China Blue Jasmine at work His film China Blue, which has been shown in over 30 countries worldwide, almost wasn’t made. “All I could imagine was ‘what are we going to show’? A whole film about people hunched over sewing machines, who are miserable? Who wants to watch a film about that?” Months later, reading a related article in the New Yorker, he realised that focusing on the story of individual workers would give the film the personal ‘lens’ through which to understand the issue. Micha and his team found two vivacious teenage girls, Jasmine and Orchid, who became the central characters of the film. Their hopes and dreams are like those of many teenage girls throughout the world, they love dance routines and want boyfriends. This gave the film some light to balance the dark, making it watchable, at the same time strengthening the point —that the people who work around the clock for pennies to make our clothes are people not so different from us.
Living with Stories For Hanoi-based documentary maker Paul Zetter, too, the story is key. Through his company Ensemble Films he works with NGOs, often on documentaries designed to showcase the work that they do. Paul works closely with the teams to find the people and the stories that bring to life why audiences should care, rather than bombarding them with statistics and
information about ‘what we did’. Telling these stories will, he says, tell audiences “much more about the project than telling people it is a great project.” “If one person has a successful story we project that there must be others,” Paul says.“Audiences should be trusted to see a bit of poetry and understand the bigger picture.” One recent film(a co-production with the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population) Living with Stories features different people recounting stories based on a personal belonging. The stories are small, in that they focus on specific incidents, yet they are very intimate and telling. Some are poignant, some happy, some hopeful. They make you feel, as a viewer, that you understand something about that person, that you know them a little. By the reveal at the end, that each person has the HIV virus, the point — that HIV can affect anyone — has been made, without having to talk about illness or suffering, or to labour the point. It is skilfully done. “Good documentary making is about finding good characters and letting them tell the story,” says Paul. An interviewer once commented to Micha that he had been “fortunate” in finding Manjusha, the journalist in Bitter Seeds. “You make your own luck,” was his response. Indeed a huge amount of groundwork was put in to find a lead
character that could carry the film. The initial idea had been simply to follow a farmer’s life, through a growing season. After travelling from village to village meeting farmers Micha realised that they were too taciturn and too depressed for an audience to want to watch for an entire film. Thinking the younger generation might provide his voice, Micha and his team visited high schools across the area. He talked to many, many young students before meeting anyone that he felt could tell the story that needed telling. He eventually met the aspiring journalist. “She’s an unusual character, pretty determined and strong willed.” And like all good characters there are obstacles she needed to overcome, that of tradition and the reservations of her mother. These films are not a complete education on the topics they cover, they don’t tell you everything you need to know but they make you think, and make you care. Says Micha,“I’m interested in generating debate and having people consider [something] for the first time so they are intrigued enough that they will go and find out more about the facts.” Bitter Seeds was screened at Cinematheque Hanoi as part of the globalisation trilogy of Micha X Peled. For more information on the work of these documentary makers go to their websites, www.teddybearfilms.com and www. ensemblefilms.com.
December 2012 Word | 59