We turned the members room into a cosy cinema on Wednesday night to see some short films made during the last five years during the 13th Parish International Film Festival’s Kino Workshops. Jooj du Quemin, introduced the evening, as she is a photographer, film maker and member of 13th Parish. The films are called Kinos, and we were taken on a fun and informative Kino learning journey.
Kino began in Canada in 1999. There are Kino Chapters around the world. Jersey is a Kino Chapter. Film makers, including amateurs, meet together to make a film in a short time. The first Canadian Chapter met over a weekend. The films last up to five minutes.
Some of the Jersey Chapter filmmakers, watched the Kinos with us in the members’ room and were invited to give an introduction to their films. Jennifer Lees, maker of “A Fisherman ‘til the end”, mentioned that fishing is not something many young people want to do for a living, so this film was made with that thought. Catherine Kirby, maker of “Remembrance of things past” asked the question “Why do people record things?”, from her perspective as an archivist. Jooj’s film entitled, “Kino, Kino, Kino!” showed her kino making skills and later we saw her acting skills (equally good) in the Mick McCarthy Kino, “Running Late.” She was filmed by the escalator at Co-Op Grande Marche, which was standing in for Heathrow airport.
Kino encourages collaboration: participants help edit others’ kinos, act in each other’s kinos and form friendships. The kino workshops in Jersey are run in conjunction with the 13th Parish, Art House and a short film festival in Trouville-sur-Mer called Off-Cuts, who enable four French film makers, from different disciplines, to visit Jersey to run the workshop. I particularly enjoyed learning that Kino is non-competitive. It has always been collaborative since its inception in Canada. I found the evening inspiring and would love to use my art to make a Kino, as I already make films on my phone.
Julia Renault – AFP Section – afp@societe.je
