Work with the teens yesterday went well. Teenage boys with the sensitivity of a boy, the testoserone of a man and the immunity system that doesn’t work. You treat them well and you always remember that they can die from getting sick. I had a receeding cold when I arrived and was a little paranoid of getting too close to any of them.
Me and Warren walked around the beach and the old part of Constanta. It was a good cold walk. An old casino was the highlight. It appear from nowhere around the corner and the brilliant sky emphasized the surreal beauty of the building on the pier.
Dinner was held by some friends of friends. A close knit of Romanians who were good people. Being invited to locals homes is always a grace that one has to appreciate. Sarcastic, funny and warm, I wish I could speak Romanian. They reminded me of when Chinese people get together. When friends, are more like a family we would want to have. Despite dinner being late and the reserved nature of our hosts, it was an enjoyable evening.
3rb Feb.
Today we arrived at where Warren is temporarily based, in the small town of Cernavoda. It is a slow and quiet town with a nuclear power plant nearby and over ground water pipes that run across town. We had a nice lunch and checked email before proceeding to the Nightingales Children’s Project. All the teenagers are orphans (who have HIV) and live within the dorm complex. Some are fairly ‘normal’. The ones we worked with had various problems. They struck me at first to be of indefinite age. Perhaps due to the drugs throughout their life, the poor nutrition and treatment in institutions, they all were stunted in both their physical and mental growth. They are 18 but with the physical and mental size of a 12 year old. I was told some have temperament problems, disruptive behaviour and are in various levels, retarded. A few, not ones we worked with, are severely affected by being institutionalized, rocking back and forth and mentally retarded.
The teenagers were asked to prepare sets and plan the shooting sequence for the day prior to today. Although very basic, I was fairly impressed by the efforts in both storyboards and sets. While a few of the others acted, one was asked to do the camera and direction. We went from on set up to the other and all was running smoothly. I was told that the one girl who was doing camera is normally quite disruptive and seeks attention although today, she was being very good. I was thoroughly impressed by her directing ability. From framing to art direction and the performances, here was real potential. I saw very little difference in professionals dressing sets, directing actors and even setting a light (a small house lamp in this case). With the desire, opportunity and will, I could see this disruptive girl manage a feature film with flair. Later on over dinner I spoke to Ben who largely runs Nightingales about this and he said that they were looking to acquire a camera as long as the teens wanted it and were willing to part fund it (earn it).
George Lucas once said that the digital revolution would see a girl in the middle of small town in Kansas make films and distribute them on the internet. If only she had a camera.
4th Feb.
It is lunchtime, it is snowing, it is beautiful.
- J
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