An Interview with Bristol Film-maker Geoff Hall

Bristol Based Film-maker Geoff Hall Had His Debut for My Name Is Sorrow Recently - Find Out About The Inspiration For His Film.. And Much More!

Writer, film-maker and mentor - Geoff Hall could be described as a seasoned creative.. But a chance meeting with an experienced writer knocked Geoff's writing world off its axis some years ago, and straight into the universe of film-making.  Since then another introduction to anti-trafficking organisation - Unchosen - inspired Geoff to write his film 'My Name Is Sorrow', screened recently in Bristol to highlight the work of Unchosen and travesty of human trafficking.  Find out Geoff's inspiration for making this film and why film-making can be anything but glamorous!

We moved to Bristol from the North-East (Hartlepool) in 1987, to get away from the chronic unemployment - Hartlepool had a plus 25 per cent unemployment rate in the 1980's.

I had worked as a volunteer in local radio and signed up to do a Communication Studies course at Bristol Polytechnic, but they lost my forms and I ended up doing a combined Art History and History Course. It was probably the best thing that could have happened and has defined the course of my life till now!

That's difficult to say. I was talking to my Mum and Aunty after the Premiere and they said they thought I got my story-telling talents from my Dad, as he was a great storyteller. Bedtime was always wonderful when Dad was telling the stories! Then when I was studying Art History (I was 30 when I came to Bristol to study) my tutor Roger Cranshaw wrote a thank you note for my first essay and it was that simple act which led me to believe I could write.

After completing a second degree at Exeter and writing as the Arts Editor for The Big Picture magazine (Published in South Africa) I had the sudden realisation that I was a bit sick of writing about other people's work, so one holiday I embarked on writing a novel (still unfinished) and from there wrote a series of short stories more as an exercise to test the ground.

Again, this was just a small act of kindness, of wisdom which then changed the course of my writing and my life. I told Russell about a particular story and he asked if I'd ever written a screenplay. I said no, but we worked on it and I kept sending him the latest scenes and he would enthuse or ask for changes to say, some of the violence scenes (It was a story about terrorism). From there I just kept on writing and adding to my faith pile of documents, in the hope (belief) that one day I'd be able to make something of them. This has been going on for 15 years now, I think.

I facilitate a group called The Group, or at other times known as the Arts Mentoring Group which started in 2001, when someone asked me to help a young student who had been informed that her faith was inappropriate for a student at her college. From that, a small group of visual art students started to meet - all having the same problem. We met around various venues in Bedminster once a month.

From there other things conspired to enlarge The Group to actors, film people, dancers, writers, poets, musicians, oh and a comedian!

Out of this Ben Small, Tim Woodford and myself pulled together Handy Cloud Productions in December 2008. We made our first film in February 2009 and showed it at a festival in Los Angeles at the very wonderful Alex Theatre in Glendale.

Why did we create the  company?  Because we had a cameraman, an actor and a writer all talking about making a film and we thought why are we just talking about it, let's do it!

Between 2009 and now, there were years of great attrition. The artist's life is not one known for financial security! Ben left to do some voice acting (Thomas the Tank Engine) and Tim to work on his own projects.

My key passions are a weave of the transcendent and the imminent! God, not the institutionalised one, but the One who has escaped the box. Family: My wife Jeanette who always suffers for my art!  Mark and Brittany my grown-up kids, who I want so much to realise their calling and vocation.

Community: I'm a community builder I suppose. I love people, enjoy watching them grow in stature as artists and spiritually intelligent people.

Film: love the work of Tarkovsky, Kieslowski, Bresson, Wenders and Malick. They are my mentors in filmmaking. I hate the deceit of social realism in film and the sensationalising of human trafficking. When I'm writing I'm always looking for the human element of the story, not portraying statistical information on screen, nor the political reductionism of such social issues. After all, trafficking is a human problem, not a political one! 

Writing (Books): Chris Lorensson of Upttacka Press was willing to take a risk, or was it take on a challenge, with me. Last year we published four books together in a series called 'Spiritual Direction in a Postmodern Landscape'. This is all about mentoring for artists. Chris told me that I should be ready for the naysayers, as they were always the ones who told you what they thought first and that those who loved it wouldn't arrive later! However, it is for the people who love your work that you wrote for and not those who hate it. This is also true of film-making!!

Faith informs my worldview which informs my art. I'm not a propagandist though and believe that the 'medium IS the message' and that in adding extraneous content (message) we dilute the medium, it loses its potency!! Tarkovsky, Kieslowski and Bresson were men of great spiritual character and I'm learning my craft through their wisdom.

In the Foreword of 'The Artist's Autobiography', Bob Covolo of the Brehm Center in Pasadena, called me a madman crying in the Wilderness!!  I think that's pretty accurate!  Beyond that, I'm a writer, filmmaker and a mentor.

A poet? Well, I was being interviewed on Bristol Community Radio by Lynette Quinlan and she said the title of the film was very poetic (My Name Is Sorrow), to which I added that this also summed up the style of the film. So, maybe there is a bit of the poet in me too!

Sorrow was a script I originally wrote about three years ago and it was focused on spousal abuse. This was part of a writing project about the human condition in Britain, which included a comedy and some very sharp cultural critique. I became aware of the work of Unchosen and decided to rewrite the piece and this time focus on human trafficking. I showed it to Trish Davidson and asked if they could endorse the film, looking for them to show it in their film campaigns. She said yes and a while later took it to Andrew Wallis of Unseen. He suggested I change the focus on grooming to one of betrayal, because this is what the evidence from survivors of sex trafficking are telling them now.

The inspiration and writing of the screenplay was the easier part! Making a film is always arduous, with great highs and dreadful lows. Of people letting you down and others surprising you with acts of kindness. I prefer the latter, but it seems you have to take them in equal, or almost equal measure! It's all about gaining momentum. After the inspiration then came the auditions with Ben and Tim helping. This was November last year. I told the actresses that I had enough money to hold the auditions, but not make the film. However, I also told them that it was penned in for a February shoot.

After the auditions I was on a high and really thankful for a great day. We met some great actresses and chose Natasha Paulinyi, it was like striking gold! I got back home to find a voice mail message saying we'd been unsuccessful in our bid to gain funding from a particular charity funder, but then Jeanette came into a darkened room and said 'You haven't opened your post' and threw an envelope on my lap. I thought, Oh great, God wants to cheer me up with a Christmas card! However, I opened it up and found a cheque which covered two thirds of the budget!

From there I gathered the crew to go with our cast of one. I work with people I know and value, as well as trust, for me trust is a kind of baseline measure for a professional relationship. If I can't trust you, then you aren't going to get in the door! And yes, we shot it in February and completed Post Production in March.

If you include the initial stages, four years! And people sometimes think that artist have little faith and that's why they don't have a real job!!! 

But, from the meeting with Trish probably more accurately and less dramatically, about a year. To End? Well, the problem with film is that it doesn't do its own publicity and distribution work!  So, I'm now embarking on this on an International scale!  It will be an exciting year.

Yes, the Premiere was on June 9th at the Bristol Mshed and we packed the place out. Camilla Brown of Unchosen spoke about her work and the work of the charity and this really touched Natasha, when she was relating a very human and personal connection to trafficking. After the film Andrew Wallis spoke with a whole load of authority and passion about the work of Unseen. The film showed between these two great speakers and people loved it, people were crying, shivering, wowing through it and we received a great reception. It was a very encouraging experience after a very hard year. I was thrilled that we had done justice to Unchosen's faith in the project and we've created a film they can show around the country.

It's funny, but there were so many that not one stands out on its own. Every well-wisher just seemed to add a kind of momentum to the evening. It was great to have my Mum and Aunty down from Hartlepool and receive the 'where did we get you from?' response! I think too someone called it a 'quiet masterpiece' which after all the doubts and disappointments flung your way, is very gratifying.

I've submitted the film to Encounters and I'm just about to submit it for a festival in Paris. The film may be shown in Bristol in July, but this is still being worked out.

I don't think a film will stop human trafficking! All we can do as artists is raise awareness. I'm not a political activist and the film isn't a political, ideological film, it is meant to help people gain a sense of the hurt caused to humanity from the abuse and commodification of others. If in raising awareness we can point to other organisations so that people can become involved in the abolition of trafficking, then that is good enough for me.

Andrew (Of Unseen) said on the night that he'd be disappointed if in 20 years time we were back at the Mshed celebrating one of 'Geoff's epics' about human trafficking!  He'd like to see human trafficking abolished before 20 years is up!  That seems like a good target!

There are a number of projects related to this film, including schools, book publishing and perhaps a dance/movement production. Beyond that I want to change the way media relates to trafficking, because at the moment human trafficking has a very low profile except for reportage.

I would like to see us make waves on the drama front, to which end I'm researching and writing a project. There may also be a follow up to Sorrow produced, which looks at the demand side of  this nefarious industry. That's a little trickier to do of course. With Sorrow I showed the effect and not the cause of the exploitation and I think I'll go on to do that again, but when we address demand we are striking at the core, at the heart of the matter and our desire to control, manipulate, use and abuse other people.

Chris Lorensson and I are also working on a multi-media novel and we are hoping to have a book series launch this summer for 'Spiritual Direction in a Postmodern Landscape'.

That's probably the most difficult question! For myself -We employed around 12 people on this short film drama. I would like to have a broader brush next time, but this takes money.

I love working in film because it's a community activity, but it is costly if you want to do it properly and not cut corners. If you have that kind of 'calling in favours' approach it shows in the end product. We have to honour people who earn their living from film-making. So, if there's a rich benefactor out there that wants to make a difference or an investor that wants to talk business, then please get in touch!  and please download My Name Is Sorrow!