Dragon Forum Report

It's already a third day of Dragon Forum. What a great workshop! I'm here with my DOP - Andrzej Daniluk and a co-producer - Tomasz Chichłowski. Our Fambul project really benefits from the classes. We have some really good new ideas.

Interesting fact is that we are the least experienced crew that was accepted to the workshop. It is a great thing if you think about it. It means that we have a potential and we can really learn a lot from our senior colleges.

Some of the projects are wonderful. Unfortunately I can't write anything about them. All the info is strictly confidential. Especially one makes me so excites, that I can barely stop myself from describing it to you. I will just tell that it is an Israeli director project - Yariv Mozer. The movie's title is: "The Invisible Men”. If you will ever encounter it - watch it!

More about Fambul soon.

Cheers!
PJM

Guns & Dragons

First Dragon Forum seminar starts a day after tomorrow. I'm so excited! This 4-day workshop will be dedicated to creating and developing documentary scenarios! I will write from there every day, so keep reading!

In the mean time - I decided to write a new script for my directing diploma. The thrilling story will take place on a Magnum Shooting Range in Poznań.

You can check out some test footage from this place here:



The music is: "THIS LIFE" by Curtis Stigers from a great TV show "Sons of Anarchy".

It was shot with 7D of course. The noise is quite noticeable (ISO 6400), but we had no external light, so I guess it is still ok. Keep reading!

There will be Dragons in Africa!

So it's been 2 weeks since last update. Sorry, but I had an enormous amount of work.
I have however some good news! My documentary project "Fambul means Family" was accepted into Dragon Forum - a very cool documentary workshops. You can read more about them here.

And here is a list of projects that has been qualified. I'm number 6.

And a small summary of my project:

Every year in September Don Bosco Fambul from Free Town, Sierra Leone - a Salesian rehabilitation community for street children - recruits from 70 to 100 homeless boys to participate in a program to change their fate and offer them a chance to live in dignity. For a year we will accompany their actions to record the process of change that will become a fate of their students.

This program lasts for 10 months, offering an accommodation, alimentation, education (English, math, science) and re-socialisation activities (art, theatre, sport). About 70% participating boys comes back to their families or find new home after the program is finished.

The volunteers from all over the world participate in the program and each ne of them is responsible for taking care for about 10 boys.



The creators of this documentary will be among these volunteers for year 2011/2012 and they will stay in Don Bosco Fambul for about 12 months, recording the whole process of boys change. From mistrust during night-time street recruiting, through fear, isolation and aggression during first weeks in a community, to opening up and joy of finding a new place to live and graduation of the Program.

During the re-socialisation classes the documentary creators will be also conducting drawing, photographic and theatrical classes. The plays boys will present will be based on scripts that will be co-writen by them and based on their lives. These shows will be also recorded with film cameras and edited
into the final documentary to show the their stories.

According to the UN, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries on earth. Don Bosco Fambul operates there for more then 11 yearsnow. It has already given a chance for a new life to more than 2000 boys, that are now members of The Older Student Association of Don Bosco Fambul.

Of course I intend to take my Canon 7D to Sierra Leone and I will try to shoot the whole documentary with it!

Oh, and here is a small "trailer thing" I had to make to apply with a project: