24th February 2021
The Stevie Project
Part of Into Film’s partnership work includes linking schools with industry partners; this could be filmmakers, venues or cinemas in their local area. One recent example of this, was a series of talks for BHASVIC's media students. One talk was run by Asatuurs Keim who ran through tips in creating a portfolios for the first time. Asatuurs shared his love of filmmaking and the sense of community it provides: "It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, we're all there on set to make something beautiful, and that is why Film is magic" – please check out the mighty filmmakers web page to learn more about the community of independent filmmakers that Asatuurs leads.
The second talk in the series, was with Tristan Loraine, who runs the Fact Not Fiction Films production company; Tristan was kind enough to offer work experience to BHASVIC students upon application, on his next film. During the application process one student, Arlo, expressed to Tristan his dream of creating a short film about Arlo’s sister, Stevie. Stevie lives with the condition Tuberous Sclerosis. Fuelled by his passion for documentary filmmaking, Tristan offered six BHASVIC students the opportunity to bring Arlo’s vision to life, to raise awareness of Tuberous Sclerosis.
In explaining what Arlo hopes to achieve with the project he said: “In telling our family’s story, I want to educate people about her condition and I want to create a voice for families affected by learning disability. No one but my family really knows the full extent of the experience we’ve had. I have a lot of feelings about Stevie that are really tough to talk about, and these feelings are not unique to me. In this film, I want to share my story and explore what it means to be a sibling of someone with special needs. This film is just as much my story as it is my sister’s. It will include interviews with me and my parents, footage of our day-to-day lives, and archive footage from me and Stevie’s childhood.”
Meet the Team:
The team of six filmmakers, all study either media or film studies at BHASVIC and are currently in Year 12. Emma, Lola, Rosie, Louis, Arlo and Kitty.
The condition they are hoping to raise awareness of is Tuberous Sclerosis. This is a rare genetic condition that causes mainly non-cancerous (benign) tumors to develop in various parts of the body. So far the students have had a pre-production meeting with Into Film, Tristan and the UK’s leading charity for Tuberous Sclerosis – TSA.
As well as raising awareness, the team are excited to gain first hand experience on a film set – all made possible through the generosity of Fact Not Fiction productions. “Working on this project will offer us some really unique experience for all of us as individuals and broaden our knowledge on the film industry. We all come from different backgrounds and aim to go down different routes within the industry, so with this generous opportunity given by Tristan Loraine, we are able to explore each area of production as in depth as possible.”
The students hope to begin production in the summer, but for now, keep up to date with the progress via Instagram: #TheStevieProject
