On the 19th June a group called 'The Collective' formed of DFSA students, presented and screened there work at a self organised event in London in the heart of Hackney Wick at The Yard Theatre. It was an event many of us were keen to hold and be a part of, including myself, along side many other talented members of the class. Our determination and pride in our films along with the leadership of a particularly determined student, Katherine Whetton, led us to fundraise, arrange and have this celebratory evening where everyone involved was able to show case their achievements and work in London.
As a small yet eager class many of us were determined that we wanted to show off our work to audiences outside of Farnham and the University. We were keen to push our work out there and also celebrate how much our final tough year of university had paid off with all the work we had produced and were proud of. A group of us banded together to make this happen and under the leadership of Katherine Whetton, who took matters into her own hands, we formed a group know as The Collective. The members consisted of: Adeleke Adewale, Arturs Reinholds, Billie Williams (Me!), Colin Chan, Daniel Carter, Ethan Salley, Jay Hayes, Logan Gourlay, Maisie Mok, Natalie Hodgins, Nicole Harman-Smith, Preston Hartley, Sugini Nageswaran, Tarald Tvedt, Umor Hussain, Ivan Uzunov and Katherine Whetton.
As a group we then had meetings to decide and organise many thing, one of the most important being location. We chose London because what better place to showcase our films than in this busy city where film is thriving. In particular we eventually narrowed it down and picked The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick. The Yard theatre was a really cool quirky space tucked in amongst bars and many other business in a industrial estate. We were able to showcase our films in this contemporary and urban setting (very underground cinema ish!) After some fundraising and input ourselves we had enough money to book it and a date was then set. We then invited along our guests to join in the fun of this celebration and also advertised on Social Media to try and tease in new faces. Then with some final preparations such as programmes made by Katherine, everything was set.
With 10 of us on hand to help we rallied together to make the night run as smoothly as possible and make sure fun was had. Before guests arrived a sound and screen test was done and Programmes were placed out ready. Myself and Sugini began checking off the guests lists, welcoming in our finely dressed guests and class mates ready to celebrate this showcase with us. With drinks and conversation flowing we proceeded into the theatre space to seat our guests and begin the show!
Katherine was our presenter, on hand to introduce the films for those unable to attend and guiding everyone through this emotional rollercoaster ride of films. We had everything from documentary moving through to some experimental artistic films, the more serious dramas, dance and music videos and some skilful animations. See below an image of a well used programme from the evening:
It was a wonderful evening and the highlight for me was seeing everyone get to introduce their own films and express so much pride and passion in what they do. The thank you's people gave were so thoughtful and well deserved and the explanations behind some of the pieces were so in depth and intriguing. The development of everyone is amazing, compared to where we began as a class of nervous and slightly unsure students to now being a group of artist hosting an event and proud to speak up about our work and express ourselves.
I did however find the idea of presenting my own piece very daunting as I knew I was going to be speaking to completely fresh faces about my work without them having any knowledge on who I am and what I do. I did try and keep my cool though and with some helpful words of wisdom from our photographer and former student president Tomm Morton I was able to get through it. The rest of the evening was a breeze and everyone was able to enjoy themselves and watch some inspirational films with their friends, families and even teachers right along side supporting and celebrating with them.
This was such a good experience to be a part of and I am so proud to have showcased my work along side so many other creative individuals. It was a pleasure to work alongside them for this event and for the past three years and I can truly say that we have come such a long way together! To any other creatives who want to gain experience, push themselves out there and get involved with other like minded creatives I would encourage you to put creating an event like this on your to do list. Also it may be worth mulling over the fact that Digital Film and Screen Arts could be the course for you!
Written by Billie Williams
Photography by Tomm Morton
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