On Writing documentary films
With Danielle Arbid, Sergio Oksman, Avi Mograbi
Running time: 45' | Languages: French, English, Spanish (with Italian subtitles)
Available for one month starting May 23.
Where do ideas come from? How can they be developed by confronting them with reality? What do you have to write to convince a producer to finance a project even if you are not clear about what the finished film will look like? Does the "cinema of the real" also contemplate invention or, indeed, lies? What exactly is the relationship between writing and editing?
These are just some of the many questions addressed in the first lesson, "On Writing documentary films", in the cycle of online encounters entitled "Cinema Lessons", available free of charge for a month starting on May 23rd.
Writing is one of the fundamental elements in the creation of cinematic narrative. In documentary filmmaking, the role of writing is specific and particular, so much so that it is impossible to identify rules other than those that each filmmaker has chosen to adopt.
In 2016, we met with Danielle Arbid, Sergio Oksman and Avi Mograbi - three internationally renowned filmmakers, different in terms of background, culture and education - who spoke to us about their relationship with writing.
Their opinions, compared through editing (the interviews were conducted separately) constitute an enlightened audiovisual text on a subject as non-canonical as the writing work that documentary filmmaking requires.
"Cinema Lessons" is a series of appointments curated by the Festival dei Popoli Archives, which you will find on the Più Compagnia platform, the virtual hall of the Cinema La Compagnia in Florence (managed by the Area Cinema of Fondazione Sistema Toscana) and on the Vimeo channel of the Festival dei Popoli.
