A documentary film starring @islam.ibrahim.rigal and Nizar Redwan Rasol. This type of filmmaking is a lot like fishing, you roll camera and hope to catch story. On my last trip to KRI, we didn’t catch much story, but we were able to make this poster👏 #football #documentary #documentaryfilm #kurdistan #iraq #syria
A Football Match at the Birthplace of Civilization was originally filmed as part of a larger documentary about an Iraqi man who had fallen out of love with football after a heated match between Iraq and Qatar, and then the heartbreak of Edison Cavani transferring from the man’s favorite club, Napoli, to PSG. The man’s village is not far from where the garden in Eden is purported to be (assuming a simple literal interpretation of Genesis) and where human civilization began. The full video explores distance and the ideas of near and far as more than differences in geographic location. What is the distance between the birth of civilization and life in the village today? What is the distance between a match played barefoot on rocks and the Champions League? #football #iraq #documentary #documentaryfilmmaking #documentaryfilmmaker
I'm fascinated by interplay between music and space. Music performance was just background filler for the earliest patrons of the Teatro alla Scala, who came firstly to see and be seen + socialize; strikingly unexpected considering the way we relate to opera houses today. That idea reminded me of the opposite end of the class spectrum, clubs in 3rd 4th tier cities in China, where nobody is there for the (imo awful) music. Those were always interesting times. I wonder if I will ever experience it again.
The disorientingly odd experience of (remotely) co-coordinating a shoot inside a club while inside an opera house. Two places not unrelated in function, but worlds apart. The film is Bass Nomadic. The space is bULt (Almaty, Kazakhstan). #documentary
Final match for the league title and promotion to a higher level next season. In the cold rain. This is grassroots football at its most passionate. #documentary #football
From playing under the scorching sun in Kurdistan Region Iraq, now years later, to snowy training sessions in a German town, @islam_ibrahim_rigal continues his adventures in pursuit of his football dreams. And I continue to film. #documentary #football
Last time I was in Frankfurt was almost 20 years ago when I was a TV host. For one of the segments, we'd visited a graffiti artist who'd been commissioned by a mafia boss to paint two portraits, one of the gang boss now and another of him as an old man. I always thought it was badass to face old age and mortality head on like that, stare it dead in the eyes. Now that I need to face age and mortality myself, I struggle to meet its gaze.
For some time now, I’ve wanted to explore the theme of science fiction colliding with reality. When I was living in Shanghai, I’d sometimes feel like whoa this is the year 3049 (looking at the skyline and filming CJ, where this footage comes from). That idea was shelved when I left China, but as I start creating sci-fi scenes for Bass Nomadic (working title), I’m remembering oh yea I’d once tried to film a scifi documentary, though in generative AI tool years, that was a long long lifetime ago in a galaxy far away. #documentary #cosplay #chinajoy
An impromptu performance by @anymodal for @subtleradio on Haliç Bridge, a beautiful walk at dusk and within proximity to fish wraps/sandwiches, on which we chowed down afterward. I wasn’t quite sure how to shoot a music performance with one camera in a way that was visually interesting and had been concerned about being able to cut something decent out of it, esp when a security guard stopped the performance short.
But it’s been something I’ve thought about and worked on a few times since this bridge shoot. References I like are “People of Boiler Room” and “Blogothèque”, for the “slow cinema”, long takes, and camera that wanders to the audience.
Really dope set; of the tracks, this is the one I thought fit the setting and situation best. None of us are in Istanbul anymore but it's a city that stays with you. @hdmi_king and @anymodal had been working on a doc about the city / scene, I hope that's still happening.
