THE PAST COUNTS THE FUTURE

A workshop by Elena Duque

CinemaAttic organised a workshop for young people in Craigmillar with Spanish-Venezuelan filmmaker, curator, writer and teacher Elena Duque in June 22. We went back to zero and explored the tricks of Méliès, together with the stop motion animation techniques by Segundo de Chomón (pure magic of which only can provided by cinema) to help us count without barriers all our visions of the future, the possible utopias for a world that seems doomed to dystopia. Combining these primitive ways of tricks with new technologies and some other contemporary techniques, the participants were given the opportunity to unleash their imagination.

The idea was to use simple techniques and everyday materials to provide each participant with future resources to tell their own stories without the need for great media. It was also important to generate a space around the most playful aspect of cinema that allows reflection and thinking about how each person can contribute something to the construction of a better future.

We provided three sessions; the first theoretical session looked into the imagination from a set of inspiring pieces. We then looked at “brainstorming” by discussing how these ideas can be carried out within cinema as a tool, and how to link them into a story collective. This then lead us to write a basic script and organise the shooting sessions.

Our second sessions we filmed the project using animation, capturing live action snippets and incorporated sound compilations.

Finally, we organised a screening of the film with the teachers and reflected on the experiences and the work done.

We are delighted to present to you the premiere of THE PAST COUNTS THE FUTURE available to watch here.

(The workshop took place at Craigmillar Library on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of June.)