While the world watches the unfolding crisis in Syria, on Friday 13 September the Frontline Club hosted a special series of short films made in and around the conflict zone.

Through the lens of each filmmaker, the selection of five short documentaries explored the different ways in which the choices they make, and the framing of their subjects, influence the so-called contract with the viewer.

The evening began with Borderland, Simon Mitchell’s personal exploration of the frontier between Lebanon and Syria. One Palestinian refugee tells the camera that there isn’t any country the Palestinians are comfortable in but Syria, whilst a wounded FSA cadre declares he will take his crutch in one hand and grab his gun in the other. Mitchell’s decision to interview subjects with varying political agendas, reveals the extraordinarily complexity of the situation on the ground.

Directed by Marina Darmaros and Wissam Moukayed, Transition is a deeply personal account of the filmmaker and former Syrian Army officer Moukayed, who left his country to study journalism in Russia. As he did not feel the Russian media were telling the full story, he went back to his home country to see with his own eyes what is going on. The film offered a fascinating account of the conflict in light of Russia’s growing involvement in the crisis.

Transition raises questions surrounding the dichotomy between subjectivity and objectivity in documentary filmmaking, as Moukayed is both the filmmaker and to a certain extent becomes the subject of his own film. Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution can be viewed as another example of this dichotomy. Director Matthew VanDyke has strong relationships with the people whose lives he portrayed and his own involvement is also a part of the story.

VanDyke describes himself not only as a documentary filmmaker, but also as a freedom fighter and former POW. His short film recounts the lives of two young Syrians: a 32-year-old rebel commander and a young photojournalist both determined to fight for a better future. As a revolutionary himself, the audience is responding to these particular and personal acts of resistance.

In 2012, with help from the opposition network, photographer Seamus Murphy travels into Syria from Turkey and the result is Syrian Spring, a sequence of stills and video. The blasting sounds of gunfire and the use of multimedia, painted a full and disturbing six-minute picture of the reality on the ground from the perspective of the FSA.

In The Bombing of al-Bara, Olly Lambert documents the raw impact of regime air strikes on a civilian population in a 36-minute digital feature accompanying his documentary Syria: Across the Lines. In his narration, Lambert explains to the audience what is going on both around him and inside his head. One of the problems he faced was the persistence and willingness of people to put themselves before the camera, who use the filmmaker as an opportunity to express their anger towards the regime. He also admits he is forced to “put off” how he feels about what is happening around him. At one point during the filming he is asked to turn off his camera, and the audience must consider the length to which a journalist should go before filming becomes insensitive.

In one shot, Lambert loses his temper as people encourage him to film a seriously injured man and in so doing delay taking him for medical treatment. His rare and immersive footage gave the audience a powerful insight of what it is to work on the front line.

Borderland (UK) When the shells rain down it is easy to pick out the victims from the bad guys, but in the porous borderlands between Lebanon and Syria the story isn’t as black and white. Shot from December 2011-January 2012 in the Lebanese Syrian borders, the hills outside of Homs and the streets of Beirut. Borderland is a journey into the often contradictory and confusing Levantine world where one man’s liberator is another man’s despot.
Directed by Simon Mitchell
Duration: 16′ | Year: 2012

Transition (RU) follows former Syrian Army officer Wissam Moukayed, who left the country to study journalism in Russia, the only state that would grant him a visa. Suspecting the Russian media does not tell the full story of the situation in his home country, he decides to go back and see for himself.
Directed by Marina Darmaros and Wissam Moukayed
Duration 15′ | Year: 2013

Not Anymore: Story of Revolution (US) tells the story of the Syrian struggle for freedom as experienced by a 32 year old rebel commander, Mowya, and a 24 year old female journalist, Nour, in Aleppo. Director Matthew VanDyke describes himself as a freedom fighter, former POW and documentary filmmaker. In this short he captures why the Syrian people are fighting for their freedom.
Directed by Matthew VanDyke
Duration: 14′ | Year: 2013

The Bombing of al-Bara (UK) On 28th October 2012, a government jet dropped a large bomb on the village of al-Bara. Only 300 meters away, Olly Lambert was filming a meeting of rebel soldiers. While keeping his camera rolling, Lambert documented the shocking impact of regime air strikes on a civilian population. The result is a rare, immersive portrait of the reality of civil war.

Directed by Olly Lambert
Duration: 36′ | Year: 2012

Syrian Spring (UK) In 2012 photographer Seamus Murphy traveled into Syria from Turkey with help from the opposition network. Combining stills and video he documents the opposition network, the arterial core of the Syrian revolution and the main target for Assad in his efforts to crush dissent.

Directed by Seamus Murphy
Duration: 6′ | Year: 2012

Home video changed the way the world consumed films, it had an enormous cultural and historical impact. Low cost equipment and the rise of VHS tapes created unprecedented opportunities for the film industry. For the first time, video made it possible for small independent production companies to operate on an even playing field with the major film studios.

More movies were released on VHS than DVD could ever hope to see. A vast amount of culture seems to have been lost, with a huge number of films released during the VHS years that never transferred over to DVD. Rewind This! goes further than the discussions of those who fetishise obsolete technologies. Genre celebrities like Frank Henenlotter (whose film Basket Case became a VHS cult), Charles Band and Roy Frumkes discuss how VHS changed the ability to make and distribute films, in an enlightening and nostalgic look back at a now dead technology.

Through the rise and fall of VHS, director Josh Johnson discusses media consumption, zero budget filmmaking, unchecked global piracy and an exploding film industry where everything was possible – developments that laid the foundation for today’s digital culture.

Directed by Josh Johnson
Duration: 93′
Year: 2013

This screening is part of a summer season looking at the way technological changes are shaping the way we document the world and interact with it. See the full programme here.

This one day workshop in documentary storytelling seeks to bridge this gap. It aims to teach filmmakers and editors the ways in which a strong and coherent story can be told through the power of documentary. This will not only elevate the standard of a documentary but also increase the impact of its message. Following the workshop, you can expect to:

• Recognize the elements that will make your film even stronger
• Waste less time filming scenes that aren’t necessary
• Be better prepared to follow the unexpected
• Be better equipped to make a creative, engaging documentary film.

The workshop will look at how stories are shaped in short and feature documentaries for both cinema and TV. Clips from documentaries will be shown, and participants will be encouraged to actively engage. Participants will be given a recommended documentary viewing list before the workshop, so that they are familiar with the documentaries referenced in the workshop.

10am – 11.30am
What is a story? What drives a documentary? Types of story.

11.30am – 11.45am
Break

11.45am – 1.00pm
How a story begins in the mind of the film maker – tapping into your creative instinct, and extracting the story.
Choosing the right approach.
Creative arrangement: structure

1.00pm – 2.00 pm
Lunch

2.00 pm – 3.30pm
How to use story to write a treatment and a pitch (and get commissioned).

3.30pm – 3.45pm
Break

3.45pm – 5.00pm
Shooting with the story in mind.
Editing – saving a documentary that was shot with no story in mind.

Run by filmmaker, director and lecturer, Yolanda Barker. She has lectured in Documentary Film at the University of East London and co-created a module to include documentary storytelling in the syllabus. Outside of teaching Yolanda is a self-editing documentary film director with over seven years of industry experience.

Morning:

Cinematography theory
Composition and framing
Focus, field of view and depth of field
Rule of thirds and the Golden Rule
Shooting techniques in controlled and uncontrolled environments

Afternoon:

Practical demonstration
Film grammar
Creating cutaways, sequences and narrative framing
Setting up a variety of shots
Moving with the camera
Utlising natural and available lighting.

Saturday 13th August, 10am-5pm

Course Leader:

Mike Dodds has shot over 200 documentaries for the late current affairs series ‘World in Action’, ITN’s ‘This Week’, and documentaries for CBS, ABC and NBC. His media awards include: Royal Television Society (twice) and an Emmy in the US

This course will look at the ways that on-camera interviews can be conducted not only in high profile situations as mentioned above but in cases where both interviewer and interviewee have little experience.

Course Leader:

Mike Dodds has worked behind the camera with a great number of interviewers in documentary and current affairs programmes: John Pilger, David Frost and Mike Wallace to name a few.

The workshop will be taught by Tira Shubart, news and documentary producer for British, American and Canadian broadcasters for over 25 years. Tira also wrote a comedy on television news, the seven part BBC series “Taking the Flak” as well as  extensive print journalism over the years.

This one day course is built largely around participant’s questions, and by screening and analysing his films in detail, Geoffrey will work through the following key areas:

* development of an idea to pitching at forums
* trailers
* financing the project
* packaging the project
* key production decisions and budgeting
* directing choices
* editing and soundtrack
* festivals
* marketing, rights and distribution

Geoffrey’s successful masterclass is guaranteed to save you money by teaching you the most effective ways to handle getting your film to the right people and the right places.

The Trainer says…“The Frontline camera and directing courses are an excellent way for people already in media jobs to get the new skills and confidence that are now essential in an evolving and demanding workplace.”

This is a more intensive course teaching new skills and enabling the course member to solidify any previous experience and learn new skills. Participants on the intermediate course cover all the elements of the foundation course at a more advanced, technically detailed level.

In addition the intermediate course includes:
* Creative manipulation of aperture, gain, shutter, and white balance for special shooting situations
* The camera’s extended menus and creative manipulation of colour, saturation, “film look”
Plus:
* Additional practice in shooting for the edit
* Practice with camera movement and shooting sequences

Duration: 1 week
Who it’s for: Those with prior training in camera work and/or experience shooting a finished programme.
Aims: offers all the elements of the foundation course at a more advanced, technically detailed level and will enable course members to develop additional advanced skills
Trainer: Anthony Wood
 
A previous participants says……“Just to let you know, Daniel’s course was brilliant and I used the training to direct/film a making of patient 17, thriller film. Whilst my interest is documentaries and news reels, directing the special feature and interviewing the actors was brilliant experience.” -Bill Shepherd | Production editor | ESD

Participants on this course may be eligible to receive funding (of 80% of the costs up to £800) through Skillset’s Multiplatform Bursary Scheme. Please visit www.skillset.org/multiplatformbursaries  to check availability and see if you are eligible.

Price: £750