One subject. Five communities. Five short films. One statement. Episode Five, a branch of Cinema Without Borders, is a filmic enterprise seeking to experiment with expectation. Five filmmakers around the globe representing various cultures and nationalities will each make a 22 minute short film revolving around the same idea.
The resulting pieces will then be strung together into a feature film to intensify the similarities and differences between the works, serving to shed light on not only cultural contrasts and similarities, but also on the nature of audience expectation. In addition to the feature-length form of each topic, a television series version to be aired in each country in the film pool will be created to allow for a more diverse and far-reaching viewer-ship.
“You know I think it’s a great idea,” states Rebecca Dreyfus, director of Stolen. “I would be a great fan… The world has gotten smaller in so many ways, but there is still a lack of understanding among people. Film is such a good way to bridge that…I would love to be involved in some way…”
Each filmmaker will have a local organization at it disposal to aid in ever aspect of the filmmaking process, including research and eventual distribution. Therefore, the actual making of these films will be contributing to the creation of new worldwide cinema networks that have more presence in the face of the studio machine. Eran Riklis, director of Syrian Bride describes how, “these projects are always interesting for filmmakers, because, [he thinks] there is not enough collaboration between filmmakers anyway, especially in the independent scene, because every film is so difficult to make—it becomes a personal crusade. So,” he continues, “I think the notion of collaboration, especially international collaboration which I personally
like, is great, because, when you are traveling with a film through festivals, you meet so many people. You immediately feel that these people in general think the same way. They like the same films, and have the same approach to things from a human point of view, (not necessarily for voting for the same guy).”
Anat Zuria, director of Sentenced to Marriage, describes that, “There should be something interesting in the composition of the film, and for [her], as a filmmaker, this has great potential.”
If you would like to be involved, please email us at info@episodefive.com
Artworks by: J. Dermani
