Picture perfect: Mark Cousins during his trip to educate kids about movie making
Do you remember the first time you saw a film?
People write about the magic of the movies, but Mark Cousins' The First Movie captures the amazement and wonder of the big screen. Produced by Edinburgh based Connect Films, the film sees Cousins travel to Kurdish-Iraqui village Goptapa, firstly to show the chidren some classic films (including ET, The Red Balloon and The Singing Ringing Tree), before handing them video cameras so the children can go and make their own films.
“We wanted to look at the perceptions of a place, as well as the magic of film,” producer Gill Parry told me. “The moments of watching the children try to grab the balloons rom the screen, or the cheers that went up as ET went home made for a brilliant experience.”
Now it is reminding viewers and critics just how powerful film can be.
This is Connect Film's first full length feature, and following a limited release of the film to critical acclaim in the UK through Picture House Documentaries, and a screening at the recent Glasgow Film Festival, the next step is to present the film at SXSW and look for distribution in America.
The film is in a challenging space, and Parry did have some early worries about 'Iraq fatigue' and the genre spanning nature of the film, “it is the first 'magical-realist documentary out there. We wanted to make something that showed a side of the area that we saw in reality, rather that the media images of blood dreneched victims or suicide bombers.”
While it's a difficult subject, that didn't stop the film picking up support from Scottish Screen and a number of broadcasters, including Channel 4, Finland's YTE and Germany's ZPS.
The goal for SXSW is pretty clear for Parry. “We've had a year of going round festivals, but this is kicking off the US trip,” Parry explained. “Pushing the film should help us to sell it to broadcasters, and we hope for a limited release in America.”
What's great is the connection from the film back to Goptapa is still strong – profits from the UK run have went towards cameras and computing for the village so the children can continue their creations.
Who knows, perhaps we'll see one of them at a Film Festival in the future?
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