WonderVisions Workshop Finalists
Every day, the world generates new stories to be told and new visions and voices itching to tell them.
To this end, five aspiring filmmakers were cherry-picked by VICE Film School to attend a one-day workshop at VICE’s London HQ and receive feedback on their documentary ideas.
Each received a Panasonic Lumix G camera with lenses and accessories to help them make their films.
Only one could win the big prize, though: the chance to bring their idea to life and produce their film under the mentorship of VICE documentarians with a budget of up to £15,000.
Jordan – or ‘Jordy the Geordie’, as his friends call him – wants to set his film in the North Sea. The 24-year-old surfer is part of a community who brave not just the freezing cold winter waters but intense industrial pollution to catch waves off the economically depressed coasts of England’s Northeast. His filmmaking crash course came in Paris, where he shot a nine-minute film about street life in the French capital.
Most filmmakers look to their local area for early inspiration. However, Lydia cut her teeth not in Wigan, where she was raised, but Zimbabwe, as a videographer on a volunteering trip to educate kids and youth groups about HIV and AIDS. Also a keen astrophotographer, the 22-year-old’s film idea revolves around Geoffrey Dornan, an 80-year-old from Ormskirk whose sheer speed has seen him banned from roller skating in his hometown.
It took Lee a while to get behind the camera. The 27-year-old from Leeds always wanted to act before being introduced to filmmaking by a friend while working at a branch of Greggs. Having earned his stripes shooting weddings and music videos, Lee’s ready to tackle one of society’s most sensitive subjects through an autobiographical prism. “Being raised with no father is tough. Knowing your father’s not around because he’s a paedophile is another challenge altogether.”
Having lived in Nicaragua, Scotland, England and India, Frøydis has looked closer to home for inspiration. “I started filming my own life after filing a domestic violence complaint against my parents,” she explains. “My project is about reclaiming a childhood that was taken from my sister and I at a young age.” Grounded in academia, the Norwegian 25-year-old recently decided she’d rather make “fun, visually stunning” films than write up dry academic reports.
Emily is a 24-year-old film student at Kingston University. Comfortable either side of the camera, her ideas cover a range of subjects including drug addiction, teenage sex work and mental health issues, the effects of which she has lived with her whole life. “All the way through, I’ve met people who were so broken but had important stories they were never able to tell. That’s where my passion for documentary comes from.”