Documentary Film Workshop with Hossein Martin Fazeli
The 6 day workshop will enable aspiring filmmakers to harness the power of social justice documentary filmmaking by introducing them to the basics of telling stories about reality. Focused primarily on perspective development, story identification, documentary narrative techniques, interviewing skills, and the art of shooting and editing, the workshop offers students an opportunity to try their hands at making films for impact, allowing them to not only engage with their passions for filmmaking but also with social issues they care about.
MODULE 1: TWO DAY FILM APPRECIATION WORKSHOP
This 2-day module is to draw attention to the theoretical strands of social-justice documentary filmmaking and invite the students to a critical discussion about the medium. The engagement will focus on the nature of the medium, its impact as well as its role in social change through detailed case studies of Macrae’s No Fire Zone, Coperthwaite’s Blackfish, and Folma’s Waltz with Bashir. Furthermore, Mr Fazeli will be drawing from his own filmography, including his celebrated Tale of Two Nazanins (2007), to walk the students through the journey of putting a social justice documentary film together. Finally, the workshop will end in a Q&A session to address attendees’ queries and personal projects.
MODULE 2: FOUR DAY DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOP
The 4-day engagement will act as a learning space that the students can utilize to develop their individual social-justice film projects. Mr Fazeli, drawing from his experiences, will be guiding the students through the developmental stage of making a social justice short documentary along with a masterclass on pre-production, production and post-production that will enable the students to make original short documentary films. Some of the aspects covered in the workshop, along with craft of Film Making would be :
● Making a documentary film: funding to festivals – a deep dive into the process of making a documentary film
● Pre-screening of Phoolan (Mr Fazeli’s ongoing project) and discussion on documentary across cultures, why the medium is universal, challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural documentary filmmaking.
● Finding Stories Worth Telling (with an emphasis on Environmental Justice) – understanding how the story is the backbone of a good documentary film, what makes a good doc, how to find the right story, how to tell a compelling version of it.
About the Facilitator:
Hossein Martin Fazeli has been an A-list director in North America for many years. He has been producing, directing, and writing fiction and non-fiction television and film for more than two decades and has extensive international experience, having worked on location in a dozen different countries. His films have been broadcast around the world, including on CBC, BBC, ARTE, and Canal+, winning 37 international awards in the process.
Throughout the years he has collaborated with organizations such as UNDP, the European Commission, and Nonviolence International on a wide range of film and television projects, including national and regional campaigns, exploring issues such as human rights, women’s rights, and minority rights. His 2007 production, “The Tale of Two Nazanins”, about a teenage girl imprisoned on death row in Iran, was broadcast on major international networks such as the BBC and CNN and is credited with igniting an international campaign that saved her life.
He has lectured around the world on the ever-changing face of film production and has held workshops with students at various educational institutions such as SFU (Canada), SOAS (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark) and the European Film Academy.
Assistant Facilitator:
Gopala Krishna is a film maker based in the Western Himalayas, and is the founder of Himalayan Film School and Mussoorie International Film Festival. He studied his Masters in Communications from MICA, Ahmedabad, and several years of work experience as an Assistant Director in the film industries of Bombay and Hyderabad.
Registration fee:
Keeping in spirit of the intent at the Deer Park Institute, the program is offered on a Donation basis. A registration amount of Rs. 1000/- per participant
Accommodation :
Accommodation can be booked at the Deer Park Institute subject to availability. There are also several hostels and guest houses nearby where the participants can avail accommodation. You can reach out to us, in case you need help with the options.
Workshop Timings:
Morning Session.
9am – 12pm (with a tea break)
Afternoon Session
3pm – 6pm (with a tea break)
Registration:
To register for the workshop, please fill in the following form.
www.tinyurl.com/docufilmworkshop
Contact:
himalayanfilmschool@gmail.com
Instagram: @himalayanfilmschool
+91 7895495379 (whatsapp messages only)
For more info, please visit:
www.fazelifilms.com
Current projects:
https://phoolandevimovie.com/
https://iamgitxsan.ca/