366- The 1st "Dream Team" contest, 3 teams, 3 cities of lights, 3 films for feeling better, December 2023...

Après une année 2023 très riche en rencontres et en créations cinématographiques, le sapin de Noël "une équipe de rêve" 2023 s'illumine de 3 nouveaux films : "3 films for feeling better in december ". Ce sont aujourd'hui 18 films qui scintillent de vos lumières, celles qui nous guident vers un monde meilleur, "un filmer le monde pour le transformer" qui porte les spectateurs vers de nouveaux horizons, des perspectives qui ouvrent nos intelligences et parlent à nos sensibilités. Let's film again! 
Toutes nos belles rencontres ont insufflé une belle et forte envie de faire des films, le plus régulièrement possible, surtout de cultiver ce dialogue interculturel de manière permanente, vous êtes aujourd'hui un collectif européen de 100 personnes, une vraie troupe de cinéma Borders.
Pour ce premier "contest" "une équipe de rêve" 2023-2024 à distance, trois équipes de cinéma, trois villes (Ancenis, Salamanque et Sarajevo), vous envoient "leurs fibres cinématographiques". Encore merci à toutes et tous pour votre engagement et la qualité de votre travail, vous êtes "so Borders", je suis fier de vous.

After a year 2023 very rich in meetings and cinematographic creations, the 2023 “dream team” Christmas tree is lit up with 3 new films: “3 films for feeling better in December”. Today there are 18 films that sparkle with your lights, those that guide us towards a better world, "filming the world to transform it" which takes spectators towards new horizons, perspectives which open our minds and speak to our minds. sensitivities. Let's film again!
All our wonderful encounters instilled a strong and beautiful desire to make films as regularly as possible, especially to cultivate this intercultural dialogue on a permanent basis, you are a big european collective built by 100 persons, a real cinema and creative scene.
For this first "contest" "a dream team" 2023-2024 remotely, three cinema teams, three cities (Ancenis, Salamanca and Sarajevo), send you "their cinematographic fibers". Thank you again to everyone for your commitment and the quality of your work, you are “so Borders”, I am proud of you.

I suggest you help them progress in their cinematographic works by sending me the following questionnaire to my email fhenryborders@gmail.com:

1-the film that touched you the most (please underline one)
movie 1
movie 2
movie 3

2-the film which is for me the most original (please underline one mention)
movie 1
movie 2
movie 3

3-the film which, for you, addresses a strong subject and can trigger a social debate (please underline one mention)
movie 1
movie 2
movie 3

4-remarks from Stéphane Cazes (director of the films OMBLINE and TETES GIVREES) and Stephan Bookas (director and cinematographer who worked on IMPOSSIBLE MISSION, ROGUE ONE, LES GARDIENS DE LA GALAXIE, LE CRIME DE L'ORIENT EXPRESS, DR STRANGE...).

Bonne projection à toutes et tous / good screening for all - enjoy..... and Joyeux noël / Happy Christmas....

FILM 1 : SARAJEVO'S DREAM TEAM THE FILM WITH THE MOST STRONG SUBJECT

FILM 2 : SALAMANCA'S DREAM TEAM THE FILM THE MOST EMOTIONAL

FILM 3 : ANCENIS'S DREAM TEAM  THE FILM THE MORE ORIGINAL

1-SOME WORDS OF STEPHANE CAZES

Bonjour à tous,
Félicitation pour vos films ! On sent que vous prenez plaisir à les faire, à jouer dedans, que vous vous amusez en travaillant, et cela rend les films très agréables à regarder, même si je n'ai pas bien compris les histoires de "El Regalo Perfecto" et "Nettle Shampoo", à cause de mon niveau d'anglais qui est très mauvais.
Pour "La réunion", vous avez une belle galerie de personnages, tous touchants, avec un ton décalé et drôle. C'est chouette !
Si vous voulez développer cette histoire, ou une autre dans un prochain film, n'hésitez pas à penser en terme d'intrigue (but, motivation, enjeu, urgence) une fois que vous avez présenté vos personnages.
Ca fait plaisir aussi dans vos films quand vous faites de la "mise en scène", que vous travaillez les plans et le montage pour les rendre spécifiques à une séquence. N'oubliez pas aussi de penser à l'univers sonore. Vous pouvez continuer ce travail dans vos prochains films avec l'idée de ne pas juste "filmer le scénario" mais de donner une nouvelle dimension à chaque séquence.
Félicitations encore et je vous souhaite d'excellentes fêtes à tous,

Congratulations on your films! We feel that you enjoy making them, playing in them, that you have fun while working, and that makes the films very pleasant to watch, even if I didn't really understand the stories of "El Regalo Perfecto" and " Nettle Shampoo", because of my level of English which is very poor.
For "The Reunion", you have a beautiful gallery of characters, all touching, with an offbeat and funny tone. It's nice !
If you want to develop this story, or another in a future film, don't hesitate to think in terms of plot (goal, motivation, stake, urgency) once you have introduced your characters.
It's also nice in your films when you do "staging", when you work on the shots and the editing to make them specific to a sequence. Don't forget to also think about the sound world. You can continue this work in your next films with the idea of not just “filming the script” but of giving a new dimension to each sequence.
Congratulations again and I wish you all happy holidays,
Stephane.

2-SOME REMARKS FROM STEPHAN BOOKAS 

EL REGALO PERFECTO

Well done! Very warm and emotional film :)

Suggestion: I think the first scene has too much expositional dialogue too early on. I’m being told what to think and I’m not feeling it. One suggestion would be to start the film with the second scene, with her looking at jewellery in the shop windows. That way we are wondering: What is she doing? Is she looking for something for herself? For someone she loves? For a mother/daughter/grandmother? It makes the audience guess and that means the audience is more engaged from the very start. Then you can have the dialogue scene about who she is looking to buy jewellery for.

Or you could also start with a scene between granddaughter and grandmother, even just spending time together (maybe the moment that the photo was taken, that is on the cover of the album at the end of the film). To show us the emotional bond between the two.

The scene with the idea of giving her abuela a cane is funny, but I kind of wanted to see one or two more of those. It’s a lighthearted moment and those usually work best when you stack them with a few more. Also it’s the only time we see a “what if” moment, so it feels a bit out of place if it only happens one time.

It’s very nicely shot and a great achievement for only 2 days! I know how hard it is!

Think about transitions between scenes. Fades to black can feel very abrupt. When you’re writing a script, always spend a minute or two thinking: how can I transition from this scene to the next? What’s a linking shot? Sometimes it’s just in the edit. You can linger on one shot a few seconds. Sometimes you can find something that will help you transition.

I really like the idea of multiple people trying to help her choose a gift and everyone has a different idea, making it more and more impossible to choose.  

Also nice sequence when she finally makes the gift.  And very beautiful ending. And again: if we see the moment between granddaughter and grandmother at the beginning of the film, and then see that photo in the album at the end of the film, it’s like opening and closing a circle, which is always satisfying in a short film.

Of course, these are just suggestions! It’s very impressive!

———

NETTLE SHAMPOO

Good setup to establish who our main character is and that he’s (acting like) a complete asshole. Also, him cleaning up and getting ready for something makes me wonder why he’s doing it. What that’s for.

But when his roommate gets home, it seems that it doesn’t really matter to him that everything’s tidy. It’s to make a good impression but in the end he isn’t even trying that hard to come across as a productive person. In fact he keeps insulting his friend/roommate. So it's a bit of a non sequitur. But the power dynamic between the two is certainly interesting.

The clean breaking of the 4th wall and meta layer is definitely surprising. Like a WTF moment, haha. So now of course I’m slightly outside the film, aware I’m watching actors rather than characters. But I’m intrigued.

And then when the “lesson” begins the film moves more into documentary territory. So it’s definitely not sticking to a genre (which is not a bad thing). And it’s good that you’re sticking with the meta approach and don’t just discard it.

The little scenes around the lessons are funny, like little sketches. They are of course absurd so they serve as a tone shift in the film. For now we have gone from relationship drama > meta narrative > documentary/mockumentary > sketch comedy… and I wonder where we go next.

And dealing with subjects of misogyny, male supremacy and societal expectations/pressure in an interesting way.

The transition after the girls’ 4th wall break is very abrupt. It would help to see that there was a time jump. If he was kicked out the day before, we have to see that, even if it’s just a quick cut. I had no idea that it’s a new day. The two black t-shirts our main character is wearing are very similar, which doesn’t help, so I thought it was just a continuation. Costume choices are part of storytelling so keep that in mind. Also the shot selection is too similar.

It’s great that the 4th wall breaks throughout are different every time. So it doesn’t get boring and stays fresh.

The ending is kind of weird but I like the experimental quality of it, even if it’s of course very self-referential. But the self-deprecating parts actually work well as they make me think that everything I’m seeing is deliberate, even when it’s sometimes not having its intended effect. If that makes any sense.

Overall could use some cutting down but even if it’s 18 minutes, it didn’t feel overly long.

Well done team, definitely enjoyed it!

———

LA RÉUNION

Like the setup a lot at the beginning with the feet. Allows me to settle in to the film visually without immediately jumping into dialogue/exposition.

Overall the setup is good and clear and we are all on the same page of what’s happening.

The transition into Damien’s story is a little abrupt, but again, that’s a question of finding the right transitional shot here to go into his backstory. It’s a tonal shift into something quite comedic. Dry humour, and it works.

Everything’s over the top, the costumes, the makeup, so I understand we’re not meant to be taking it too seriously. And that helps, especially when it’s about such serious subject matters.

And then with Lucile’s story it goes from dry humour to dark humour.

The next story seems to go even further in that direction but of course the film stops here (at least on the Youtube link I have) so I’m very keen on seeing the final scenes of the film.

Good job on all this so far though, it’s very promising!