ci·né·ma-vé·ri·té. noun : a style of filmmaking that stresses unbiased realism, characterizes authentic dialogue and naturalness of action. Capturing the organic moment of reality gives me, as a filmmaker, a rush. A rush of adrenaline and my face becomes emotionless. I become intensely focused on what I am filming. As I take myself out of the equation as the third party with a camera, spontaneously experiencing and documenting this moment, I put myself into the minds of the audience. I seek to capture the elements at play in this moment, determining what needs to be seen in this moment, in this event or from this subject. And most importantly what emotions can I extract and convey from my lens. The rush of cinema verite, or direct cinema, comes from that organic atmosphere where the filmmaker has no control of the situation but is ready to act or react if and when the scene changes. It is thrilling whether you are filming a riot, family drama or tragedy, historical events, etc., it is the fact that you are capturing and documenting life with the intent to tell these stories as real events and real people. I am searching for a better word, but it really is awesome, powerful.
I certainly had my weekly dose of this rush as I filmed a group of LGBT and straight Utahns as they staged a sit in at the Utah State Capitol demanding that SB100, a bill outlawing discrimination against gay people in employment and housing, be heard after it was considered dead by Senate Republicans in a closed door meeting last week. I will give you the short recap of the day....Arrived 9:30am to the Capitol, the 15 or so protestors commenced by blocking the door to the Governor Herbert's office. Within 15 minutes or so the State Troopers march over and cart a few of them away. Troy Williams, leader of the group, firmly relayed their message that in the same way the Utah Legislature was blocking democracy, avoiding the reality that 72% of Utahns favor the bill, with these facts they would not be leaving their post without the guarantee that SB100 be heard THAT DAY or removed by arrest. The State Troopers were not about to arrest anyone and by 10:00 am we were all back in front of Herbert's doors. Also by 10:00am, the press for any major house in Utah had been tipped off, 30 minutes too late, and ever present with us at the Governor's office. I however was the only independent camera and the only woman. Being a female filmmaker is not the easiest position to be in. To gain respect you have to earn your stripes....but after Monday I feel I am closer-being small in stature (5'1' on a good day,) an independent female filmmaker and one of the last cameras standing I was earning a stripe.
Ok, back to history in the making. Several figures in various offices come down either wanting to speak to the protestors in disapproval of their act of civil disobedience as they were disturbing the peace, distracting other individuals in the capitol from conducting other important business, creating a scene and causing children's field trip tours to cancel their tour of the Governor's office, and best of all....in the event of an emergency, a fire, an earthquake, medical emergency we were causing harm we didn't even forsee. Over lunch (bagels, PB&J's, Starbursts and veggie trays- all provided by random citizens that saw the news, offices within the capitol and the media) the protestors changed their gameplan as the Troopers were no longer swarming, they were not causing a buzz in front of Herbert's office. At 1:45pm we left our original post and marched over to the Senate Building. Senate President Wayne Niederhauser was supposedly going to be attending an education committee meeting at 2:00pm so they found their meeting room and stood. This was a tight hallway with no body in it but image being there with the entire news crews, photographers, a dozen loud protestors, equally loud elderly women in a rage that they cannot attend their "education meeting," grumpy legislators and the ever intimidating Utah State Troopers. (In all honestly, they really did their jobs calmly and gracefully, to the best of their ability given the situation, thank you!) Soon enough the protestors refused to remove themselves and as a result were facing a possible charges for disrupting a public meeting, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct etc. One by one 13 protestors were arrested around 2:10pm by State Troopers, removed in plastic zip tie hand cuffs.
As Troy Williams' hands were bound in the plastic ties, cameras flashing and shutter speeds clicking, he said, "this is for the rights of our people and I am happy to do it. Liberty and justice for all." Another protestor said, "when your voice won't be heard in the place that you live, democracy runs on civil servants standing forward making their voices known." When protestor Gail Turpin was asked how she felt being arrested she replied, "I feel just fine. It's time, it's time. It's right."
I hope to share some of the footage with you soon! I have some screen grabs from the footage below you can flip through. I feel incredibly fortunate to be present at this event as I believe that these folks are the example of how this our century's civil rights movement. It is my hope that I can continue to document these courageous and selfless individuals, gay and straight, that see the need for change. In the mean time you, YOU can educate yourself and others by supporting the LGBT organizations in your community. Equality is coming and it will come state by state by state. Let's be on the right side of history.
As Troy Williams' hands were bound in the plastic ties, cameras flashing and shutter speeds clicking, he said, "this is for the rights of our people and I am happy to do it. Liberty and justice for all." Another protestor said, "when your voice won't be heard in the place that you live, democracy runs on civil servants standing forward making their voices known." When protestor Gail Turpin was asked how she felt being arrested she replied, "I feel just fine. It's time, it's time. It's right."
I hope to share some of the footage with you soon! I have some screen grabs from the footage below you can flip through. I feel incredibly fortunate to be present at this event as I believe that these folks are the example of how this our century's civil rights movement. It is my hope that I can continue to document these courageous and selfless individuals, gay and straight, that see the need for change. In the mean time you, YOU can educate yourself and others by supporting the LGBT organizations in your community. Equality is coming and it will come state by state by state. Let's be on the right side of history.