Provocation Films

What a contrast five months brings to a rural village in western Romania. From our last session of shooting in a mild September, this February was a very different time. The temperature had remained pretty mild but a few days before we landed dropped to minus ten below. It was the first time my wife and I had seen icicles form on the door of our hire car while it was parked. It was cold.


Our reason for taking the trip to the region in the middle of a very cold winter is all about balance. It is clear that a visit to the gypsy community in summer leaves you with a love for the people, a heart for the children but ultimately a definite sense of joy. Children run barefoot throughout the dry-mud streets laughing and shouting, old ladies sit under the shade of trees making wool hats - it is joy in hardship.


We could have captured ’summer’ images alone and they would inspire you and capture your heart, but when you re-visit in snow and freezing temperatures and meet the same people, the same children (some still barefoot) the reality of the lifestyle is really told.


As Lee Saville says in the film, to really understand a culture simply takes time. It is hard to portray this in a 60 minute film but the least we can do is provide honesty and balance. That was what this shoot was about.


The trailer for the film will be published soon.

September saw our first stint of shooting on location in Arad, Romania. Our small team of four crew traveled from Manchester to Budapest, and then on to Taut, NW Romania 5 hours later (we stopped for some local food - ‘Burger King’ it was named).

Over the four days allocated for the shoot, we traveled over 2000km and captured over 6 hours of footage. Most of the interviews were on the intense schedule which remained ever flexible - we seemed to change plans every few hours to capture all that was required.

The sun was with us most of the time, rain staying off helping us keep our pace. All in all we had a very successful shoot and managed to gather fantastic footage that will tell this story in an honest and passionate way.

Never have I seen four guys so taken by a subject matter as with this film. I guess you just can’t look a semi-naked child in the eye, see their plight and poverty and not grab hold of trying to bring some justice to the situation by your means, in this case film-making. Someone quoted in one of the interviews “talent is distributed evenly across the earth” - I believe that our gift to these people affected by such extreme poverty is to use any talent we can muster up between us and use it to share their story with those who may stand up and take action, together with this great team.

The next shoot is planned for winter where temperatures can drop to below -20 degrees. This will provide us with the opportunity to share the story across seasons to paint an accurate picture of the conditions these people are living in.

As you now know, we have been planning this film really since around February of this year (2008). I have visited Romania twice now and each time have been knocked out by what I have seen and experienced - but actually in a positive way.

Pre-production ain’t really my bag but needless to say any project needs its grounding. After hours of meetings and write ups I am so glad to say we are about there with planning and ready to jump on an easterly bound plane next weekend to get cracking!

As well as blogging the process, we will also be documenting the actual production where we can so keep an eye if that is your interest over the coming months, maybe even weeks.

A few weeks ago some of the team who will input creative direction to the project hit the road for a weekend up north (UK) to the beautiful lake district. Other than booking 3 beds in a barn just past Sellafield (no kidding!), we had no plan - we just wanted to bounce of one another and come up with some really cool stuff for the production.

We had a wicked weekend and all the ideas we established have now become part of the production notes and will see themselves through to the final edit I am sure. I was again so humbled by the talent this project has attracted and am crazy excited to see filming begin in Romania in just a few weeks - who knows what else will pop up when we are out and about on location - that is really the exciting dynamic of documentary film making…

SD.

about our film project

We have been given the privilege of making a documentary film about the work of the charity Networks in Romania. It is clear to us that Lee and his team are not interested in fame and fortune, it is so important that we do this story justice!

I don’t see myself as an accomplished filmmaker or an artist, but as someone with a passion for filmmaking, a desire to do Gods will and with the swingers to go for it! I feel privileged to be part of this film production team.

my 1st visit to Taut, Romania

After Simon briefed me on Lee’s story and the film, I couldn’t wait to go. So I went on a holiday to Taut Holiday Village, Romania, hoping to meet Lee and his team. I went to observe what was happening with my own two eyes, as a fly on the wall, before anything could be staged or polished for us going out with cameras!

When I arrived at Arad train station, my immediate thought was, crap this place is full of homeless people. My first impression was changed by the reality though, as I was totally blown away by how friendly and helpful the local people of Arad were towards me. This experience challenged my preconceived ideas, that all Romanians are poor or in need. I felt at home, in a city full of strangers!

It was a comical journey on the bus from Arad to Taut. As I travelled on the bus along the narrow bumpy roads; Romanian music was playing full blast, it sounded to me more like Benny Hill music! As we passed through the little villages, people seemed to look poorer, the further I travelled from the City of Arad towards Taut! This proved to be true, Taut and Syria where Lee’s projects are based, are amongst the poorest parts of Romania.

meeting Lee and his team

When I finally arrived at Taut Holiday Village I was greeted with a warm friendly welcome by Abey. A South African girl who had lived in Colerain, N. Ireland for five years prior to going out to Romania to work for Lee, we clicked straight away, she made me feel very welcome! Then I met Nig, a guy from Sheffield. He headed out to work for Lee when he was just aged 19; he’s been there for five years. Neg was amongst the best models of Christian guys I have ever met! Far from the stereotypical anorak loving image that often comes to our minds eye when we hear the term missionaries.

I then got to meet Lee and some of the others on his team, Beth, Andreas, Karen and Mark. I felt privileged to spend a little time with top quality people. They made feel relaxed and at home @ Taut Holiday Village. Abey cooked lovely meals, each evening a few of us would sit outside enjoying our tea, watching the sunset. Good times! These guys had spent years refurbishing and building this place from the remains of a burnt out village. It is now a very beautiful Holiday Village in a stunning setting, for local people to come and enjoy a holiday, maybe for the first time in their lives.

my visit to Lee’s projects in Syria

The day before leaving, I visited a few of Lee’s projects in Syria, with Andreas and Karen. The one thing that struck me the most was the quality of relationships these guys had with the local people they were helping. I could see how poor these conditions are, but I could also see how poor people were benefiting from the support these guys provide. The guys are teaching local people how to start and run their own businesses. Teaching people the skills they need to make a living for themselves, such as farming, hat making and so on. They are educating the pre-school children, so that they will have a chance to get an education and grow up with the ability to help themselves and others.

our creative weekend

It was such a blast spending time with Simon & Adam at the Lakes. We shared our thoughts and ideas about Lee’s story and approach to the film. I felt passionate about the reason why Lee left everything behind, to go to Romania. I believe a good documentary film should cut straight to the core of who people are! Their motivation, the things that drive them, their passions etc

A good doc is one that helps us to understand ourselves and others better. One that can increase our understanding of societies, how we live and relate to each other, as individuals and as groups. It is important to me that we don’t miss the obvious in the story, such as why these guys decided to leave everything behind and go to Romania in the first place?

This film should not only inspire our deepest emotions and challenge our intellect, but it should leave us looking to God with more questions than we have answers!

Production Time

We are due to head out to Romania in September 2008, to begin shooting.

Feel free to keep an eye on our blog to watch our progress, while we are out there!

Catch ya laterPaul McAuley

Another film I have re-watched recently is ‘Riding Giants’. I bought it about 2 years ago and have watched it over and over, in slow motion and frame by frame! The film is a documentary about the origin of Big Wave surfing,but so much more that that too. The treatment and direction of the doco is unbelievable. It is a real mesh of old footage, helicopter shots and still imagery.
The introduction sequence runs through the whole origin of surfing in a timeline-style after effects animation.

Perhaps the most relevant and applicable to our Romania trip is the way they put the still images together, using some clever

After Effects false cameras and “Ken Burns effect” work and probably hours of work getting it right, they separate out the layers from the photo and give a real 3D effect for the viewers. I will be experimenting with this a bit and hope to use it in the Documentary transitions. Mmmm, we shall see.

See you soon! Adam GF

Hi this is my first post on the Provocation Films blog. It’s just my initial ideas about the first project. I am taking a taking a 2 pronged approach to my bloggging! Firstly, to document my visual inspiration and stimulus I wanted to post a couple of things. Secondly, to talk about why I am getting involved in our latest projects from a personal perspective, my thoughts.This post is about some inspiration at the moment.

Heima is a beautiful, arthouse documentary/film directed by Dean DeBlois and features the band Sigur Ros. It is a fantastic, emotive collage of music, photography and film… all the sounds and sights of their native land, Iceland. It is a real ‘fly-on-the-wall’ look into a country that is a bit of an enigma for me. Some days the Icelandic live with 2 hours of daylight, and some with just 2 hours of darkness. But such a creative environment and such a colourful and bleak place. The direction of the film expressed this contrast well. It also contrasts the personalities that come across from the band and the people of Iceland.Visually, all the traits of the people as well as the flora and fauna are well presented.

The film has a relaxed pace but is very endearing and charming. Some of the shots are inspired by still photography in the way they are framed and I want to bring that to play in our upcoming project for Romania.Catch you soon. Adam Glynn-Finnegan.

Hi, glad you could make it.

So, provocation films is simple. we are an ever changing consortium of filmmakers/producers/designers/editors/creatives/thinkers and positive action do’ers.

The purpose of PF is to produce films that raise awareness, support and hopefully, even ultimately, a flag of change.

If PF can highlight the desperation of a situation or circumstance to an audience in a way that will provoke action, we will have done a honest job at using our skills and giftings.

PF is this simple; founded by compassion, delivered with passion. done.