benita paplauskaite

Beg Steal Borrow’s William Brown is proud to curate Roehampton Guerrillas (2011-2016), a showcase of short films made by participants in William’s Guerrilla Filmmaking class, which he has been teaching at the University of Roehampton, London, since 2011.

The class involves students making a series of short films that involve both a technical and a thematic constraint – akin in some respects to Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth’s The Five Obstructions (2003), which is the first film that participants watch as part of the class.

The class also invites participants to draw on a history of guerrilla filmmaking from around the world, reading important texts and manifestos by filmmakers like Julio García Espinosa, Fernando E. Solanas and Octavio Getino, Glauber Rocha, Jia Zhangke and Wu Wenguang. Participants also watch and gain inspiration from work by zero- to micro-budget filmmakers like Giuseppe Andrews, Ai Weiwei, Khavn de la Cruz, Mike Ott and Harmony Korine.

Roehampton Guerrillas (2011-2016) features 39 short films by 31 different filmmakers, and which respond to eight different challenges set to participants on the course. The films, chosen from among 100s made during the first five years of the Guerrilla Filmmaking course, are all packed in to a 127-minute running time!

Short on time, with no technical support, and forced to make films about topics and using techniques that are not of their choosing, the Roehampton Guerrillas prove the following:-

You don’t need money to make a film.
You don’t even need a camera.
You only need an idea.
Limitations do not hinder creativity. They drive it.

Among the filmmakers whose work is showcased are various who have worked with Beg Steal Borrow in different capacities, including Aleksander Krawec and Millad Khonsorkh, who both perform as actors in The New Hope, and Angela Faillace, who has designed the posters for The New Hope and Circle/Line.

Viewers may want to watch the films out of order. As a result, below is a list of films included in Roehampton Guerrillas (2011-2016) with timings so that viewers can browse the selection at their leisure.

Challenge #1
Make a film using only still images and which answers the question: what is Great Britain?

00m46s-04m37s – ‘This is Britain’ by Pablo Saura
04m37s-07m23s – ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ by William Guy
07m23s-09m58s – ‘#1’ by Josh Fenwich-Wilson
09m58s-11m08s – ‘Bricks’ by Lola Lextrait

Challenge #2
Make a film using only still images and which answers the question: what is Europe?

11m18s-15m02s – ‘Postcards from Europe’ by Marc Moyce
15m02s-16m48s – ‘Europe’ by Charli Adamson and Alex Crowe
16m48s-19m58s – ‘EuropA’ by Aleksander Krawec
19m58s-24m10s – ‘The Foreigner’ by Lino Negri

Challenge #3
Make an experimental, animated or found footage film that deals with a personal issue.

24m19s-29m17s – ‘Gainsbourg For Eve(r)’ by Eve Dautremant-Tomas
29m17s-30m43s – ‘Ambition’ by Joshua Bessell
30m43s-33m55s – ‘#3’ by Audrey Jean
33m55s-35m12s – ‘Your Future Depends on Women’ by Zainab Nassir
35m12s-39m32s – ‘Early Onset Alzheimer’s’ by Taylor Matsunaga
39m32s-40m28s – ‘Memory’ by William Guy
40m28s-43m18s – ‘#3’ by Josh Fenwick-Wilson
43m18s-46m10s – ‘Open Your Eyes’ by Benita Paplauskaite
46m10s-48m49s – ‘Mind Glitch’ by Pablo Saura
48m49s-50m16s – ‘Monday Morning’ by Marina Oftedal
50m16s-52m41s – ‘Vote Romney’ by Millad Khonsorkh
52m41s-56m39s – ‘From An Outsider’ by Oz Courtney

Challenge #4
Make a film about a political issue that does not feature any synchronisation between image and sound.

56m48s-60m56s – ‘Aylesbury Estate’ by Maya Djurdjevic
60m56s-67m21s – ‘Free Tibet (Bless Dale Cooper)’ by Millad Khonsorkh
67m21s-69m58s – ‘Eat My Fear’ by Lino Negri
69m58s-72m52s – ‘Access’ by Marc Moyce

Challenge #5
Make a film about a human rights issue that does not feature any synchronization of image and sound.

73m01s-76m45s – ‘Surveillance’ by Mary Burnett
76m45s-81m56s – ‘Peri’ by Eve Dautremant-Tomas
81m65s-84m03s – ‘The Imperfect Human’ by Gabrielle Littlewood
84m03s-89m15s – ‘The Perfect Human’ by Louise Benedetto and Samuel Taylor

Challenge #6
Make a film about a political issue that consists of only a single take.

89m23s-92m12s – ‘Patriarchy in Porn’ by Zainab Nassir
92m12s-95m50s – ‘Alien’ by Sian Williams
95m50s-99m15s – ‘Toaster’ by Ewelina Lipska

Challenge #7
Make a film about multiculturalism using a smartphone, or which is silent and consists of only a single take.

99m23s-102m28s – ‘Girl Before a Mirror’ by Wajod Alkhamis and Pablo Saura
102m28s-109m20s – ‘Underground’ by Samuel Taylor
109m20s-111m20s – ‘Watts’ by Dasha Sevcenko
111m20s-113m52s – ‘Dilution’ by Myles Bevan

Challenge #8
Make a film that is a letter to a loved one and which consists either of found footage or which is an animation.

113m59s-116m54s – ‘Google Heart’ by Lola Lextrait
116m54s-119m59s – ‘Letter to a Loved One’ by Valerie Gonzalez
119m59s-122m26s – ‘The Façade’ by Tom Heffernan
122m26s-126m23s – ‘Dawn of the Third Challenge’ by Angela Faillace

While we are putting the finishing touches to Ur: The End of Civilization in 90 Tableaux, the other Beg Steal Borrow films continue to eke out an existence of their own…

Afterimages has just enjoyed two screenings on 18 December 2013 at the Kedainiai Sviesioji gymnasium in Kedainiai City, Lithuania. The screenings were arranged courtesy of Benita Paplauskaitė, a film student at the University of Roehampton, London, and who occasionally gives classes when she returns home during the vacations.

Having seen Afterimages over the course of her studies at Roehampton, Benita decided to show the film to students at the gymnasium. Here is some of the feedback that Benita provided on how the screenings went.

Students at the Kedainiai Sviesioji gymnasium, Kedainiai City, Lithuania, discuss Afterimages. This and the photo below are courtesy of Benita Palpauskaite.

“I just came back from school it was so much fun! Don’t even know where to start. So we had two screenings today and there were about 80 people overall (40 in the first screening and 40 in the second).

“They are all in the 11th grade (17 year olds). Everyone was really excited and it was so funny to watch their reactions. Most of the people found the film hard to understand. Very interesting thing – girls got it better than boys. Everyone got their own idea what the film was about. Some said it was about isolation, others thought it was about relationships. We had a short discussion with one of the classes and students had many questions and comments.

“The funniest and most interesting for me came from one girl who said: ‘The film was just like Hamlet – so smart yet so hard to understand.’ I asked them why they find the film hard to understand and they all agreed that it is most likely because of the film’s pace. They found it hard to stop and relax and came up with an idea that the film takes you out of reality, routine, yet it is still purely about the routine itself (if that makes sense).

Students at the Kedainiai Sviesioji gymnasium, Kedainiai City, Lithuania, discuss Afterimages after a screening on 18 December 2013.

“Everyone really enjoyed the ending! I wish you could have seen it (those cruel Lithuanians).

“Overall, students said that it was very intelligent film.”

We feel enormously flattered both by the screenings themselves – and also about the wonderful and engaged feedback offered. (Especially any feedback that suggests the movie is ‘intelligent’!)

So our thanks go to Benita for her arranging of the screening – and to all those who watched the film.

Afterimages also enjoyed a screening in early 2013 at the University of Tübingen, Germany, courtesy of Rainer Schelkle. It’s nice to know that Afterimages therefore continues to have an afterlife…