South African producer Pascal Schmitz, director/scripwriter Damian Armstrong and DOP Richard Muller have just guided 20 filmmakers in Addis Ababa in an intensive week-long training course focused on socially responsible filmmaking. The four teams in the course were tasked with making four short documentaries about bridging social divides in Ethiopia and promoting tolerance.
Schmitz, a board member of the Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA), who had previously lectured a master class in Addis Ababa, was invited by the Ethiopian Film Initiative (EFI) to assemble a team of experienced professionals with a passion for helping others to better their craft. He contacted Armstrong, and Muller, both of whom immediately agreed to the assignment.
“As much as we were going to Addis Ababa to teach, we were also going to learn,’ says Armstrong. “Storytelling is inspired by the new and the exciting, and the chance to spend a week with filmmakers from completely different backgrounds seemed like a perfect opportunity to gain inspiration whilst giving something back.’
Agreeing to work for free, the three were flown out and hosted by the EFI in partnership with AA University and Synergy Habesha Film Production. The training was sponsored by UNESCO.
“By the time we arrived the filmmakers had already undergone a week of theory,’ explains Schmitz. “We literally hit the ground running. We landed late Friday night and, after a brief introduction to the teams, were shooting first thing Saturday morning.’
Adopting a very hands-on approach to training, the three encouraged the teams to put their theory into practice whilst simultaneously learning to adapt to the immediate pressures of documentary making. “The tight timeframes combined with the immediate challenges of shooting documentaries created the perfect learning environment,’ continues Schmitz. “Our teams were forced to think on their feet and abandon paper-plans in favour of ones more suited to the situation whilst at the same time learning basic camera, lighting, sound and interview techniques.’
Muller was the go-to-man when dealing with most of these technicalities. “The filmmakers knew the basics, but we wanted them to learn the little tricks that would up their production value,’ he explains. “We taught them about recording buzz tracks, how to effectively use a reflector and available light, how to scrim… all those tricks that make the final product that much better.’
The Ethiopian film industry is still in a developmental phase, operating on small budgets, so the South African team focused on teaching the essence of good storytelling. They also introduced them to equipment standards used in South African productions, like field mixers, matte boxes and filters, which was all new territory for them. These were kindly sponsored by Media Film Service, a South African based gear house.
“Our approach was really quite simple,’ says Armstrong. “Every time we arrived at a new location we asked a simple question: “What are you trying to achieve here?’ Once we’d established what each team needed to get out of each shoot we shared the basic rules for that specific setup and then let them get on with it.’ As fellow filmmakers, it was often tempting to step in and…well…film, but the three decided early on that it was better to stand back and guide, offering warnings when it looked like something was going wrong and only getting involved with the shooting process when asked to demonstrate.
With a wealth of knowledge between them, the three South Africans were equipped to guide the teams – made up of a Director/Producer, AD, Cameraman and Editor – through the whole documentary-making process, from script outlines to online editing. Post-production was carried out on Apple Macs, ranging from MacBook Pros running Final Cut Pro Studio to a Mac mini running Final Cut Express. These were generously sponsored by the South African Apple partner Core. For most of the Ethiopian editors it was a first time experience, and they found Final Cut easy to use, quickly becoming big Apple fans.
The workshop ended with a special screening attended by the Ethiopian filmmaking community, international organisations and cultural institutes, and representative from the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Addis Ababa University. It is envisaged that the four documentaries – titled Team Spirit, Beyond Tolerance, Breaking the Barriers and Dancing for Unity – will be shown at both Ethiopian and international film festivals.
“I found a lot of talent in Ethiopia and one thing that really came across in the workshop is how eager people are to learn,’ concludes Muller. “I’ve never had such enthusiastic reception from a class or workshop. There was a great eagerness to learn, and this, when combined with the filmmakers’ energy and rich Ethiopian culture, bodes well for the Ethiopian film industry. I see a bright and exciting future with many great stories to tell.’
