London Recut

London! A Guide for the Anxious

A timely guide to the dangers of London, providing key points for the careful and alert individual to remember, obsess over and fear…

View the entry here.

And you can view the polished version here shortly!

About Nicola: Nicola Jaberi has been telling tales her whole life, firstly because she just couldn’t help herself and then professionally as a writer, artist, actor, editor and director.  She has produced stories in the form of plays, audio books, exhibitions, films and interactive multimedia according to the needs of each project.

Having been told that writing would never earn her a living, she initially studied science (specialising in science writing and interpretation) before moving on to work as a copywriter and editor.  Following two postgraduate degrees in Digital Media Production and TV, Film and Radio Acting she has combined her own creative work with projects for organisations as diverse as Richmond Theatre, Pearson Education Ltd, Calibre Books, Penguin Readers, Bucks County Council and the Royal British Legion.

She is currently working as a dramaturg for a site specific play, completing a photographic project researching London’s mews, and coordinating the oral history content for an exhibition celebrating Richmond Theatre’s 110th anniversary.

In Nicola’s words: “On watching the archive film, I was struck by how many of the wartime headlines would not be out of place in our newspapers and broadcast media today.  This is clearly ridiculous.  I hoped to edit the footage in such a way as to point out the absurdity of living in a constant state of red alert and climate of fear.  I do not exclude myself from this criticism – far from it.  In fact, I have experienced panic attacks for years.  This can obviously be distressing but also, when I catch myself at it, both annoying and amusing.  This inspired me to produce the piece as though it were following the thought process as a panic attack builds.  I hoped to show the sense of escalating powerlessness, impending doom and growing paranoia through the format of a guide for someone wanting to maximize their own sense of panic – yet also to reflect the frequently nonsensical and humorous nature of this when put in perspective.

So, essentially, I wanted first to make fun of myself, then everybody else.  The one group I did not want to make fun of was those appearing in the original footage.  It was very important to me that the people pictured were treated with respect partly as they are not able to answer back, but mostly because their own fear was entirely appropriate to their circumstances.  This meant leaving a great deal of moving, heartfelt footage alone – and focusing the absurd sections of the film on speech delivered by presenters, actors, broadcasters and politicians who, I like to tell myself, would be only too glad of the publicity.

It would be satisfying if people greet the film with a smile; it would be even better if it makes one or two ruminate for a second.”

Air

A meditation on the spirit of London as seen through the prism of its most trying time – the World War Two blitz.

View the entry here.

And you can view the polished version here shortly!

About Rahim: Rahim has worked in the film industry within numerous departments since he was seventeen. After completing a practical degree in film, Rahim graduated to go onto specialise in scriptwriting.  Since 2005 he has been working as a freelance writer. He has had a series of poems and a graphic novel published and has written plays for both stage and radio. In 2008, he directed a short film, before starting to work with Tiga Kali Studio on a series of shorts. These have been screened at numerous international film festivals including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the International Kurz Film Festival in Hamburg and Tribecca in New York, gathering numerous awards. He is currently in pre‐production on a short animation, working with Slurpy Studios, and has several other projects in development including a short documentary. To find out more about Rahim, please visit www.101projects.org

In Rahim’s words: “Born of a first generation in London, with my parents born and raised in Tanzania, the opportunity to work with archival footage that has shaped the city I love to this day really excited me. As I started to sift through the footage, I became amazed by the London at war clips and the immense bravery of the people within them. As I started to research more, I read that the World War Two Blitz was intended to break the morale of the British people; instead it brought them closer together.

With Air I intended to capture a sense of spirit amongst a city during a time of war and destruction, drawing a parallel to modern disasters such as the 7/7 London bombings of 2005. I intended to structure a film that would be a poetic and moving account of the nation as they prepare for a possible air raid, as they casually carry around their gas masks, walk briskly into shelters and nonchalantly prepare for the next attack as they are hear the bell signaling no more danger. With the London Underground running as a constant theme, I wanted to highlight the fear and panic that would be in the air whilst an attack may be about to happen or not happen, as the people wait silently in their bunkers, fearing the unknown as the city lays in desolation. Avoiding scenes of actual attacks and armed forces, ‘Air’ instead captures courage amongst civilians brought together by war with scenes of families, friends and strangers all helping each other. Whilst the music of ‘Air’ is made to convey emotion of the people’s spirit, the sound bites of a radio frequency and a plane overhead are intended to create a sense of the reality of the time, as well as to inspire hope for the future at the end.”

Everybody’s London

London is a new home for thousands every year. Everybody’s London captures the internal journey of a newcomer. Does London change for them, or do they change for London?

View the entry here.

And you can view the polished version here shortly!

About Sarah: London born, Sarah grew up in Australia. After several unsuccessful attempts to join the paramedic service, at the age of 31 Sarah asked her mother to look after her cat and moved to London. She landed a job with a multinational cosmetic giant and began a career ladder climb. However, acting classes showed her another life so she quit her job and went to drama school. Having graduated, she currently works as a PA for Arts Team, an architectural team that build theatres.

Sarah is married, lives in Wapping with her husband and dreams of a flat with garden to grow vegetables, a dog to chase around the radish patch, and the odd play to be in.

In Sarah’s words: “The London Recut competition came to me via my husband. He forwarded an email that he had received from Cinéphilia. Now this email just happened to coincide with my almost finishing Peter Biskind’s ‘Easy Riders Raging Bulls’.

The book had given me more facts on 1970s Hollywood than I probably really wanted to know – however I was struck with two things:

a. one didn’t really have to be very nice
b. these guys all worked very hard and FINISHED projects.

Becoming an acid dropping control freako meglomaniac was briefly considered and ditched. However, being one of those people who has at least 20 knitting, sewing and patchwork projects all currently awaiting completion (one fine day), the concept of starting and finishing something really appealed.

I spent a couple of weekends experimenting with a couple of films but going nowhere fast… [Then] I discovered the trio of clips Refuge England [from the so-named Free Cinema classic by Robert Vas].

The trio rang such a personal bell with me and my experience of moving to London I have to admit the film ‘Everybody’s London’ basically edited itself. The story seemed really, really obvious, terrifically simple, and I was CONVINCED that 90% of other entries would be the same as mine. I completed it in about 2-3 hours.

Even though I came from an English speaking country, and was very much an adult, I had my reasons to escape to London – a giant of a city – and to start again. I wanted to capture the feelings of someone trying to come to terms with the place, and how it can be so distant and big and overwhelming on first arriving. I also wanted to communicate how London becomes home to that same person – and it’s not because London changes. It’s still as big and mean and busy as always. However if you want to properly live in London, you have to learn to love all that. And you do.

When Mosaic rang to say I was one of the winners, I was over the moon – BUT it didn’t even come close to the feeling of absolute pride I had when the film first was put up on the internet.

After so many years of creative production, in many, many formats, I had never produced something for such public view. I couldn’t stop BEAMING the day I saw it posted on the competition gallery page.

And I’ve been just as excited talking to people on how they view the film. The process of creating something that has subjectivity is brilliant – everyone has a different understanding of it and feelings attached to it – and finding out what these are is just so fascinating and illuminating.

I’ve just loved the entire project from start to finish.

Playing Out

Free play in a free city as seen through the eyes of a London youth worker.