Beyond the Comfort Zone

updated: December 21, 2009

I grew up in Sydney, in a suburb that didn’t feel like home. I was an only child so I read a lot and talked to myself from time to time. One of my best friends at high school shared my genetic love of classical music, and over years I assimilated her passion for films and filmmaking. I was always a writer, and more of a reader than a film watcher; being a late starter, I still feel comparatively fresh to the body of film history. I am easily impressed by film buffs.

The only thing I love as much as film is history. Again, I feel the impossibility of coming to terms with the vastness of that subject. It still frustrates me, and so I buy excessive amounts of non-fiction books.

I started writing film reviews for a youth media website in 2002, and it was just a hobby. My first ever review was of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. That was the first and only review I ever tried to follow any kinds of guidelines for. I thought the film rocked, but I just tried too hard to sound intelligent in explaining why.

At first I wrote so that I could see films for free; then I was beguiled by the idea of connecting with an audience, and the exchange of ideas; then I realised that writing about film was probably the most satisfying work that I had ever done. I started writing really long reviews.

I’ve thought a lot since then about what I think is the ideal approach to reviewing. I think it is better in general to write for your audience and then yourself rather than the other way around; I think the purpose of a review is to give the reader a sense of what the film might be like to watch – give them enough information to make their own decision about whether or not to see it; I think any discussion of a film should take into account its artistic, political and social context; I think that films are most significant not as an industry or an art form, but as the ways we interpret ourselves, our society and our history. Through representation on one end and interpretation on the other end, great gaps in experience between different people can be bridged.

And this then, is the fundamental core of why I think films are important: they can give us access to the experiences and ideas of “others“ – and only by empathy (in the literal sense) with others can one truly be a responsible citizen of the world. And that is how I hope that film can (cough) change the world.

So why be a film reviewer? I think it is totally fatuous and self-indulgent. But if it causes thought, discussion, questions – then it is important at the most, and at the very least harmless.

In one of my other incarnations, I run a short film festival is Australia. It is based around the idea of social change through increased communication through film. It calls on young people to explore the evolving medium of film/video to represent their ideas on issues important to them, whether personal, political, social, local or global. It started as an idea I had in Byron Bay on a holiday in 2002. Now it’s 3 years old: a toddler festival. It can walk but it still sort of bumps into things.

I also sell books. Someone pays me to do this. In some ways this is one of life’s little cosmic jokes, since my dad is a second-hand-book-dealer and my house has more book shelves than wall space.

Finally, I am in the midst of a truly dreadful and prolonged law degree. I have very successfully eluded my degree for 6 years now. In an alternative universe I would be graduated and working in a law firm. That is generally considered the smart thing to do. You don’t meet many people who make a living off writing, still less through film writing. Hell, you don’t find many people making a living through the arts full stop. But somehow this anti-social behaviour continues.

I feel totally unqualified to generalise about the condition of film journalism in Australia; however, I do notice that there is a dearth of deep criticism in the mainstream media. What really frustrates me about Australia is the poor state of our own film industry, and the lack of exposure to foreign cinema – particularly our lack of exposure to Asian Cinema, despite the incredible scope and proximity of that population. I feel like in both filmmaking and film-watching we are possibly a trick or two behind our peers.

I hope to soak in new perspectives at the Berlinale, My personal challenge will be to move beyond my comfort zone, and not get too lost in the splendour.

Dee Jefferson (Australia)