On Making The First Movie

Critic and broadcaster Mark Cousins on his film-making debut with Kurdish children

by Mark CousinsSaturday, 02 October 2010

'I had to decide how to capture the kids and the village and the screenings in images'

A documentary film I made recently, The First Movie, won the Prix Italia. Wim Wenders sent an email which said, “I loved it.” When I showed it at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival last month, nearly 1000 people turned up to see it, and many were in tears. How did all this happen? I’m not sure that I know. But, looking back, I can see a chain of decisions about the making of the film and the impulses behind it. Don’t all artworks have such a chain?

The kids we happened to find were alert, curious, funny and visually aware. They played with the camera and made them their own

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