Yasmin’s success story continues. She has been asked to sit on the film jury at the Ofensiva International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland from 6th to the 9th December 2007.
The main part of the Festival will be the International Competition organized in four categories: plot, document, animation and video-clip. The competing movies will be judged by a professional jury. Moreover, during this year's edition in the cycle "World's Festivals" the festival will present images that were rewarded and appreciated from other festivals abroad; whereas in the cycle "New National Cinema" they will show the most interesting and the most important films from selected national cinematographers.
Audiences will have an opportunity to watch many films from all over the world that haven't yet been screened in Poland. In previous years the film festival has shown movies produced in distant and exotic countries such as; Georgia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Singapore and India.
More details at: http://www.ofensiva.pl/eng/index.php
Is the dough in the right place?
Monday 26 November 2007
MIND THE GAP
Yasmin Fedda is a Lebanese Canadian national, of Palestinian origin, raised in Kuwait. So what was she doing in Gorgie of all places? As she tells Malcolm Jack, it's all about bridging the gap.
Yasmin originally arrived in Scotland to study social anthropology in Edinburgh. After graduating, she moved to Manchester to do a postgraduate in visual anthropology, which is where she first started looking at life through the camera lens.
"I was doing an academic subject," says Yasmin, "and wanted to make it more accessible. I wanted to experiment with making films. Using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."
"I wanted to experiment with film, using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."
Yasmin's masters film Milking the Desert proved her first screen triumph, gaining selections and shortlistings at film festivals as far and wide as Sheffield, Paris, Moscow, Montreal and Rio de Janeiro.
"It was my first film, set in a monastery in Syria," she explains. "It was a mixed sex, mixed sect monastery in the desert, where they work toward better understanding between Muslims and Christians. It's politicised, but in a country where you're not supposed to be."
A further documentary, exploring the Afro-Cuban religion of Sanitaria in Miami - Siento Una Voz (I Hear a Voice) - followed, before Yasmin undertook projects in Newcastle and Edinburgh.
"I'm just happy people liked the characters."
Yasmin was working as a volunteer at the Garvald Centre in Gorgie - a centre for adults with learning difficulties - when she heard the call out for the Scottish Documentary Institute's annual Bridging the Gap scheme. The theme was 'white', something that brought to mind the Centre's bakery workshop, which makes organic bread for shops throughout the city.
"I thought about it for ages," she says, "then thought 'oh, flour and 'white', in the bakery context'. That wasn't enough, so I incorporated white noise - all the sounds of the bakery mixing together: the mechanical sounds, people singing and whistling and chatting."
Shot over two weeks, her ten-minute short gives an insight into the community and characters in the bakery, and the way they interact. It's really struck a chord with audiences since debuting at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it scooped the Scottish Short Documentary Award.
"I'm not sure why!" admits Yasmin. "The one thing people have commented on is the absence of voiceover. A lot of people thought it didn't need one - it's quite visual - they just had to watch it. And some people felt it's kind of rhythmical as well. I'm just happy people liked the characters."
"It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."
As mundane an environment as Breadmakers' setting might seem, Yasmin saw no reason why a film shot there shouldn't be as fascinating as her previous projects.
"The reason I liked working there in the first place was that it's a really interesting project," she says. "Even though my other projects seem really exotic and far away, to me they're all equal. And as an outsider going there, Gorgie seems just as exotic."
It might well take her to more exotic locations yet, because Breadmakers has been selected to screen at further festivals in Finland and Iran. Yasmin hopes to attend both, although immigration might prevent her visiting the latter.
"I'm going to try and make it," she says. "Whatever happens, it's just interesting that they picked it. I'm glad they picked a film that's about something really small. It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."
"I'd like to bring stories from the Middle East here and vice versa."
Yasmin hopes to work further through her films towards narrowing the cultural space between the West and Middle East. As a fluent English and Arabic speaker with a foot in both locations, she's in a great position to do so.
"It helps when you can speak the languages," she says. "I'd also like to bring stories from the Middle East here, because often I feel that people don't know what it's like. It would be nice to share what's happening there with other people. And vice versa."
So where to next then?
"Hmmm, let's see... Newtongrange?" she jokes. "At the moment I'm in Edinburgh, but perhaps somewhere in Syria, and hopefully Iran as well. That's the first port of call. And the West Bank hopefully, in Jerusalem. I'm developing a few projects. We'll see which one happens first."
This article was published on Channel 4’s 4Talent website at: http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=7706
Yasmin originally arrived in Scotland to study social anthropology in Edinburgh. After graduating, she moved to Manchester to do a postgraduate in visual anthropology, which is where she first started looking at life through the camera lens.
"I was doing an academic subject," says Yasmin, "and wanted to make it more accessible. I wanted to experiment with making films. Using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."
"I wanted to experiment with film, using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."
Yasmin's masters film Milking the Desert proved her first screen triumph, gaining selections and shortlistings at film festivals as far and wide as Sheffield, Paris, Moscow, Montreal and Rio de Janeiro.
"It was my first film, set in a monastery in Syria," she explains. "It was a mixed sex, mixed sect monastery in the desert, where they work toward better understanding between Muslims and Christians. It's politicised, but in a country where you're not supposed to be."
A further documentary, exploring the Afro-Cuban religion of Sanitaria in Miami - Siento Una Voz (I Hear a Voice) - followed, before Yasmin undertook projects in Newcastle and Edinburgh.
"I'm just happy people liked the characters."
Yasmin was working as a volunteer at the Garvald Centre in Gorgie - a centre for adults with learning difficulties - when she heard the call out for the Scottish Documentary Institute's annual Bridging the Gap scheme. The theme was 'white', something that brought to mind the Centre's bakery workshop, which makes organic bread for shops throughout the city.
"I thought about it for ages," she says, "then thought 'oh, flour and 'white', in the bakery context'. That wasn't enough, so I incorporated white noise - all the sounds of the bakery mixing together: the mechanical sounds, people singing and whistling and chatting."
Shot over two weeks, her ten-minute short gives an insight into the community and characters in the bakery, and the way they interact. It's really struck a chord with audiences since debuting at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it scooped the Scottish Short Documentary Award.
"I'm not sure why!" admits Yasmin. "The one thing people have commented on is the absence of voiceover. A lot of people thought it didn't need one - it's quite visual - they just had to watch it. And some people felt it's kind of rhythmical as well. I'm just happy people liked the characters."
"It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."
As mundane an environment as Breadmakers' setting might seem, Yasmin saw no reason why a film shot there shouldn't be as fascinating as her previous projects.
"The reason I liked working there in the first place was that it's a really interesting project," she says. "Even though my other projects seem really exotic and far away, to me they're all equal. And as an outsider going there, Gorgie seems just as exotic."
It might well take her to more exotic locations yet, because Breadmakers has been selected to screen at further festivals in Finland and Iran. Yasmin hopes to attend both, although immigration might prevent her visiting the latter.
"I'm going to try and make it," she says. "Whatever happens, it's just interesting that they picked it. I'm glad they picked a film that's about something really small. It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."
"I'd like to bring stories from the Middle East here and vice versa."
Yasmin hopes to work further through her films towards narrowing the cultural space between the West and Middle East. As a fluent English and Arabic speaker with a foot in both locations, she's in a great position to do so.
"It helps when you can speak the languages," she says. "I'd also like to bring stories from the Middle East here, because often I feel that people don't know what it's like. It would be nice to share what's happening there with other people. And vice versa."
So where to next then?
"Hmmm, let's see... Newtongrange?" she jokes. "At the moment I'm in Edinburgh, but perhaps somewhere in Syria, and hopefully Iran as well. That's the first port of call. And the West Bank hopefully, in Jerusalem. I'm developing a few projects. We'll see which one happens first."
This article was published on Channel 4’s 4Talent website at: http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=7706
Saturday 24 November 2007
Shoot First
BREADMAKERS is to be screened at the SHOOT FIRST event at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse on Wednesday 12th December 2007.
SHOOT FIRST is an independent organisation holding short film events in Scotland. They give filmmakers an opportunity to have their work seen on the big screen, showcasing work from around the world.
December’s event also features:
Crosswords - James Malcolm, Scotland 2007, 9min - Mrs Mitchell thinks she's receiving messages through crossword puzzles, and she keeps them filed in boxes, which pack her house from floor to ceiling. One day a salesman calls who says he can help her clean up the mess.
Standing Start - Finlay Pretsell & Adrian McDowall, Scotland 2007, 15 min - Craig is considered the fastest lead-out cyclist in the world. We experience what flashes through his head as he's locked into the blocks, awaiting the starting gun to fire and sense the feeling as he's whizzing round the velodrome.
Sunday 11 November 2007
From BAFTA to BEIRUT
Breadmakers has been accepted to DocuDays: Beirut International Documentary Festival. Yasmin was suitably delighted. “I’ve always wanted to show my work in Lebanon and now I have my chance. It’s very exciting”.
DocuDays was founded in 1999 with the aim of raising public awareness for the non-fiction genre as an entertaining and informative tool. The DocuDays program includes both competition and non-competition sections. The competition section will recognise Arab and international films in the following categories: Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, and Jury Special Mention.
The 9th edition of DocuDays: Beirut International Documentary Festival takes place in Lebanon from 3rd – 9th December 2007.
DocuDays was founded in 1999 with the aim of raising public awareness for the non-fiction genre as an entertaining and informative tool. The DocuDays program includes both competition and non-competition sections. The competition section will recognise Arab and international films in the following categories: Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, and Jury Special Mention.
The 9th edition of DocuDays: Beirut International Documentary Festival takes place in Lebanon from 3rd – 9th December 2007.
Thursday 8 November 2007
Bakery’s Fame is on the Rise
(From Edinburgh Evening News dated 7th November 2007)
THERE'S a productive din in the busy bakery, while people scurry to put loaves on trolleys and wipe down flour-caked tables. It's 3.30pm and the apron-clad organic bakers are packing up for the day.
But as long-serving worker Alan Auld opens the oven door, a rush of heat and a comforting waft of freshly baking bread escapes - and all the team's dedication seems worthwhile.
In his white baker's hat and well-singed oven gloves, 60-year-old Alan looks every inch the professional baker, as he carefully removes a hot tray of loaves and places them on the cooling tray for all to admire.
At the Garvald Bakery on Gorgie Road, Alan is just one of 36 bakers who every day prepare breads and confectionery using only organic ingredients. The wide range of products are top notch, as the Edinburgh shopkeepers who watch them fly off their shelves will testify. But many who enjoy the fine walnut or linseed breads bearing the Garvald label may be surprised to know that the creators of their loaves all have learning difficulties.
A slightly floury Alan, from Dalkeith, proudly introduces himself as "the chairman of the rep council". Indeed, he is one of the longest-serving bakers, having been at Garvald 11 years. Standing over a fresh batch of wholemeal loaves, he declares: "The first time I made bread was when I came here. I feel proud to make it and I buy it myself if I see one of our loaves in the shops. Garvald is great."
The bakery, which produces up to 150 loaves a day - all baked to order - is part of the Garvald Centre, which has been offering creative day workshops to people with learning difficulties for more than 30 years, teaching them skills ranging from puppet-making to woodwork.
Members are trained in every aspect of work, from mixing the dough and kneading the bread to printing the labels and delivering the wares to shops, such as Real Foods in Broughton Street and Tollcross, and Tattie Shaw's greengrocers on Elm Row.
Though the efforts of the Garvald bakers may not be that widely known in Edinburgh, thanks to a locally based film-maker they are now famed as far afield as Tehran. Yasmin Fedda's ten-minute documentary Breadmakers was shown at the Iran Documentary Film Festival and has just been nominated for a Scottish Bafta.
The 27-year-old, from Leith, shot the film in March, after spending time as a relief support worker at Garvald last year.
She says: "It's an inspiring place. The film allows people into a world they wouldn't normally see. What's great about Garvald is that it provides a routine and creative space for adults with learning difficulties and they can get college certificates for their skills."
Members prepare a huge variety of organic loaves, including brown, white, linseed, walnut, malt, oatmeal, Russian and Tibetan breads. The not-for-profit organisation has 18 members making standard loaves in a workshop in the mornings and another 18 are employed on speciality breads in the afternoons.
The first lot of members, aged from 18 upwards, arrive at the bakery at 9am. Work starts later than in regular bakeries because it is a training facility, where the emphasis is on learning.
The first thing members do is grab their aprons and hats from the hooks and line up at the sink to wash their hands. After that well-worn routine, they gather round the silver table in the centre and work together to get the dough ready, weighing it and cutting it.
Twenty-three-year-old Sian Mayne, from Currie, is confident to turn his hand to most tasks.
"I make the bread and white rolls, and cut the bread," he explains. Kirsty Parsons, who leads the confectionery workshop next door, chips in: "His favourite part of the day is making the toast for the tea break." Warming to his subject, Sian adds: "I wash the tables too."
James Welby, owner of Tattie Shaw's, is fulsome in his praise of the Garvald bakers, whose produce he has been selling for the last three years.
He says: "It's fantastic bread. It comes in lovely and warm and fresh at 1.30pm every day and, as well as being organic, it's tasty and good value for money."
James says that over the week they order 30 to 40 small plain loaves, as well as a wholemeal, a walnut and a linseed loaf. "They also do fantastic homemade biscuits that are great with a coffee and hot cross buns at Easter," he enthuses. "It's all very popular with our customers, who like to buy local."
And he isn't the only one willing to testify to the high standards adhered to by the bakery.
Simon Sibley, general manager of Real Foods, says they have bought the Garvald bread for a decade due to its high quality.
"They make good-quality organic loaves and do the whole range of seasonal breads. We have been dealing with them for at least ten years. These things get brand loyalty," he says.
The bakery got its official organic certification in 1993 and day service manager Nancy Macdonald says staff try to think green in all they do. She says: "We try to look after the environment and recycle, as well as helping members learn new skills.
"Everyone contributes in different ways to the final product. It's about making products with a real value to the outside world. We concentrate on quality - we are not a factory churning out hundreds of loaves."
After a satisfying afternoon's labour, Alan wipes the sweat from his brow and takes off his hat. Members hang up their pinnies and the sounds of work are replaced by an excited chatter as they gather in the doorway to await their transport home.
It is these moments that are perhaps the most poignant captured in Yasmin's documentary. The film - which has already garnered the Short Scottish Documentary Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival - is mostly silent, allowing the images to speak for themselves, but the closing scene, filled with the sound of the merry whistling of a fulfilled baker, is the one that lingers most in the memory.
The Breadmakers short documentary by Yasmin Fedda, is one of three films nominated by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
The bakery is part of the Garvald Centre which provides creative day opportunities for more than 120 members.
It also has its own retail outlet, the Mulberry Bush shop, on Morningside Road, which sells handmade crafts from the centre's workshops.
Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the Breadmakers has been signed up for international distribution by Network Ireland Television. Yasmin was brought up in Kuwait and moved to Edinburgh nine years ago to study social anthropology at Edinburgh University. Breadmakers, which was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme, can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website.
The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 take place on Sunday November 18, in the City Halls, Glasgow.
THERE'S a productive din in the busy bakery, while people scurry to put loaves on trolleys and wipe down flour-caked tables. It's 3.30pm and the apron-clad organic bakers are packing up for the day.
But as long-serving worker Alan Auld opens the oven door, a rush of heat and a comforting waft of freshly baking bread escapes - and all the team's dedication seems worthwhile.
In his white baker's hat and well-singed oven gloves, 60-year-old Alan looks every inch the professional baker, as he carefully removes a hot tray of loaves and places them on the cooling tray for all to admire.
At the Garvald Bakery on Gorgie Road, Alan is just one of 36 bakers who every day prepare breads and confectionery using only organic ingredients. The wide range of products are top notch, as the Edinburgh shopkeepers who watch them fly off their shelves will testify. But many who enjoy the fine walnut or linseed breads bearing the Garvald label may be surprised to know that the creators of their loaves all have learning difficulties.
A slightly floury Alan, from Dalkeith, proudly introduces himself as "the chairman of the rep council". Indeed, he is one of the longest-serving bakers, having been at Garvald 11 years. Standing over a fresh batch of wholemeal loaves, he declares: "The first time I made bread was when I came here. I feel proud to make it and I buy it myself if I see one of our loaves in the shops. Garvald is great."
The bakery, which produces up to 150 loaves a day - all baked to order - is part of the Garvald Centre, which has been offering creative day workshops to people with learning difficulties for more than 30 years, teaching them skills ranging from puppet-making to woodwork.
Members are trained in every aspect of work, from mixing the dough and kneading the bread to printing the labels and delivering the wares to shops, such as Real Foods in Broughton Street and Tollcross, and Tattie Shaw's greengrocers on Elm Row.
Though the efforts of the Garvald bakers may not be that widely known in Edinburgh, thanks to a locally based film-maker they are now famed as far afield as Tehran. Yasmin Fedda's ten-minute documentary Breadmakers was shown at the Iran Documentary Film Festival and has just been nominated for a Scottish Bafta.
The 27-year-old, from Leith, shot the film in March, after spending time as a relief support worker at Garvald last year.
She says: "It's an inspiring place. The film allows people into a world they wouldn't normally see. What's great about Garvald is that it provides a routine and creative space for adults with learning difficulties and they can get college certificates for their skills."
Members prepare a huge variety of organic loaves, including brown, white, linseed, walnut, malt, oatmeal, Russian and Tibetan breads. The not-for-profit organisation has 18 members making standard loaves in a workshop in the mornings and another 18 are employed on speciality breads in the afternoons.
The first lot of members, aged from 18 upwards, arrive at the bakery at 9am. Work starts later than in regular bakeries because it is a training facility, where the emphasis is on learning.
The first thing members do is grab their aprons and hats from the hooks and line up at the sink to wash their hands. After that well-worn routine, they gather round the silver table in the centre and work together to get the dough ready, weighing it and cutting it.
Twenty-three-year-old Sian Mayne, from Currie, is confident to turn his hand to most tasks.
"I make the bread and white rolls, and cut the bread," he explains. Kirsty Parsons, who leads the confectionery workshop next door, chips in: "His favourite part of the day is making the toast for the tea break." Warming to his subject, Sian adds: "I wash the tables too."
James Welby, owner of Tattie Shaw's, is fulsome in his praise of the Garvald bakers, whose produce he has been selling for the last three years.
He says: "It's fantastic bread. It comes in lovely and warm and fresh at 1.30pm every day and, as well as being organic, it's tasty and good value for money."
James says that over the week they order 30 to 40 small plain loaves, as well as a wholemeal, a walnut and a linseed loaf. "They also do fantastic homemade biscuits that are great with a coffee and hot cross buns at Easter," he enthuses. "It's all very popular with our customers, who like to buy local."
And he isn't the only one willing to testify to the high standards adhered to by the bakery.
Simon Sibley, general manager of Real Foods, says they have bought the Garvald bread for a decade due to its high quality.
"They make good-quality organic loaves and do the whole range of seasonal breads. We have been dealing with them for at least ten years. These things get brand loyalty," he says.
The bakery got its official organic certification in 1993 and day service manager Nancy Macdonald says staff try to think green in all they do. She says: "We try to look after the environment and recycle, as well as helping members learn new skills.
"Everyone contributes in different ways to the final product. It's about making products with a real value to the outside world. We concentrate on quality - we are not a factory churning out hundreds of loaves."
After a satisfying afternoon's labour, Alan wipes the sweat from his brow and takes off his hat. Members hang up their pinnies and the sounds of work are replaced by an excited chatter as they gather in the doorway to await their transport home.
It is these moments that are perhaps the most poignant captured in Yasmin's documentary. The film - which has already garnered the Short Scottish Documentary Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival - is mostly silent, allowing the images to speak for themselves, but the closing scene, filled with the sound of the merry whistling of a fulfilled baker, is the one that lingers most in the memory.
The Breadmakers short documentary by Yasmin Fedda, is one of three films nominated by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
The bakery is part of the Garvald Centre which provides creative day opportunities for more than 120 members.
It also has its own retail outlet, the Mulberry Bush shop, on Morningside Road, which sells handmade crafts from the centre's workshops.
Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the Breadmakers has been signed up for international distribution by Network Ireland Television. Yasmin was brought up in Kuwait and moved to Edinburgh nine years ago to study social anthropology at Edinburgh University. Breadmakers, which was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme, can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website.
The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 take place on Sunday November 18, in the City Halls, Glasgow.
Monday 5 November 2007
BAFTA nomination for Breadmakers
BREADMAKERS, a short documentary by young Edinburgh filmmaker Yasmin Fedda, is one of three films nominated by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
It tells the story of a community of Edinburgh workers with learning disabilities in the Garvald Bakery in Gorgie, who make a range of organic breads for delivery to shops and cafes all over Edinburgh.
Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the film has just been screened at Iran's International Documentary film festival and has recently been signed up for international distribution.
Yasmin Fedda, a Lebanese Canadian working in Edinburgh, said, "I'm delighted that the film has been nominated by BAFTA. I found the bakery to be an inspirational place and making the film allowed me to capture a world that would not normally be seen."
The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 takes place on Sunday 18th November in the City Halls, Glasgow.
BREADMAKERS, which can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website, was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme. The film has already won the Short Scottish Documentary Award at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
It tells the story of a community of Edinburgh workers with learning disabilities in the Garvald Bakery in Gorgie, who make a range of organic breads for delivery to shops and cafes all over Edinburgh.
Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the film has just been screened at Iran's International Documentary film festival and has recently been signed up for international distribution.
Yasmin Fedda, a Lebanese Canadian working in Edinburgh, said, "I'm delighted that the film has been nominated by BAFTA. I found the bakery to be an inspirational place and making the film allowed me to capture a world that would not normally be seen."
The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 takes place on Sunday 18th November in the City Halls, Glasgow.
BREADMAKERS, which can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website, was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme. The film has already won the Short Scottish Documentary Award at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
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