This was a short article published in the British Baker Magazine on 31st October 2008.
BAKERY DOCUMENTARY WINS ACCLAIM
An 11-minute documentary about Garvald Edinburgh Bakery, which is staffed by people with learning disabilities, including Down's syndrome and autism, has won $75,000 (£46,000) at the Middle East International Film Festival, taking The Black Pearl for Best Documentary - Short Film.
Breadmakers, directed by Yasmin Fedda, a previous employee of the bakery, looks at the intricate social relationships that operate between staff, as they make a variety of organic breads, rolls and cakes for daily delivery to 26 shops in Edinburgh.
Robin Mitchell, who produced the film with Jim Hickey, told British Baker: "The team at the bakery absolutely loved being filmed and, after a few minutes, really came out of their shells."
Is the dough in the right place?
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Sunday 2 November 2008
Yasmin - Star On The Rise
This was an article published in the Edinburgh Evening News on Saturday 1st November 2008 by Sarah Howden.
It shouldn't have worked. After all, the work of a bakery hardly makes for a riveting plot line. But Breadmaker has captivated audiences and just bagged its second industry award. Not bad for 28-year-old Yasmin Fedda from Abbeyhill, who swapped her apron for the camera and catapulted the Edinburgh bakers to international fame.
"The film allows people to see into a world they wouldn't normally see," explains Yasmin, whose film just won a £46,000 film festival Black Pearl Award in Abu Dhabi at the Middle East International Film Festival. "They got in touch with me and asked me to submit my film. I did but didn't think much more of it. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the awards ceremony so when I heard I was really surprised. It's amazing."
Her poignant 11-minute documentary is mostly silent, with the images in the Garvald Bakery speaking for themselves. Staffed by people with Down's Syndrome and autism, it was opened to provide a routine and creative space for adults with learning difficulties, as well as work towards college certificates for their skills. "It is such an inspiring place that it just made sense to make it there," she says. "Yes, it shows bread being made but, more importantly, it shows the relationships in the bakers and how people work together."
Growing up in Kuwait, Yasmin, who calls herself "Lebanese Canadian", decided to move to the Capital to study in 1998. "I had come to Edinburgh on holiday when I was young, but remembered nothing about it," she laughs. "Then, when it came to choosing a university, something made me pick Edinburgh."
Studying anthropology at Edinburgh University, Yasmin was unsure of what career path to follow. So when she graduated in 2002 she decided to volunteer. "This was when I first worked with Garvald and I just loved what they were all about. I went on to Manchester to get a Masters in anthropology and filmmaking and, when I graduated, I came back and became a relief worker with them. It was then I heard about the bakery and thought it was so unique."
Then she heard about the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme. "The theme was white, and I came up with the proposal of white noise and the noises in the bakery. They liked it. From the initial proposal to editing, it took nine months with just two weeks of filming."
The heart-warming documentary went on to win an award at 2007's Edinburgh International Film Festival for Short Scottish Film and was also nominated for by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
But Yasmin is unfazed – even when her film was shown at Robert Redford's renowned and star-studded Sundance Film Festival in the US."I went in January and it was a great festival – they had everything from small independent films to big budget ones," she says. "It was great for networking and they do say it's star-studded but I never saw anyone. I was too busy doing my thing."
Having recently tied the knot with city charity worker, Dan Gorman, 28, it's clear that Yasmin doesn't follow convention. Indeed her wedding was held in Syria, with her family flying in from all over the Middle East and Dan's Irish family travelling too, so it makes sense that the filmmaker's next projects are as thought-provoking and challenging as Breadmakers.
"Yes, one is a commission about a walk in Palestine which includes both locals and internationals. It was really exhausting to do but so interesting. The film allows you to see it from both eyes. The people there were really friendly and open, and it has such a beautiful landscape. We see the news, the economic problems, but until you are actually there you just don't realise how intense it is."
Her second film is set in Damascus and fuses Greek Orthodoxy with Christianity. "There's two sides to every story," is her philosophy in life.Her own life is firmly based in the Capital. "It's been a little bit hectic recently and I've been all over the place, but it's just till the end of the year," she laughs. "I love it in Edinburgh – apart from the cold and the darkness in the winter. Why didn't I realise that all those years ago?"
It shouldn't have worked. After all, the work of a bakery hardly makes for a riveting plot line. But Breadmaker has captivated audiences and just bagged its second industry award. Not bad for 28-year-old Yasmin Fedda from Abbeyhill, who swapped her apron for the camera and catapulted the Edinburgh bakers to international fame.
"The film allows people to see into a world they wouldn't normally see," explains Yasmin, whose film just won a £46,000 film festival Black Pearl Award in Abu Dhabi at the Middle East International Film Festival. "They got in touch with me and asked me to submit my film. I did but didn't think much more of it. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the awards ceremony so when I heard I was really surprised. It's amazing."
Her poignant 11-minute documentary is mostly silent, with the images in the Garvald Bakery speaking for themselves. Staffed by people with Down's Syndrome and autism, it was opened to provide a routine and creative space for adults with learning difficulties, as well as work towards college certificates for their skills. "It is such an inspiring place that it just made sense to make it there," she says. "Yes, it shows bread being made but, more importantly, it shows the relationships in the bakers and how people work together."
Growing up in Kuwait, Yasmin, who calls herself "Lebanese Canadian", decided to move to the Capital to study in 1998. "I had come to Edinburgh on holiday when I was young, but remembered nothing about it," she laughs. "Then, when it came to choosing a university, something made me pick Edinburgh."
Studying anthropology at Edinburgh University, Yasmin was unsure of what career path to follow. So when she graduated in 2002 she decided to volunteer. "This was when I first worked with Garvald and I just loved what they were all about. I went on to Manchester to get a Masters in anthropology and filmmaking and, when I graduated, I came back and became a relief worker with them. It was then I heard about the bakery and thought it was so unique."
Then she heard about the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme. "The theme was white, and I came up with the proposal of white noise and the noises in the bakery. They liked it. From the initial proposal to editing, it took nine months with just two weeks of filming."
The heart-warming documentary went on to win an award at 2007's Edinburgh International Film Festival for Short Scottish Film and was also nominated for by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
But Yasmin is unfazed – even when her film was shown at Robert Redford's renowned and star-studded Sundance Film Festival in the US."I went in January and it was a great festival – they had everything from small independent films to big budget ones," she says. "It was great for networking and they do say it's star-studded but I never saw anyone. I was too busy doing my thing."
Having recently tied the knot with city charity worker, Dan Gorman, 28, it's clear that Yasmin doesn't follow convention. Indeed her wedding was held in Syria, with her family flying in from all over the Middle East and Dan's Irish family travelling too, so it makes sense that the filmmaker's next projects are as thought-provoking and challenging as Breadmakers.
"Yes, one is a commission about a walk in Palestine which includes both locals and internationals. It was really exhausting to do but so interesting. The film allows you to see it from both eyes. The people there were really friendly and open, and it has such a beautiful landscape. We see the news, the economic problems, but until you are actually there you just don't realise how intense it is."
Her second film is set in Damascus and fuses Greek Orthodoxy with Christianity. "There's two sides to every story," is her philosophy in life.Her own life is firmly based in the Capital. "It's been a little bit hectic recently and I've been all over the place, but it's just till the end of the year," she laughs. "I love it in Edinburgh – apart from the cold and the darkness in the winter. Why didn't I realise that all those years ago?"
The Guardian
This was an article by the journalist Erland Clouston that appeared in The Guardian on Wednesday 29th October 2008.
A short film about a Scottish bakery that employs people with learning disabilities has landed the biggest prize payout in the history of documentary film making.
An 11-minute film about life in a charitable Edinburgh bakery has been named best short documentary at the Middle East International Film Festival, picking up a cheque for $75,000.
The film's co-producer, Jim Hickey, was presented with the Black Pearl trophy last week in a six-star Abu Dhabi hotel. The prize money – the biggest sum in the history of documentary filmmaking – works out at more than £4,363 for each minute of the film, called Breadmakers.
The cheque was an unexpected bonus for the film's director, Yasmin Fedda, who was unable to pick up the award because the prize giving coincided with her wedding.
Her film's triumph over rivals including an Oscar nominee and a winner of a Sundance Festival award was received with delight in the humble Edinburgh office of the Scottish Documentary Institute, which had backed the film in 2007. "We could not believe the amount of cash – we thought it was a misprint," said Finlay Pretsell, the institute's distribution and production manager.
At the Garvald Bakery where 12 workers with learning disabilities turn out 100 loaves and 60 rolls a day in premises modestly located behind a car dealership, there was hope that international celebrity might induce a more sympathetic funding settlement from Edinburgh city council.
Profits from the bakery help subsidise a parent organisation, which provides 40 people with supported accommodation and 120 with training and workshop opportunities. "The publicity has been brilliant," said the day services manager, Nancy Macdonald.
Already an anonymous donation of £25,000 is being linked to the coverage given to Fedda's documentary, which has been shown at 22 film festivals, from Reykjavik to Tehran. Baking, despite being one of the oldest professions, has had a low cinematic profile.
And Fedda, 29, an Edinburgh-based Lebanese-Canadian, did not initially feel that her film, which has no dialogue and no storyline beyond the gradual heating of dough, was going to change this. "You know what it is like when you are doing something new: you struggle a bit, you wonder if it works. In the end I was just happy that it made sense," she said.
The director, currently filming Greek Orthodox nuns in Syria, completed two stints as a volunteer at Garvald before sensing that its contented world of hums, clangs, whispers and whistles offered artistic possibilities. "Sounds are very interesting," she said.
Some of the money will be shared among Fedda's former workmates and some will be used to subsidise an outing for the bakers to the Food on Film Festival in Kingussie in February.
A short film about a Scottish bakery that employs people with learning disabilities has landed the biggest prize payout in the history of documentary film making.
An 11-minute film about life in a charitable Edinburgh bakery has been named best short documentary at the Middle East International Film Festival, picking up a cheque for $75,000.
The film's co-producer, Jim Hickey, was presented with the Black Pearl trophy last week in a six-star Abu Dhabi hotel. The prize money – the biggest sum in the history of documentary filmmaking – works out at more than £4,363 for each minute of the film, called Breadmakers.
The cheque was an unexpected bonus for the film's director, Yasmin Fedda, who was unable to pick up the award because the prize giving coincided with her wedding.
Her film's triumph over rivals including an Oscar nominee and a winner of a Sundance Festival award was received with delight in the humble Edinburgh office of the Scottish Documentary Institute, which had backed the film in 2007. "We could not believe the amount of cash – we thought it was a misprint," said Finlay Pretsell, the institute's distribution and production manager.
At the Garvald Bakery where 12 workers with learning disabilities turn out 100 loaves and 60 rolls a day in premises modestly located behind a car dealership, there was hope that international celebrity might induce a more sympathetic funding settlement from Edinburgh city council.
Profits from the bakery help subsidise a parent organisation, which provides 40 people with supported accommodation and 120 with training and workshop opportunities. "The publicity has been brilliant," said the day services manager, Nancy Macdonald.
Already an anonymous donation of £25,000 is being linked to the coverage given to Fedda's documentary, which has been shown at 22 film festivals, from Reykjavik to Tehran. Baking, despite being one of the oldest professions, has had a low cinematic profile.
And Fedda, 29, an Edinburgh-based Lebanese-Canadian, did not initially feel that her film, which has no dialogue and no storyline beyond the gradual heating of dough, was going to change this. "You know what it is like when you are doing something new: you struggle a bit, you wonder if it works. In the end I was just happy that it made sense," she said.
The director, currently filming Greek Orthodox nuns in Syria, completed two stints as a volunteer at Garvald before sensing that its contented world of hums, clangs, whispers and whistles offered artistic possibilities. "Sounds are very interesting," she said.
Some of the money will be shared among Fedda's former workmates and some will be used to subsidise an outing for the bakers to the Food on Film Festival in Kingussie in February.
The Scotsman
This was an article in The Scotsman newspaper by Arts Correspondent Tim Cornwell. It was published on 23rd October 2008.
EVEN in Hollywood, film awards rarely bring more than a statuette, a movie star's handshake and, hopefully, enough publicity to sell a few more tickets. But the makers of a low-budget Scottish documentary about a bakery staffed by people with Down's syndrome and autism have won $75,000 (£46,000) at a festival in Abu Dhabi.
Breadmakers – made for little more than £8,000 – won the Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the Middle East International Film Festival. It was awarded to the director, Yasmin Fedda, who used to work part-time at the Garvald Bakery in Edinburgh, and producers Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell.
Mr Hickey accepted the prizefrom Casino Royale star Eva Green and the actor Joseph Fiennes at the Emirates Palace Hotel, in its 1,100 seat cinema. "I will never forget it," he said. "It proves that a short film can make a journey from comparatively modest beginnings to holding its own against the best in the world. "One of the contenders was an Oscar-nominated short film and we managed to beat that to the prize."
He and his fellow film-makers plan to ensure part of the cash goes towards the bakery and the people who work there. Proceeds from the film have already helped pay for a new roll-slicing machine.
The 11-minute documentary shows Garvald's breadmakers kneading, shaping, and baking bread for more than 20 bakeries and delicatessens around Edinburgh. Mr Hickey said the film gave an insight into the lives of people with different learning disabilities. "There is a fascination of seeing a very everyday thing of baking bread of being carried out in a context where very few words are spoken because they communicate mostly in sign language. Baking of bread is something in every country which people can identify with."
"We're a bit stunned," said Alastair Baines, a workshop leader at the bakery. "Money-wise, it's incredible."
Breadmakers has already been screened at the Athens Disability Film Festival, others in Poland and Iran, and the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US. It was nominated for a Scottish Bafta award last year.Fedda plans to take bakery workers to see Breadmakers at a Food on Film Festival in Kingussie next year.
The bakery is run by Garvald Edinburgh, which provides support services for adults with disabilities.Grace Nicol, of the charity, said: "The film was made as quite a small scale plan to show people what goes on in our workshops. It's just got a life of its own. Our members at Garvald have achieved so much in confidence and credibility for the work they do by the film being screened. That is just as important." Breadmakers has brought other benefits as well. Ms Nicol said: "We recently received a £25,000 anonymous donation, a huge amount of money for us. Perhaps they saw Breadmakers." The Kendal Film Club in Cumbria, which recently screened the film, sent a donation of £50.
Breadmakers was funded as part of a new talent initiative by Scottish Screen and Skillset.
THE Garvald Bakery is an "unprepossessing building tucked behind a car showroom in Gorgie, Edinburgh," says Breadmakers director Yasmin Fedda. But she was inspired to make the film partly by the "variety of sounds" she experienced, when she worked for a year covering shifts there.The film was initially conceived as a promotional DVD for the bakery.
Made with £8,000 in funding from Scottish Screen and other backers, it has no spoken narrative, but features only snatches of conversation and singing, and the sound of dough hitting tables. The lack of language may explain why it has done so well internationally. It won a short film award when it was screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and a Scottish Bafta nomination.The bakery is one of nine sites operated by the charity Garvald Edinburgh, providing "curative education" and therapy to more than 100 people.
Fedda, a Lebanese-Canadian who came to study in Edinburgh in 1998, made a previous documentary, Milking the Desert, based on her time in a Syrian monastery which encourages Muslim-Christian relations.
EVEN in Hollywood, film awards rarely bring more than a statuette, a movie star's handshake and, hopefully, enough publicity to sell a few more tickets. But the makers of a low-budget Scottish documentary about a bakery staffed by people with Down's syndrome and autism have won $75,000 (£46,000) at a festival in Abu Dhabi.
Breadmakers – made for little more than £8,000 – won the Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the Middle East International Film Festival. It was awarded to the director, Yasmin Fedda, who used to work part-time at the Garvald Bakery in Edinburgh, and producers Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell.
Mr Hickey accepted the prizefrom Casino Royale star Eva Green and the actor Joseph Fiennes at the Emirates Palace Hotel, in its 1,100 seat cinema. "I will never forget it," he said. "It proves that a short film can make a journey from comparatively modest beginnings to holding its own against the best in the world. "One of the contenders was an Oscar-nominated short film and we managed to beat that to the prize."
He and his fellow film-makers plan to ensure part of the cash goes towards the bakery and the people who work there. Proceeds from the film have already helped pay for a new roll-slicing machine.
The 11-minute documentary shows Garvald's breadmakers kneading, shaping, and baking bread for more than 20 bakeries and delicatessens around Edinburgh. Mr Hickey said the film gave an insight into the lives of people with different learning disabilities. "There is a fascination of seeing a very everyday thing of baking bread of being carried out in a context where very few words are spoken because they communicate mostly in sign language. Baking of bread is something in every country which people can identify with."
"We're a bit stunned," said Alastair Baines, a workshop leader at the bakery. "Money-wise, it's incredible."
Breadmakers has already been screened at the Athens Disability Film Festival, others in Poland and Iran, and the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US. It was nominated for a Scottish Bafta award last year.Fedda plans to take bakery workers to see Breadmakers at a Food on Film Festival in Kingussie next year.
The bakery is run by Garvald Edinburgh, which provides support services for adults with disabilities.Grace Nicol, of the charity, said: "The film was made as quite a small scale plan to show people what goes on in our workshops. It's just got a life of its own. Our members at Garvald have achieved so much in confidence and credibility for the work they do by the film being screened. That is just as important." Breadmakers has brought other benefits as well. Ms Nicol said: "We recently received a £25,000 anonymous donation, a huge amount of money for us. Perhaps they saw Breadmakers." The Kendal Film Club in Cumbria, which recently screened the film, sent a donation of £50.
Breadmakers was funded as part of a new talent initiative by Scottish Screen and Skillset.
THE Garvald Bakery is an "unprepossessing building tucked behind a car showroom in Gorgie, Edinburgh," says Breadmakers director Yasmin Fedda. But she was inspired to make the film partly by the "variety of sounds" she experienced, when she worked for a year covering shifts there.The film was initially conceived as a promotional DVD for the bakery.
Made with £8,000 in funding from Scottish Screen and other backers, it has no spoken narrative, but features only snatches of conversation and singing, and the sound of dough hitting tables. The lack of language may explain why it has done so well internationally. It won a short film award when it was screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and a Scottish Bafta nomination.The bakery is one of nine sites operated by the charity Garvald Edinburgh, providing "curative education" and therapy to more than 100 people.
Fedda, a Lebanese-Canadian who came to study in Edinburgh in 1998, made a previous documentary, Milking the Desert, based on her time in a Syrian monastery which encourages Muslim-Christian relations.
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