My latest documentary, Homegirls in Outer Space, premiered at the Pan-African Film Festival last month.
PAN-AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL (PAFF)
PAFF is one of the best festivals I’ve attended as a filmmaker, up there with the Oxford Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival.
It was organized well, with great projection and audio at The Culver Theater, and folks were dressed to the nines.
It was a great reminder of what the theater-going experience can be.
Here is a photo of Mattia, Patrick, and Ashlei, the three subjects of my documentary.
I saw some great films, the most powerful of which was Julie Dash’s HomeGoing, a tone poem remembrance of the nine people murdered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. in 2015.
My friend Alex McNab also had a short film, the animated documentary Aisha Been Watts, at the festival so it was great to see it on the big screen (I did a podcast with Alex a few weeks ago).
85. AI Filmmaking with Alex McNab
I’m not speaking from a place of privilege, I’m speaking from a place of survival.
Seeing films, especially shorts like HomeGoing or Aisha Been Watts, sparked so many creative ideas for me.
It is a good reminder that I need to go to more festivals.
Film is such a wonderful medium to tell stories and now it is easier than ever, which brings me to one of the things people were most interested in…
EQUIPMENT
During the Q and A for my block, one audience member asked each filmmaker what equipment we used to make our films.
“I shot the film on an iPhone with Hollyland wireless mics,” I said when it was my turn.
Four more hands from the audience shot up.
I started making films in the early 2000’s using iMovie, the free software that came pre-installed on the iMac (thanks, Steve Jobs).
My first camera was a bulky Panasonic AG-HVX200 that shot in 1080p and cost about $3,000 (fifteen years ago).
Audio was usually a shotgun mic fixed to the top of the camera.
I used a “FigRig” to help with stability and the whole thing looked like I was trying to drive the steering wheel of a giant truck.
Now, thanks again to Steve Jobs, my equipment was an iPhone 15 Pro Max (shooting in Cinematic Mode) and a pair of $300 wireless mics the size of a matchbook.
Everything fit in my pocket and provided better sound and image, at a much cheaper price, than anything I have previously used.
This is a screenshot of the video straight off my iPhone, before any color correction.
The sensor in the phone camera is capturing the blue of Patrick’s shirt, the white of Mattia’s Adidas, the skin tones of Mattia and Ashlei, the dark black of the chairs, the wine red drapes, and the aftermath of the gorgeous Santa Monica sunset happening outside.
All under harsh fluorescent lights.
I was so impressed I used this image as the basis for the poster.
Here’s the logline:
A doc short about two Black women from South Central Los Angeles who form an improv duo, Homegirls in Outer Space, and compete for a residency at the Westside Comedy Theater, where more than forty teams audition for just twelve spots.
Our next screening is at the Nevada Women’s Film Festival in Las Vegas on March 20th.
Have a great week.
-Ben