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On Monday I attended a great workshop with Ann Marie Fleming, the creative force behind The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam. The workshop was a combination of the personal and the work, which is what she does in her films. Of particular interest to me is her approach to documentary and the use of humour. It disarms you and makes it easier to deal with sometimes difficult issues. I had a great time and there were gifts as well! She showed lots of work and contextualized, analyzed, and philosophized about it. It hit me right in the heart and reinforced my belief that things will work out well and important stories will be told because they have to be told. Some quotes from my notes from Ann Marie’s workshop: filmmaking: “so much heart and so much fussiness”, “we all have stories”, “the very specific is most compelling”, “all film is documentary film”, “standup is like experimental film”, and “you just have to want to do it.” She confirms my theory that filmmaking can be characterized as a recessive gene… you don’t really have a choice, you just have to tell these stories. I’m glad that Ann Marie is out there sharing her stories.
