Features

More than 70 years after John Steinbeck published East of Eden, its central question remains as uncomfortable as ever. Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our parents, or do we have the freedom to become someone different? It is a question running through generations of the Trask family, whose troubled relationships provide the foundation for one of the great American novels of the twentieth century. Steinbeck gave that question a name: timshel, his interpretation of a Hebrew word from the Bible, which he rendered as “thou mayest”. It is the idea that human beings have a choice. Our upbringing, our circumstances and our family history may influence us, but they need not determine who we become. Now a seven-part Netflix adaptation, written by Zoe Kazan and starring Florenc...

“I try to push ideas away, and the ones that will not leave me alone are the ones that ultimately end up happening”. This fantastic quote from JJ. Abrams helps to describe what my next short film ‘The Firm’ is all about – an idea that didn’t go away. I’m Maxwell Morrison, and I am the director, producer and writer on the upcoming British short film ‘The Firm’. I’m 19 years old and based in North Yorkshire. Making films is my passion, specifically writing and directing, but I’m passionate about the whole process. I’m currently looking to make several shorts over the next year and a half, with the goal of producing my debut feature film towards the end of 2019. This article is the first in a series of articles featuring exclusively right here on filmburners.com regarding the entire process f...

Well, the Crowdfunder campaign done and dusted, and the brand new Derek Jarman successfully completed, it was all about making sure the project reached an audience. What’s the point in putting so much effort into making a piece of work if it then comes to an end because no-one has had the chance to interact with it? Anyway, ‘The Gospel According to St Derek’ has certainly reached an audience – and very successfully so. It’s a case of so far, bloody brilliant! On Friday 31st January, it kicked-off a weekend symposium on Derek Jarman and Early Modern Drama at Kings College, on The Strand in London, 5pm. It was screened in the old Anatomy Theatre at Kings. There was a full-house, with some people having to stand on the balcony overlooking the screening (very Earl...

Wheee-hoooo! I did it! I reached my Crowdfunder campaign target to complete my new Derek Jarman documentary – The Gospel According to St Derek. Actually, I did it with 4 days to spare. But things have been such a whirlwind since then (what with all the excitement, and relief, of reaching my goal), and as I’m now working fast and furiously with the online editor and sound mixer to have the documentary ready in time for the forthcoming planned screenings, that things are just starting to sink it – along with a glowing sense of achievement and immense gratitude. I was 80% there with just 7 days to go and that meant I had to go back to my email contacts, mobile phone contacts and chase-up directly anyone I still hadn’t contacted, or anyone who had said they would make a pledge, but had yet to ...

Okay, well it’s now just 7 days (1 week!) to go on my Crowdfunder campaign to complete a new documentary project on the extraordinary British film-maker (artist, gardener, set designer, writer and all-round talented creative genius) Derek Jarman. The past 7 days (week 4 of 5) has seen things come on leaps and bounds. It was hugely inspiring to get a very handsome pledge from an actor who has worked with the likes of Tony Richardson, Ken Russell, Stanely Kubrick and Bill Douglas. This actor expressed a difficulty in negotiating the Crowdfunder website, though, and perhaps this is something Crowdfunder should take on board. Of course there were a number of pledges in the past week, which has meant the campaign is looking good – and a big, big thanks goes out to all the people who are respons...

2014 marks the 20th anniversary of Derek Jarman’s death. In my opinion, Jarman is one of the finest British film-makers ever; one of the finest film-makers full-stop – up there with Chaplin, Cocteau, Fellini, Keaton, Pasolini, Powell, Truffaut (you can fill in your own list). His work comes straight from his own life experiences, is filtered through the most amazing imagination and shot through with a real passion and desire to create and communicate and pass-on his world-vision. I have made radio and TV documentaries about a number of film-related subjects, so naturally I wanted to do something to commemorate and celebrate Derek Jarman the film-maker in time for 2014. I made a documentary on Jarman back in 2004 – Derek Jaraman: Life As Art. It was a conventional, linear, narrative-based p...