A Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: Maurice El Medioni: The Birth of PianOriental
Genre: Musical Documentary
Date: 2019
Director: Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett
Producer: Clive Myer & Lynda Myer-Bennett
Writer: Clive Myer & Lynda Myer-Bennett
Cinematographer: Clive Myer & Lynda Myer-Bennett & George Myer
Production Company: Eclectic Films
Budget: £5000
Financing: Private
Shooting Format: HD
Screening Format: HD
World Premiere: Global Nonviolent Film Festival, 2020
Awards: ‘Best Music in a Feature Documentary’ – Global Nonviolent Film Festival 2020; ‘Best Performance’ Wallachia International Film Festival 2020
Website: www.eclecticfilms.com
Available to Watch worldwide at globalcinema.online
Clive Myer and Lynda Myer-Bennett are partners in life and in film creativity. They started Eclectic Films in 2003 and have made shorts and features that have won several awards including a BAFTA Wales for Best Short Film.
indieactivity: Introduce your film?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): The story of the dispossessed in full and glorious possession of their music. The film creatively celebrates the life and music of the Godfather of PianOriental. Using his personal diary as lines of support, Maurice teases out the musical influences that built his unique style of PianOriental music – a fusion of Arabic, Jewish, Andalucian and American rhythms and memories (in French ‘souvenirs’) that sees his left-hand play Boogie while his right-hand plays Rai.
Watch the trailer for “Maurice El Medioni: The Birth of PianOriental” directed by Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett
Tell us why you chose to write, produce, direct, shoot, cut/edit the movie? Was it financial, chance, or no-budget reason?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): We were introduced to Maurice following his performance at the Barbican Centre in London. He had just won the BBC Radio World Music Award. We had a wonderful time together and all decided to make a film to tell his unique story. Maurice (now 93 years old) is one of the last of his generation of chanteur Jewish Algerian performers.
Introduce your crew?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): We produced, directed, wrote, shot, and edited the film ourselves! A true labor of love that included other members of our family as well. We borrowed the cameras from Alan Niblo, our Executive Producer from Vertigo Films. They were the very same cameras that Gareth Edwards used to shoot ‘Monsters’.
What are your personal experiences putting on all these hats/responsibilities? Tell us about story, writing, and production?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): It’s never an easy decision to take an extremely hard work, but worth it. We filmed over several years following him around France and London. During that time we filmed concerts at both the Arab Foundation and the Jewish Foundation in Paris. We learned that music really can bring people together across cultural, political, and religious divides. We also filmed Maurice playing with renowned Oud player Kayam Allami at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London during Refugee Week.
What is the source of the idea? How did the story develop from the idea? And how did the story evolve into a screenplay? Why do this story? Do you have a writing process?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): We used his handwritten diaries and the film evolved organically from there.
Let’s talk pre-production: take us through a timeline of how you started and ended it?
Clive Myer, Lynda Myer-Bennett (CM & LMB): As a documentary, it was filmed in real-time in several locations over several years.
How long was the shooting period?
(CM & LMB): As independent filmmakers will tell you, shooting days have no beginnings or ends, they all merge into one!
During the film production, what scene was the hardest to shoot? And why?
(CM & LMB): The V&A was quite a technical challenge, particularly with the sound because the audience was coming and going as the musicians were performing in the halls of the museum! But we got there in the end.
What were the advantages and disadvantages of the way you worked?
(CM & LMB): The advantage for us is that we have complete control of all aspects of production. This is really important for artist filmmakers. Of course, this is also a disadvantage as there is no deadline and the buck stops with us!
What was the experience like of working with a small shooting crew?
(CM & LMB): It’s so good to work with a small crew, We have also worked with a crew of 40 on other films. We found that a larger crew can take up a lot of time and energy when it can be more important to concentrate on the filming.
When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
(CM & LMB): Eclectic Films was set up to produce and distribute film and video work of a distinctive and innovative nature that owes more to the artistic and aesthetic merits of European cinematic culture rather than those of Hollywood. Eclectic Films was formed out of a shared interest in producing challenging and innovative works for the screen.
What was the first project out of the gate?
(CM & LMB): Our first feature film was “The Orchard” based on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Happily, it won several awards from Amsterdam, Cambridge, Yosemite (please see our website for details www.eclecticfilms.com).
What about independent filmmaking and the business do you still struggle with?
(CM & LMB): We decided a few years ago to stop writing application forms for film funding (which was taking up 80% of our time) and concentrate on making the films instead. Now that technology is so much more affordable it means that we can be in full control from start to finish.
Where do you think your strengths lie as a filmmaker?
(CM & LMB): We proudly associate with Arthouse, World cinema, and auteur films as these forms of filmmaking inspire us to be independently creative.
Let’s talk finance: how did you finance the film?
(CM & LMB): We self finance our films using low budgets and supportive friends and associates.
This is How important is marketing? Talk about the festival tour? Do you think a project can make a dent without it nowadays?
(CM & LMB): Marketing is very important and of course we don’t have the same budgets as Hollywood studios who put millions into marketing. It’s really important to enter festivals and we also accompany the films whenever we can to have Q&A’s with the audience. The rise of online festivals in such a difficult time has actually been really helpful for us. An online audience can be just as rewarding as a cinema audience and often larger!
Tell us about marketing activities or efforts on this project – and how it worked or didn’t work?
(CM & LMB): With this film, we put together a package with live North African music and tour live when we can. This worked very well until Covid hit. One of the venues was The Green Man festival in Wales in 2019 in a large cinema tent.
Watch MAURICE EL MEDIONI: THE BIRTH OF PIANORIENTAL
Where can the film be watched today?
(CM & LMB): It is available worldwide at globalcinema. online – a unique streaming channel for nonviolent films. We were offered a contract with them after the film’s participation at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival. In addition to “Maurice El Medioni”, we also released three of our previous films with globalcinema. online: “The Mire Archive”, “The Portrait” (starring Juliet Stevenson), and “The Orchard”.
What do you hope audiences will get from the presentation of your film?
(CM & LMB): We hope that the film succeeds in bringing together people from diverse cultures, religions, and opinions. From what we have experienced so far, this has been a success.
What else have you got in the works?
(CM & LMB): We are working on a film project that incorporates both drama and actuality around time, family, and the act of ‘becoming’.
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