“For Esther” dir. James Marcetic

 

The unconventional filmmaking process of everyone’s films definitely revolved outside the normal and accessible narrative structure of film that people are most familiar with. I hope that our films being screened back to back were clear examples of us deterring from film for entertainment, and rather, being examples of film for art. I would say that this was achieved, as there was a wide range of films, each of which being an experimental piece in some form.

The piece I screened was my latest project for this course, titled For Esther, a film poem that uses old found footage that my father shot in 1990 and new footage I had recently shot in conjunction with the recorded narration of a poem I had written. The film revolves around my mother’s parents, who had reached the end of their lives resulting in a very strange period in my parent’s lives, who, soon, were to grow older and have children after them.

I’m quite happy with the result of my work, I think it articulates the themes that I was trying to convey in its short run time. At first, I thought that perhaps the film was too short, but being that the visuals are seen alongside the narration of a poem, I now think that it doesn’t need to be any longer, as everything I needed to say, is said in that time.  

It’s always great to see your own and other people’s works on the big screen, it’s like a festival “simulation” of sorts; a trial. Seeing how audience members respond to your work in that environment can be really helpful too.

Overall, I think the screening was a massive success, with some really great works from a group of people who have progressed so far throughout the course. Inspiration from everything we were taught and screened by James had seeped into everyone’s works, which was great to see.