Directors Statement

Life in Kamtsang is a very important personal story for me to tell, the development of the story and the way it will be executed must be thoroughly explained. The genesis of the project came from my unknown past of my relationship with my dad, our circumstance was very dark, and I never had a close relationship with him. It all began when my father suddenly left me and my younger brother in London, United Kingdom with our mother; we were without a father figure ever since. I never thought of anything about it since I was such a young person, I just thought my dad moved away and I’d go visit him. That’s exactly what happened, I visited my father every year for the entire summer at Benchen Karma Kamtsang. It never really interested me to find out where I was or what my father was doing there, I feel like he owes me the explanation as to why he left and lived in a Buddhist community.

The platform for this short documentary will be the Kinoteka Film Festival. I have chosen this platform for my project mainly because it is to show off Polish made film projects, as well as the screening being at the BFI Southbank, UK. Kinoteka Film Festival has been around for 16 years and keeps going every year to show off fantastic talents made by Polish filmmakers. I want to make an impact with this project, not only for myself but for the viewers; I want to show a snippet of my personal life and how I faced struggle’s here in the United Kingdom without a father figure. As a Director I must make sure that I keep the audience interested in this short documentary, I need to introduce new information they have never heard of before; this is exactly what I am planning to do. My vision for this entire short documentary is to find out things that I didn’t necessarily know myself, it will make the documentary real and leaving the audience feeling raw. Personally, I thought to myself that no one watching will care about my personal history and life in the United Kingdom, but then again, the viewer is getting information that they have never heard of before, it will intrigue them to carry on watching and wanting to find out more.

There have been documentaries made already on Buddhism and the way they live their lives, but I am the only individual who can tell the story of my fathers’ sudden decision to change his life.  He went on a abduct journey to change the way he was living, I now need to find out the reason why. The main question I have is why my father decided to live in a Buddhist community for years, why he never decided to tell me, even when I was of age. Could there be something he is hiding from me and my younger brother, this is what I will be brining to the table. This short documentary will be very intense and heavy, but this is what I am aiming for.

This short documentary will be raw and real, most of it I want filmed handheld; I want the viewer to feel as if they are on a journey with me. The first few minutes of the documentary will be a montage of me travelling to Poland in order to find out these answers, the camera will be handheld through most of the shots. When I’m getting out of the car and into the airport the camera will follow me through the scenes with a Steadicam shot while I am introducing the short documentary through narration. A locked-down shot will be created at the airport, in post-production this will be edited to where the background is sped up. Since this is a personal story it only feels right to narrate myself, the viewer might feel discouraged or confused if someone else were to tell my own story. The documentary will then carry on with these specific camera shots/movements until I reach my destination in Poland, which will be revealed in a wide range of shots. When I arrive at the Buddhist community there will be an establishing shot taken from the other side of the road, I want the viewers to understand the location I am at and the atmosphere around me. The camera will then suddenly pan away to follow the taxi driver leaving the location – we will then instantly cut to a close of myself looking around the area. This shot is implemented within this specific scene to exaggerate the feeling I have through the screen, nerves, confusion etc. I cannot stress enough of how much I want this short documentary to feel raw, even if there is pain within it. After I had reached my destination we will transition between the past and present to reveal to the audience what the atmosphere used to be like at the location when I was a child, whether this is done through photographs or video archives. This will be a very important shot within the documentary since the audience don’t know anything about this Buddhist community camp, it had a very strong influence on me as a child, but I need to create the same influence on the viewer.

Scenes will then take place of myself meeting a few individuals that had taken part in my childhood at Benchen Karma Kamtsang. These contributors must be introduced on screen before I can go ahead and speak to them about the past. There will be a following shot used throughout the time I am walking around the community meeting the contributors and other individuals. During these scenes there will be an Aerial transition between the past and present of the community, I need to show change since this will influence my story. We will then suddenly move on to a relaxed interview with the first contributors which will be the camp owner Lama Rinchen. We will be walking around the community and talking at the same time, I don’t want the audience to feel as this interview is forced and serious. Within this chat I will be asking the owner more so about the community, so we have some insight to were I grew up. This is very important as it will give me a brief understanding of how I enjoyed my time here and mostly why. After the first interview is completed, I will be moving along to relive some past-memories around the community, this will include a cinematic montage of the area.

I will also conclude another interview with my father’s ex-girlfriend who has been a community member for over ten years. She has a very strong impact on my life, I saw her as part of my family when I was a child. It’s very important to receive information from her since she was there throughout the whole time, I spent at Benchen Karma Kamtsang. She might reveal information that the rest of my family might not know. Throughout this interview I want it to be a sit down outside surrounded by pleasing scenery of the community. Preferably, I want the camera to be placed in a corner so me and Izabela Polkowska don’t focus on the fact that this Is being recorded, I want it to feel as genuine as possible. The conversation shouldn’t be forced, Izabela should be able to talk freely. This will also make the viewer really focus on what Izabela has to about the past and the way she viewed her life with me around her. There will also be a extreme close up on both me and Izabela throughout the conversation, this will be done especially to express the emotions through the screen. During post-production I’d like to add ambient sounds during this interview, while we are surrounded by nature, I want the viewer to be aware of the atmosphere around us; simple and calm.

After both interviews have been completed and I am happy with the outcome, there will be more filming of the community and atmosphere. I am aiming for some fantastic aerial shots of the area, this will really make the viewer have another perspective of the area. These shots will really show off the scenery I was surrounded by in the past, these shots will also transition between the past and present aerial shots to show the viewer the big difference that happened within the community. I want to really show the audience how Benchen Karma Kamtsang changed over the years, while talking about my own personal life story I want to learn more about this place I spent most of life in. As well as the viewer I am learning everything along side them, this gives the documentary a wonderful realistic feeling.

The only shots that I’d like filmed which won’t be handheld or follow shots are when I carry out interviews or ‘speech’ scenes, where I speak to my family regarding this whole situation. I want them to be placed inside our family home with the family member speaking directly at me, they will not be looking directly at the camera. These will for sure have to be actuality shots, with such a personal meaning these ‘interviews’ should not be focused on looking directly at the camera but should feel relaxed. I have chosen to film this specific way to give the documentary a feeling of realism, not only do I want to find out the reason behind my father’s decisions, but I also want the viewer to understand that they are also on this journey will me and I don’t want them to feel as if there is a camera invading the moment.

My cinematic inspiration and influence is Kat Napiorkowska, she is a Polish self-taught film-maker who I have been following for some time now. Her work is stunning and the cinematic shots she uses tell a story, which is what I really want to aspire and do. She tells a strong powerful story through the way that she films, which I find absolutely inspiring. Her post-production skills are what make her projects stand out, she spends a very long time in post making sure that the colour correction fits the scene.

This specific shot speaks a lot to me, as a viewer I can tell that she is upset, sad, depressed etc. The way the lighting is dark, and only focused on her specifically in this shot – the way the orange colour stands out in comparison to the other items in the shots. I want to take some of her tricks and implement it into my own project. I want to make sure that the colours stand out and the whole documentary looks pleasing towards the audience. As well as telling the story, there needs to be authenticity within the whole film. It really helps the viewer see the vision of the film throughout.

Information to be added;
• Your cinematic inspiration and influences (this helps the reader see the vision of the film)
• Visual and technical approaches you intend to take that will make the film unique and successful
• Your hopes for the audience's response (what will the audience get out of it)

You don't have to include all of these things, but they all should be alluded to in some way. Remember, you're a storyteller, so this is just another form of storytelling. Make it entertaining. Bring the reader along with you.