Goethe-Institut Toronto and LIFT – Documentary Filmmaking and Storytelling with Daniel Carsenty
Goethe-Institut Toronto and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)
present Documentary Filmmaking and Storytelling with Daniel Carsenty
A free two-part digital workshop.
Co-presented with Toronto Arab Film (TAF) and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF).
Part 1: Artist Talk
Saturday, September 18, 2021 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Registration limited to 50.
Register here: https://lift.ca/workshop-registration/?event=809&workshopcat=8
Part 2: Facilitated Workshop
Sunday, September 19, 2021 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm ET
Registration limited to 18.
Register here: https://lift.ca/workshop-registration/?event=812&workshopcat=8
Daniel Carsenty is a Berlin filmmaker currently working at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, teaching at the Raindance Institute London and the International Academy for Film and Media in Dhaka, Bangladesh. http://danielcarsenty.com
The documentary “The Devil’s Drivers”, co-directed by Daniel Carsenty and Mohammed Abugeth, is celebrating its world premiere at TIFF 2021. The Goethe-Institut Toronto showed the Canadian premiere of Carsenty’s debut, the refugee drama “After Spring Comes Fall,” in 2016 at GOETHE FILMS@TIFF Lightbox.
The central element of this workshop is the idea that a film—documentary or fiction—is at its core a character-driven story. The camera captures the relationships between people and visualizes the unspoken elements at play. Most films pivot around ‘dramatic’ scenes. Scenes in which characters express their wants and needs either vocally or through the subtext of body language. They run up against an obstacle and we as an audience ‘discover’ their true character in the way they deal with the obstacle on screen.
This two-part workshop, aimed at emerging and intermediate filmmakers, will create awareness for the basic elements of storytelling at play and show examples in which these elements have been successfully captured on screen. After a 90-minute introduction open to registered participants and general audiences, where Carsenty will be joined from Berlin by his collaborator filmmaker Mohammed Abugeth, the workshop participants will go out and independently film a dramatic scene with their own cameras, which has the power to stand alone as a short film or could be the centre of a longer documentary. On the second day, the workshop participants will screen their work and have a collaborative discussion, critique the work of their peers and grow an understanding of storytelling.
Students can shoot on a smartphone or any other medium of recording video, but be aware of sound-recording implications.
Things to consider when crafting your scene…
An empty bus station can tell a story as intricately as the packed bakery next door. It only requires a different way of observation.
In a scene with many people or with a clear protagonist, it is often enough if the camera follows the story. But in a place where little happens, it is very important to understand where to place the camera and how to connect the different visual elements.
Subjective vs. objective camera. Does the protagonist lead the camera or the director? How do I make this decision as a film-maker and which implications will it have on the story-telling?
—Daniel Carsenty
If you have any questions about this Artist Talk and Workshop, feel free to contact LIFT Development Coordinator Cayley James at development@lift.on.ca
Starting: Saturday 18 September 2021 13:00
Non Members: Free
Members: Free
Location:
Online