out for me. I particularly liked the line in the chorus ‘Dancing in my head’. In visual terms I felt that it opened a door into an imaginative space and this would enable the character or characters in the video to do things out of the ordinary. The use of the new anamorphic lens, albeit playing down the anamorphic look, would be another tool to pull the story into a slightly surreal territory.
COLLABORATION
Then, I thought about Michael, a professional dancer from Paris now living in Oslo. As well as being the boyfriend of my kids’ French teacher, which is how we met, we had been on the same flight to Oslo from Barcelona in January and had a chance to talk as we headed from the airport back into town. One of the things we discussed was the idea of doing a short dance film. I got in touch after one of the kids’ Skype French classes recently and he agreed that we could do something so long as we maintained social distancing through the shoot. He also said that he could bring two of his dance students on board and contribute as a choreographer. The idea that we wanted to capture was to express, through movement, the feelings of frustration that people have had since the lockdown began. The sense of missing even the small things that we may have always taken for granted. The difficulty of readjusting to the new normal. And, of course, the fact that we have to keep our distance from other people, something that goes against our natural human instincts.
ENGAGE WITH THE MOMENT
So going back to my starting point what can we do to make a positive contribution as creators? Use your skills in service to something bigger – we have also produced a promo film, pro bono, for a national fundraising campaign, and keep creating. Look for ways to make sense of a changing world. Will a music video help the world to heal? Probably not, but possibly just a little. The point is engage creatively with the moment, especially when it’s as monumental and historical as the one we are in right now. It may resonate, it may help someone make sense of something in their life and perhaps even help them get through the day.
Documentary on Migration vs. Immigration in Italy
La Guarimba International Short Film Festival in Amantea
The film SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO is a short documentary on migration versus immigration in Italy. We shot in and around Amantea, Calabria, Italy. Giulio Vita and Sara Fratini commissioned the film. Both are the founders and directors of the La Guarimba International Short Film Festival in Amantea. The festival is driven by the mission statement of bringing cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema. Therefore it was our intention from the start to build our film in and around the community of Amantea and Calabria as a region itself.
A Collaboration
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO is the first collaboration by Korean based German filmmaker Nils Clauss and Swiss filmmaker Thomas Horat. Nils and Thomas met when they participated in the La Guarimba International Short Film Festival in Italy in 2017. After the festival Giulio Vita, the director of the festival, invited them to return in 2018 to create a film in and around Amantea in Calabria, Italy. This is what originated this film.
Modern Migration in Italy
Migration has been part of everyday life for the poor in Calabria and the Italian South since the 19th century. Unlike in the pre-war periods, the bulk of migration from the second half of the 20th century was mainly from small towns and villages in rural areas of southern Italian regions. This includes Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo and Campania. People from those areas migrated primarily in search of a better living conditions and a higher income.
Migration and the Element of Return
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO started as a project meant to look at the phenomenon of Italian migration with a specific focus on the element of return. By focusing on a range of individuals around the city of Amantea, we wanted to see what kind of impact migration had on the region. Which conflicts arose upon the migrants temporary or permanent return?
Migration versus Immigration
Nevertheless, this turned out to be only one part of the story of the final film. When we met Stanley Eboigbe from Nigeria during the casting process, we were inspired to follow up on the story of Italian migration. We wanted to see why that own experience of so many Italians, has not been helpful to make things easier for recent refugees who come and try to make a living in Italy. Daniele Chiodo, one of the three main characters, says in the film: “We were migrants too. We were possibly worse than them. We have to earn millions just to be happy. It’s like a circle. They come here, and we go away. And then we can’t find a job here. It’s a huge mess. Come on, what does it mean that now we don’t want to host them?”
Nothing in Common?
At first sight Daniele, Saveria and Stanley have nothing in common due to their different backgrounds. Although by sharing their hopes and dreams about leaving or staying in Italy, their stories surprisingly overlap. For example Saveria, who has lived as an emigrant in Venezuela for a big portion of her life, in a way shares the same feelings as Stanley about living in Italy after her return. For her like Stanley it is difficult to relate to the local people who have never left Italy, or even the region of Calabria.
“Us” versus “Them” and the Overlap
This kind of feeling of alienation or clash of two different value systems is what this film focuses on. By showing the gap between the life experiences between the “here” (in Italy) and “there” (outside of Italy) and the distinction often made between “us” and “them”, the film intends to show how emigrants, immigrants and migrants share a lot of the same issue. Although what creates the difference is the social, economical and political perception within each individuals surrounding habitat.
Jeff Wall & Stephen Waddell
In contrast to those three different stories the directors tell, other Italian emigrants and African refugees are also present in the film. Based on a more photographic portrait style approach, which pays tribute to the work of contemporary photographers Jeff Wall and Stephen Waddell, we stage a range of scenarios within the film, where people hide their identities by either facing away from camera or by covering their faces.
Inspiration of Visual Style
An Italian news reel at the beginning of the film explains how Italian emigrants were not welcome to Switzerland when the country closed its borders to Italy in 1965. While we hear very hostile comments by some Swiss people being interviewed on the street, the news footage overlaps with those identity hidden portrait shots. This create a feeling of shame. Then those Italians, who have been ashamed living as emigrants overseas obviously build an arch to the refugees, who currently seek asylum in Europe and have to face a lot of xenophobia. This is why in shame they turn away from the camera lens in those stylized portrait shots. Aesthetically, this approach also allows us to break with more traditional concepts of documentary based storytelling and hopefully contributed to shape a less linear film.
Thank you very much, Nils & Thomas
JOURNEY TO LADAKH. A Samsung Promo
Three different characters on a journey through the rugged beauty of the Himalayan landscape in and around the town of Leh. As their paths cross we are shown how technology and tradition go hand in hand in this remote part of the world.
CONTENTED is very excited to get the opportunity to work on this project both in terms of working in India and with a big brand like Samsung. None of us had been to India before. Ladakh may not be the India that comes immediately to mind for most people, but it was an extremely evocative place all the same with so much to fascinate and inspire us.
First we had to shake the altitude sickness and figure out how to walk up a flight of stairs without being completely out of breath. After that we could easily see what makes Ladakh and the town of Leh such a popular starting point for visitors who want to explore the Himalayas.
As well as the simple storylines that we had outlined beforehand, we were very keen to capitalise on the character and flavour of the place. We were ably assisted in this by teaming up with an experienced local support team. They pointed us in the right direction and shared some of the many secrets of their home town with us.
We wanted to show in a subtle way how Samsung has a presence even in the most remote communities around the world and how that presence can co-exist without having an adverse effect on the local culture and way of life.
We hope we have succeeded and that you enjoy our film.
THIS ISLAND IS OURS. Feature Documentary
The territorial dispute between Japan and Korea over the ownership of the Dokdo/Takeshima islets is not limited to state to state relations. In both countries there are citizens’ groups actively engaged in protesting, lobbying and educating the public. This Island is Ours follows a Korean kindergarten caretaker with a background in student activism and a recently widowed Japanese housewife as they campaign tirelessly for the soveignty of the tiny islets that are currently controlled by Korea, but also claimed by Japan. This film creates a rare insight into the lives of the two activists on both sides by presenting their parallel experiences from a neutral point of view.
This documentary results from collaboration between Seoul based filmmaker Nils Clauss and Wellington based Alexander Bukh, a scholar of international relations of Northeast Asia.
MILLET. M LIMITED S/S 2016
This is a short video produced by CONTENTED, directed by Jean-Julien Pous and shot by Nils Clauss. The video was made for M Limited Spring Summer 2016, a sportswear division of Millet.
GOETHE PROMO. It’s a wrap!
Nils Clauss and Neil Dowling recently wrapped production for the Goethe Institut promo film. We would like to thank the Goethe Institut and the whole team for their tremendous support. A special thanks goes out to the 3 main characters of the film: Kkobbi Kim, Seungmin Cha and Kyung-Sung Lee.
UIC Promo Video
The UIC promo video A PATH TO SUCCESS just went online. Adam Hobbs, Kuiock Park and Nils Clauss would like to thank Hyungji Park, Jade Choi, Ji Hye Jung, Levi Patel, Nicholas Mockridge, Neil Ardiff, Neil Dowling, Sungil Lee, Sun Kyung Park, Christoph Gularowski, Park Hyo Hun, Wooram Jung, Min Sang Ahn, Jongbok Lee, Aedel Park, Hassan Haider, Yonsei University, Exit Studios, Club Cage, Christian Blood & all the students in this video for their amazing help.
For more information on UIC follow this link.
RUNNER UP. Music Video of the Year
Great News! The music video MOONCHILD for M83 has been selected as one of the 5 RUNNER-UP videos for the Genero Music Video of the year 2013.
A young girl dreams of going into outer space. When she finally gets there she zaps the evil aliens into a peaceful groove with her ray gun. Follow this link, in order to check out this music video by Nils Clauss and Neil Dowling.