At the Bottom of the Sea, Caroline Soo Jung Lee (2019)

Full disclosure: I know Caroline So Jung Lee.  While a student at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, she has worked with me, on and off, as an intern in various capacities on different projects.  I always found her curious and tenacious when she encountered any task but I did not know her as a filmmaker.  When I saw “At the Bottom of the Sea” I was immediately struck by its power.  An experimental film, hand-treated and entirely in Korean, it was a completely engaging and emotional experience. The film syntax somehow lets us into understanding this is both one woman’s story and a gender story and a wider cultural story. As we travel with our protagonist via public transit, from the dinner table to the mass sit-in, we feel the building power of the quotidian.  

 The exploratory “everything is usable” sensibility of the editing mirrors my early work “You Take Care Now”. There is something unapologetic about it, too.  The film explains nothing but asks you to participate in creating meaning.  Every decision is so thoughtful and specific and makes this dense work approachable to an audience.  We may not be able to grasp everything, but, like in life, we can know a lot if we just give our attention.  It’s really masterful filmmaking.  The sound work Caroline achieved was nuanced and a perfect partner to her film.  I was not surprised when “At the Bottom of the Sea” was later awarded best Canadian short film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.  

 There is no doubt that the entry bar has lowered and there are so many more opportunities for young filmmakers now - in B.C., in Canada, everywhere than when I made my first short film, in terms of access to equipment, cost of production, and the possibility of dissemination.  (Ironically, Caroline used the old 16mm technologies that I learned on. And her film’s introduction to the world was through a venerable film festival, not the internet).  But for emerging filmmakers, the world has always been friendly.   At least from the time I started making work, grassroots organizations and educational/cultural institutions in Canada have promoted different voices- race, class, gender, culture- different ways of telling stories.  And now we have a robust industry that can hire people to work in the mainstream (that homegrown opportunity did not exist so much before outside of Ontario - I think they still call us “the regions!").  I love mainstream storytelling (the boundaries of that are being pushed every day).  But I guess I have a soft spot for personal, experimental voices, and Caroline’s film made me remember that.

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Ann Marie Fleming and Caroline So Jung Lee joined us for a unscripted, open-ended #DRIFFDirectorsChat on their approaches to filmmaking. Watch the whole conversation below.

Black + Belonging (Francesca Ekwuyasi, 2019)

I chose Francesca Ekwuyaski’s Black + Belonging to precede Becoming Labrador for two main reasons. 

Firstly, I found that Francesca’s interviews with her three subjects were handled with much skill and compassion. She was able to keep the focus of the interviews on the themes that she was interested in exploring, while at the same time allowing her subjects to fully express themselves. She had clearly developed trusting relationships with her interviewees prior so that the interviews felt relaxed, vulnerable and surprising. Even her choice of subjects were inspired, each breaking stereotypes in their own way. Great interviews are the foundation of many great documentaries and the skill required to achieve a genuine connection cannot be understated. 

Secondly, I felt that Black + Belonging had strong thematic connections to Becoming Labrador. Both films in their own way explore the themes of home and of identity, particularly from the perspective of the “outsider”. Although Becoming Labrador looks at new arrivals to Canada--specifically Filipino migrant workers in Labrador--and Black + Belonging tackles Black Nova Scotian artists, both films are preoccupied with the struggle of finding a sense of home in somewhat hostile environments. Filipinos are new immigrants to Labrador, contending with extreme differences in climate from their homeland and the separation from their loved ones, so their search for belonging is hardly surprising. Black Nova Scotians, on the other hand, have been in the province for generations, so the fact that home and identity continue to pre-occupy their thoughts due to historical marginalization and under-representation, is profoundly revealing.

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Francesca Ekwuyasi and Rohan Fernando joined us for a DRIFF Directors Chat to discuss their filmmaking processes and how their two documentaries came to be. Watch the whole video for their insights on creating meaningful relationships with their documentary subjects, letting “what the universe is giving you” guide the story, and how their own experiences of immigration influenced their films.

English translation below.

Wanted: Strong Woman (Marilyn Cooke, 2019)

Cherche Femme Forte de Marilyn Cooke est un court métrage d’une très belle originalité avec des personnages riches et multidimensionnels, et réalisé de belle façon. C’est un film qui mélange poésie, action, et émotion, avec un sentiment d’être une histoire à la « coming of age ».

Je ne connaissais pas Marilyn Cooke comme réalisatrice, et c’est un collègue à moi, Danny Lennon, qui connaissait son talent et son film qui me l’a recommandé. Dès les premiers instants, Marilyn a su m’accrocher à son court métrage tant par ses personnages, le jeu des acteurs et de son actrice principale, sa musique, l’ambiance sonore, les moments oniriques, et l’univers passionnant dans lequel elle nous plonge en l’espace de 15 minutes. J’espère qu’il vous plaira autant qu’il m’a plu. Bon film tout le monde!

Wanted: Strong Woman by Marilyn Cooke is an original short film with rich and multidimensional characters as well as being beautifully directed. It is a film that combines action, emotion, as well as being poetic with a feeling of “coming of age” story.

I didn’t know Marilyn Cooke. It was a colleague of mine, Danny Lennon, who knew her film and her talent that recommended her to me. Right from the start, Marilyn hooked me in to her short film by the beautiful characters she’d written, the acting (shout-out to her leading actress), her music, sound design, the fanciful moments and the original and compelling world she takes us to in just about 15 minutes.  I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Have a great film everyone!

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DRIFF got Yan England (1:54) and Marilyn Cooke (Wanted: Strong Woman) together for an open-ended, unscripted conversation to discuss their distinct approaches to filmmaking and inspirations for their work. They go deep on working with non-actors, capturing sports on camera, and what it was like to shoot on location at a high school (while class was in session!) Watch the full video below.