The PXW-X70 Captures a Historic Event
WAS THE SELMA PRODUCTION YOUR FIRST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY?
MELINDA HOLM is a documentary filmmaker focused on capturing the beautiful and important moments in life. As a long-time fan of Sony cameras, she used the PWX-X70 to capture the 50th anniversary celebration of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. We conducted a Q and A to learn more about her experience.
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN FILMING? My father gave me my first camera when I was 10 or 11 years old. We were going through the Suez Canal. That’s where I took my first pictures. A few years later, at the University of Oregon studying theatre and American culture, the director of my theater repertory company offered a film class one semester, and I thought – three easy credits. I signed up and loved every moment of it – from writing the script, to filming, to getting the actors and editing – all of it! So I started taking as many film classes as I could and then moved to Paris to try and get into a French film school. I ended up working as an intern on a few movie sets before coming back to New York where I got a job at the fabled repertory movie house, the Bleecker Street Cinema. One day, a coworker suggested I check out video production, and I did. The rest is history.
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No, I actually traveled to Japan to document the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That project confirmed my love for video production. Interestingly, I asked a friend what kind of camera I should buy to film it; he told me to buy a video camera, and I ended up with the Sony Hi8. I immediately fell in love with the camera, and still have it to this day. I actually used it as recently as 2010. Those analog cameras make a beautiful soft pastel picture. TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR PROJECT AND HOW YOU BECAME INVOLVED IN IT. It’s about the 50th anniversary of the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Fifty years ago, African Americans in Selma and other parts of the south faced many obstacles, including being fired from their jobs, and even violence, when they tried to register to vote. A handful of courageous and determined people started the voting rights movement in Selma that grew to a huge movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. and others, culminating in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The backstory: Many years ago driving cross country, I saw a sign for Selma and decided to stop. My car suddenly developed cruise control and wouldn’t stop. At the next rise in the road, I pulled over and turned off the key. Three men immediately stopped to help me. I was on the road again in minutes. The next day, (it was the 24th of December), driving in the pouring rain, I passed a few cars stopped on the side of the road. I resolved to stop for the next car I saw. Imagine the surprise of the young black man who came running up to the car to see me. We reached the Richmond bus station with minutes to spare for him to hop on a bus to Baltimore and get home to his family for Christmas. This event was very meaningful to me, and it created a soft spot in my heart for Selma. It was a place where I was shown kindness and able to show kindness to others in return.