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ABOUT THE NIGHT
Short Fiction Film (12 mins) & Contextual Research
Lee-Jane Bennion-Nixon
About the Night centres on a belligerent young waiter and a woman seeking solace in a late-night café. Initially inspired by a Hemingway story, the narrative explores an everyday moment between two strangers, grounded in the belief that small acts of kindness can change the world.
We worked within professional filmmaking workflows, yet outside the constraints of agenda-driven funders, to identify barriers to innovation in the creative process. One of the core research questions to emerge from the project was how production dynamics might be rethought to foster more innovative and inclusive storytelling. A related question followed: how can filmmakers break free from conventional constraints, when even much independent and festival cinema continues to rely on traditional storytelling norms?
The research underscores the value of embracing production as a site of inquiry, so that we can foster more daring and socially transformative storytelling practices. While About the Night was made in a relatively safe environment, most filmmakers lack this security. The research highlights how filmmaking is inherently shaped by friction and setbacks, with key creative moments emerging as story needs are balanced against real-world constraints. Effective collaboration demands both critical thinking and creative insight to navigate content, intent, and necessary compromises. Each contributor must negotiate and refine their role to achieve the final film.
To remove barriers for emerging filmmakers, it's not just about skills and training — we must also create safe environments that mitigate risk, enabling creatives to thrive as well as experiment. This research calls for a deeper understanding of production dynamics to challenge dominant practices and foster innovation beyond the auteur model.
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