A CHAT WITH THE DIRECTOR: Riyad Barmania
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What inspired you to tell Hanne Howard’s story?

Like most things, it wasn’t one thing; rather it was a combination of a few different factors. First of all, my family is South African so I have always been aware of the challenges of Africa and like many people connected to Africa I have grown weary of the prevalent negatives images of the continent. It’s war, famine, AIDS or corruption. I know from personal experience that Africa is much more than that and I wanted to shoot something that would show a different side of Africa.

Also, I think that I have always had a “social conscious” and am aware of the sometimes harsh realities of the world. In a previous “life” I did a bit of volunteer work for organizations like Amnesty International and Save the Children. I considered working in the NGO world but for various reasons my life took me down another path. Ultimately it was the best thing that could have happened to me because I found the world of filmmaking.

Now that I am a filmmaker I try to seek out projects that combine my craft, my background and my interests. So all these different things set me up for that moment when I received an email from a friend telling me about his mother’s project in the Lenana Slum in Nairobi.

What has the impact of this project been on you as a filmmaker? Personally?

 As a filmmaker my experience and abilities grew in leaps and bounds. You need to have clarity and patience foremost but you also need the ability to recognize new storylines. It’s about having the people skills to interject yourself, your crew and your camera into someone’s lives. It also forces you to evaluate your moral and ethical boundaries. There were times when we could have pushed the boundaries to get an obvious emotional response. It would have made for a dramatic moment but it would have resulted in causing genuine emotional hurt in someone. It is something other documentary filmmakers are willing to do but something I was not comfortable with. I think with our approach we achieved these same dramatic moments but in a more honest and natural way and we were still able to hold on to our integrity in the end.

Personally it’s something that has shaped me as well as my perceptions of the world. A camera gives you such access and insight into people’s lives. It takes you places that I could not normally access. I would have to have a heart made of stone not to be impacted by some of the stories I heard. But it does no one any good to feel sorry for them. Nothing will change. So when I arrived back from Kenya I was in a funny place as I attempted to reconcile all these different emotions and experiences in some sort of positive fashion.

A VIEW FROM THE DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Diego Pascoalino
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What were some of the challenges in shooting this documentary?

Shooting documentaries is a different world than conventional drama or commercial shooting. Whether we were operating the camera, recording sound or watching the monitor we had to be aware of everything around us. Riyad, the director, trusted me and gave me the freedom to move the camera. If we saw something compelling we stopped whatever we were doing and ran there.

The majority of the shoot took place at the HHF centre in the Lenana slum, which consists of a fenced off yard with a few classrooms made out of corrugated iron. The centre receives direct sunlight throughout the day so I relied heavily on this. This was a challenge and working with just natural light made me search for every bit of light. In every camera position I worked hard to compose the best picture while looking at the highlights and the shadows. The most unexpected thing was the clothes worn by everyone in the slum. Their outfits were bright and colorful and it made for an amazing combination with their dark skin.

When I first arrived I really had to study the way the light behaved at 1800m altitude and just under the equator. The beauty of this light is that even though it can be very harsh, it contrasted well with the beautiful black skin tones. I was particularly impressed by the natural light bouncing off the ground and travelling through the small windows into the classrooms was amazing. It is something that I only have ever seen using big lights thought big diffusion boards. It made me stop a few times and appreciate the beauty of the Mother Nature’s light.

A CHAT WITH THE COMPOSER: Jordan Andrews
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Where did you find inspiration for the music for the film and what were some of the challenges you faced?

Riyad originally approached me with the idea of using African style blues for the score for the documentary. His thinking was that it reflected both the harsh realities as well as the joy in the slum. We listened to quite a bit of Ali Farka Toure, the seminal guitarist in this style, who I had previously listened to quite often. Solo or sparsely accompanied guitar seemed to reflect the harsh realities but also the warmth and heart of the story. After some research I found the I, IV, V (a common chord progression) extremely prevalent in a lot of traditional African music. I used this to reflect the more positive/celebratory aspects of the documentary.

The music itself was fairly straightforward to write because guitar is my first instrument. The challenging part was how to reinforce the story without it becoming too imposing or steering the audience. One of Riyad’s goals was to make the documentary as honest as possible without hammering the audience with a message. This may seem like an oxymoron but often there are documentaries that are “overhyped” or very obvious in their message.

It’s been quite some time since I last wrote, which I apologise for, but I’ve been waiting for some good or exciting news to share. Unfortunately there hasn’t been any news with the documentary for a few months.

The documentary was finished, with all the bells and whistles, earlier this year. It took almost two years to finish it in post. That wasn’t the plan but that is just good old independent film making. When it was completed and I watched it for the first time with the credits, the music and sound it was incredible gratifying. The plan was to get it out into film festivals but then my life was taken over by my feature film Elfie Hopkins. It’s the other main project I’ve worked on for four years and the financing finally came together in January this year. We shot the film in March and it took over my life for about six months. It was an incredible experience but it didn’t leave time to do much else.

When the smoke cleared I got back to getting the doco out there. I organised printing some DVD covers and DVD and have been submitting the film to festivals around the world. As I mentioned in the last blog the plan was to first submit to festivals where we had contacts. I tried this and have to thank a couple of people who did try use their connections, David Krae and Shane O’Dell, but unfortunately so far we have yet to be accepted into any festivals. We’re at seven rejections and counting.

I’ll be honest, it’s a pretty disheartening process. Film Festivals are a world onto themselves and you never know what a festival is looking for. And from what I’ve learned alot of the time it comes down to if you have a connection with the programmer. Even knowing this after a few rejections I started to question the film I’ve made. I’ve tried to make something a bit different and that doesn’t have the traditional narrative. We always wanted to make something that would challenge the audience and force them to become engaged. It doesn’t have the “look how wonderful life is now” ending because that’s not the reality of the situation. Part of me thinks it will be hard to find North American festivals that would go for the film we’ve made. Maybe it’s just too different and I should have made something more traditional.  So all in all, it’s pretty hard on the ego and can be fairly brutal.

But I found something recently that gave me a boost. It was a note from a UN intern that was staying at the same boarding school we stayed at when we shot in Nairobi. His name was Oliver and he was part of contingent of young UN interns that were in Nairobi to decide the agenda for some upcoming meeting. He had struggled with why he was there in the first place. He thought it was an incredible waste of money to bring people from around the world to decide an agenda when the money could be better used elsewhere. It made him a bit of an outsider in his group. One day we brought him along with another intern to the HHF. He loved the experience and was overwhelmed by it. It reinforced in him even more what a waste of money the summit was and said so the next time there was a group meeting. He was definitely outsider after that. Before he left Nairobi, he left us this note which I’ve had ever since. It reminded me why we made this film and the story we want to get out there. I didn’t go into film for the money or fame. I went it film to tell stories that are compelling and entertaining and hopefully makes the audience think. So yes it is hard and I  know I’m going to have plenty more rejection but I’ll keep pushing on. We’ll get there in the end!

Thanks as always for your support.

Riyad

Riyad, born and raised to South African parents, is passionate about Africa and humanitarian causes. After completing a two-year course specializing in directing he has worked on films, commercials and music videos in the UK,  Canada and Australia. Riyad is a natural storyteller and seeks out stories that both enlighten and entertain.

Director of Photography/ Producer: Diego Pascoalino

Diego was born and raised in Brazil. As a child Diego received his first 35-mm still camera from his father and since then has never stopped taking photos. Diego has worked on films, commercials and documentaries in Australia and Brazil. He has shot on the busiest streets, on the waves of spectacular beaches and in the remote desert. Diego recently was awarded silver and bronze awards for cinematography from the Australian Cinematography Society.

Camera/ Producer: Christian Mario Loehr

Christian has lived in Africa for over twenty years with thirteen of those in Kenya. As a teenager Christian became fascinated with film and started making his own short films. Christian recently completed a two year course in Australia specializing in cinematography and is furthering his experience working in Germany. Through film, Christian hopes to influence people to help create a better world.

Editor: Anna Lucchese

Anna graduated in Broadcasting in Brazil and received her Master’s in film making in Spain. Among her works, is an award-winning documentary called “Passerby Look”, about social problems in her Brazilian hometown São Paulo. Since 2005, she has been working as a freelancer for several production companies in Brazil. At the moment, she is also developing a research project about Spanish immigration in São Paulo.

Sound Editor / Dubbing Mixer: Jeb Hawkins

Graduating in 2009 with an MSc in Advanced Music Production, Jeb has found his calling in Post Production Sound. Now a Freelancer, with an experience in audio starting 8 years ago with a City & Guilds course in Sound Engineering, he has a passion for making the best of a Sound Design and making the director’s story come to life. This year he has worked on, various short films, animations and commercial material.

Title and Credits Designer: Alan Morse

Alan “Moley” Morse is an freelance designer and animator living and working in Cardiff, Wales, UK, specialising in 3D animation and motion graphics for film, broadcast and the web. ‘An Unexpected Family’ was an opportunity for Alan to collaborate on a documentary film for the first time. The film’s theme and content made the project particularly appealing and presented some interesting challenges when considering how best to present the film’s graphic information. Alan is currently working on a number of film and music video projects.

Composer: Jordan Andrews

An already accomplished guitarist Jordan decided to hone his engineering and production skills at the Academy of Contemporary Music. After graduating, he started his own commercial recording studio in Cardiff where he records the city’s most exciting talent. Working closely with his film maker brother Ryan Andrews there has been a natural transistion into music composition for the media. Jordan is now fully committed to music composition and has already been credited on various shorts, commercial videos and a feature.

Associate Producer: Karina Bernauer

Karina was born and raised in Brazil, she started her career in the marketing industry. After four years, she decided to pursue what she really loves: filmmaking.  She then studied film production, film business and distribution. Today, she uses her marketing experience in the film industry, working as a producer on films, commercials and music videos. She aims to produce films that will give something good and important back to mankind.

Consulting Producer: Ryan Andrews

After receiving his MA in film from the London Film School, Ryan launched himself into the film world. He directed and produced several hip hop music videos and created his own genre “Horror Hop”. Recently, he directed and produced the award winning short film “Family Picnic” and the BBC pilot “Beast Hunters”. He is set to direct and produce his first feature film “Elfie Hopkins and The Gammons” along with Riyad.

Partners:
Indigo Productions:
Based in Sao Paulo Brazil, Indigo Produções e Comunicação Organizacional is an audiovisual production company focused on the efficient, actual and effective communication of ideas, products and services. Indigo’s values are creativity-ethics-diversity-entrepreneurship-teamwork. Indigo’s purpose is to create stimulus that inspire attitudes … for a better tomorrow.

Advisors:

David Krae

Raised in a hard-rock mining town in northern Ontario, David worked his way up the ranks in the Toronto film industry behind the camera and in front of it as an actor. He directed his first independent feature while working as a graphic artist in the advertising business.
With a passion for story, David is an award-winning and prolific writer, generating his own material and regularly called upon to help others with their own projects. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Dana Wilson:

Born and raised in Canada, has assisted in the production of several films shown on the international festival circuit. In 2005, she produced a documentary for Transport for London and the following year a documentary in Kenya and Uganda that examined the spread of AIDS along the northern transport corridor. Her current documentary focuses on the coerced sterilization of Roma women in the Czech Republic and was broadcast on CNN in July 2008.

HHF documentary “An Unexpected Family: story from a slum” wins first international award

Written by Alexandra Howard

The journey to film the documentary “An Unexpected Family: story from a slum” began in 2006 when Riyad Barmania, the film’s director and writer, received an e-mail from my brother, Anthony, about the HHF project. He was intrigued by the story and compelled to action. So he reached out to co-producers Diego Pascoalino and Christian Mario Löhr and together, they committed to the long and difficult road of making a documentary!

With very little money but a lot of passion, vision and determination, they traveled to Nairobi in the beginning of 2008 and spent the month filming in Lenana slum. They focused on the children and staff at HHF that have been impacted by the project.

“Completing the film hasn’t been easy”, says Riyad who is currently working on a feature film and another documentary about Hot Air Balloon competitions, Windriders, with Diego.

“With very little money, we’ve had to rely on the generosity of some very talented people to finish the film to the high standard we set ourselves. While we believe in the HHF wholeheartedly we are first and foremost filmmakers that want to tell a compelling story. I believe we’ve made a film that honestly portrays how much heartbreak and frustration exists but also, and more importantly, how much joy, happiness and hope there is too.”

Well, they must have done something right as they’ve just received their first international film award – Outstanding Cinematography from the Australian Cinematography Society. And we know there are plenty more to come!

They have submitted to film festivals including Sundance, Hotdocs, Cinema du Reel and the Beverly Hills Film Festival. After the film’s festival run they hope to screen the documentary on TV.

“We believe we’ve produced a cinematic and compelling documentary that can stand on its own but will also help increase the profile of the Hanne Howard Fund and showcase the positive impact they are having on the kids and community,” says Riyad.

Everyone at HHFL is very excited about the film and we would like to help the documentary find as big an audience as possible! If you have any contacts or can make an introduction to someone connected to a film festival or a TV station, we would be very grateful.

“We will forever be touched by our experiences in Lenana”, concludes Riyad. “If our film can help the HHF and the kids in anyway that would be an amazing accomplishment.”

Please check out the film website at www.anunexpectedfamily.com or you can reach Riyad Barmania directly at rbarmania@hotmail.com.

We will keep you posted on the progress and any upcoming screenings!

(Original Article can be found at)

http://www.hannehowardfund.org/?p=981

http://www.cinematographer.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=550

So what now? Well we’ve started our festival process and have submitted to a couple of festivals and THIS IS WHERE WE NEED YOUR HELP!! As I’m quickly learning the festival circuit is a funny old world and it is very much about who you know. If any of you know anyone that is connected to a film festival anywhere in the world please let us know.  A simple introduction or getting the film into the rights hands makes a world of difference in getting accepted SO PLEASE, PLEASE have a think.

It has been awhile so first thing you will see is that the title of the documentary has changed. Why? Well Kenya’s Path was a title I was never really happy with and it reflected a different story that we thought we were going to shoot. As I mentioned on this site somewhere, we were going to examine the post-election violence but when we arrived in Kenya the country, at least on the surface, had moved on. So the new title “An Unexpected Family: story from a slum” is more a reflection of the story we are presenting. In light of this I’ve also changed the website name and redesigned the website. The other one was getting a bit tired so hopefully you like the new one. (Here’s a little photo of us in Nairobi where this all started!)

I particularly would like to thank all the crew who have worked for almost or absolutely nothing. Without them we simply could not have finished this film. Hopefully I’ll be able to pay you all back with well paid jobs in the future!! I would also like to introduce you to a few new members of the team (check out the Team Page). Jeb Hawkins, was our talented sound editor and dubbing editor for the documentary. Sound is often an under appreciated aspect of filmmaking but it can make or break a film. Jeb had to work hard to clean up the dialogue before we could start on the more fun and creative part of the sound mix. Jordan Andrews created some fantastic music for the film and Jeb and I used this to great effect to underline the message and dramatic elements of the film. Also new to the project is Alan Morse. Alan designed the opening & end credits as well as the title cards. It may seem like a minor thing but it was just another piece of the pie that gives this film that professional and finished look. Also I wanted to give some recognition to two of our advisors, David Krae and Dean Bajramovic. They are both friends and I worked with them on Gangster Exchange. Over the past couple of years they have given me some great advice and guided me through the process of getting this film completed. It’s because of guys like them I can now finally say the film is complete!

Now to get this film out there! Hopefully you’ll continue on this journey with us… here we go!

Thanks as always

Riyad, Diego and Christian

On to the film, things are going extremely well with the final stages and, except for one major burning issue (detailed later), I think the finishing line is in sight. So I’ll start with the major “hiccup”. Dan Elliot, our talented and dedicated composer, and I have been discussing the music at length now for a couple of months. We struggled with providing the deliverables to him in Canada but we managed to get him everything he needed to start on his score. His regular job madness was quietening down and he was gearing up to start the “magic” when it all went wrong. On Easter weekend the building next to his house/studio caught fire (see picture on the right) and very fortunately no one was injured. That’s obviously the most important part but in the process all his recording equipment was damaged and/ or destroyed. Basically its going to take months for his equipment to be replaced and now he has no facilities to work in. Dan has been working on this project with me since I first cut the trailer for the film about a year and half ago. We’ve developed a good working relationship and he really understands what we are trying to achieve with this film and our message. So as a result we have to get a new composer.

The good news is that I’ve been able to get a new talented composer, Jordan Andrews, to work on the project (see the Team Page to learn a bit more about him. http://kenyaspath.com/the-team/). Jordan is Ryan Andrews (one of our producer’s) brother and has a great music brain. He’s located up in Cardiff and has been doing all the music for the Gammons. He’s got an understanding of music and emotion that is unique. Yes it is starting again in some ways but I’m looking forward to developing this new creative relationship.

On a more positive note, Diego has been working with the grader in Brazil and the early images are looking quite powerful. For those of you who don’t know, colour grading is the process in which the colour of the images is enhanced or altered. That statement really doesn’t capture the power of the grade. You can change the intensities of colours, remove colours, change the luminance, hue, saturation and contrast, make images look warmer or colder, put in masks and mattes…and that is just a start. A well graded film can completely change the look and the emotion of a film and is just as important as the music or sound. Just look at the a few of the images below and ask yourself what different emotions are evoked when you look at them. The image is pretty stark but with the colour grade even more powerful. Pretty interesting, isn’t it??

Original:

Warmer Grade:

Colder Grade:

With the picture edit now locked it has allowed me to screen the partially completed film to about 15 people. The response, for the most part, has been amazing. They felt the film was engaging, positive, inspiring and not your typical African documentary. But from the minority, there were people that just didn’t like the documentary. They felt it was another story of a “white person” solving the problems of Africa. Or they felt that Hanne was too harsh or too strong. There is no denying that Hanne is a powerful character. She is, in a way, a nature of force that won’t be stopped. You definitely will have a reaction to her and that’s why I wanted to shoot this documentary. The worst thing you can ever do is a make a bland film or one that generates no reaction in it’s viewers. Hanne is a normal human being and like all of us has our strengths and weaknesses. Yes, this is a story ultimately about Hanne but the documentary also looks at the impact of the project on those around her and examines the lives (and two in particular, Benson and Duncan) that are connected to hers. We have tried to reveal how all these people, for better or worse, function like a family.

The film we have made is a different type of documentary then in comparison to a typical TV documentary. It is quite filmic and it doesn’t give you easy answers. It forces the audience to be attentive and engaged. This is something we wanted to do from the very beginning. I like to think it has similarities to “Capturing the Friedmans” or “My Kid Could Paint That”. These films were both an examination of a subject and didn’t give you an easy answer. They were criticism for the fact that they didn’t take an obvious stance or more specifically that they had formed an opinion but hid it behind a veil of “objectivity”. I am sure we will be criticised along these lines as well.

There is also criticism from those in the NGO/ Charity world that feel what the HHF project does not employ “best practice” or doesn’t empower the Kenyans involved with the project. Those are very big issues and all I do know is that the project is helping 125 children and, in the end, that is all that matters.

In  a way the people on the extremes of the argument are not my audience because, for some, they have already made up their minds on the issue. Our crazy brains are filled with preconceived ideas, concepts, values and notions of what is right or wrong on subjects like this. Some people are going to see our film as condescending,  some will view it as completely inappropriate and others will feel it is fantastic. My job is tell a story as honestly as I can that engages the viewer to put those ideas aside just for a moment. Then hopefully the viewer will watch, really watch, the film before deciding what they think.  But part of me knows we are going to get criticised, even ripped apart, but in the end it’s something we are going to have to take. I’ll take my inspiration from Hanne as my way forward, which is (to paraphrase),”I don’t care about what people have to say… All I’m doing is helping these children, that’s all.” And like I said earlier that is all the really matters.

As always, thank you for your continued support!

The Team

I know we’ve been quiet for a while but I didn’t want to write until I had some news. Well I have some news! The picture lock for the documentary is now complete!! For those of you not in the film industry this is a major milestone. What it means is that the picture edit is now complete and the picture will not be changed from now on. This is a very important part of the post production because nothing (music, grading, sound mix etc) can be done until the picture is locked.

So what have we been doing the past few months? If you remember I went to Brazil to work on the edit with our editor Anna Lucchese. It was a monumental effort to take the 28 hours of footage and somehow wrestle it into a hour length documentary. There was just so much good material but if we left in too much there was a real danger of diluting the impact of the story. I left Brazil with the edit about 60 to 70% completed. Of course when I arrived back in the UK, I was immediately innundated with work and became extremely busy with my feature film. As well Anna was very busy with her own projects and by the time we were finally able to get going again it was November. Through emails and Skype we got the edit to about 90%. It was looking really strong but tt this point, I really needed just to sit down and do the last little tweaks. So I trooped off to Wales and worked through the next 5% with our new producer Ryan Andrews. Finally I handed it back to Anna for the final clean up and tweaks…and here we are with picture lock! It hasn’t been easy and I have to say a massive thanks to Anna for all her effort, persistence and her talent. I do have to say though I think we’ve told an honest and powerful story.

Now that the picture lock there is still plenty of work to do. Dan Elliot is now busy on the music, Diego is working with the grader and I’m working on the credits, transcript. I am still working on sorting out the sound mix but we do have a few leads. So still plenty to do but we can now see the finish line!

As mentioned, we have a new member of the team! Ryan Andrews, my creative collaborator and partner in crime, has come on as a Consulting Producer (you can see his face on “The Team” page) . Ryan and I have been working on our feature film, Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons, for over two years now and through it all we’ve developed a good working relationship. He’s having some success in the UK film industry and he’s going to use his contacts to try and get this film on TV here. His support, enthusiasm and efforts are definitely a welcome addition to the project.

So that’s where we are. As always thanks for all your support. It won’t be long until you will be invited to a screening!

Thanks from all of us

Riyad, Diego, Christian, Anna, Dan & Ryan