I have found over the years that some of the best movies and shows to give the greatest impact are the shorter ones, and this double bill I watched is of no exception. I've been lucky enough to watch the BIFA winning Anna and the Oscar considered Ashmina.
Anna is the story of an aging single mother who works in a meat processing plant in Ukraine. Looking for love and desperate for change she is lured by a radio advertisement to go to a party with a group of American men who are touring the country searching for love.
Ashmina is a street cast film that sheds a light on a country threatened by tourism. Nestled between a beautiful lake and the Himalayas, Ashmina, 13, lives with her family on the outskirts of Pokhara, Nepal, paragliding capital of the world. She packs chutes for paragliders in return for pocket change.
Both shorts are powerful, emotional and potentially shocking pieces (if you do not know the background of the films). The shorts have been selected for over 100 festivals and won several accolades, with Anna winning BIFA for Best Short and Ashmina has been nominated for an Academy Award.
I was lucky enough to interview Dekel Berenson fresh off his BIFA win and asked him about his career, the award winning shorts and plans for the future.
Hi there! Thanks for giving the time for this interview
Hi there.
So, Anna has just won the BIFA for Best Short...congratulations! How does it feel?
Thankyou. I was surprised to have won the British Independent Film Award but it is great! Of all the awards won to date this is the most prominent and will help with the anthology of movies I'm planning to make.
You left film school after 3 months and the only film sets you've been on have been your own. The work you are currently doing is an amazing achievement for an up and coming director. What made you want to make films?
I wanted to make movies to show what people are going through around the World. So many people tend to be in their own little bubbles and this was showing them how they are.
I got my funding for my tuition and decided make my own movies...making movies is not cheap!
So let's speak about the shorts Anna and Ashmina. I was lucky enough to see them both recently and I think they are stunning, powerful and emotional pieces. So why did you make these two shorts?
I'm a traveller and I tell stories of the things that I have seen myself.
When I was paragliding, I saw a girl packing up chutes. I wasn't making films at the time, but it inspired me to show people what things are like around the World. It was the same with Anna, I spoke to many people who had experiences. The leading lady (Svetlana Alekseevna Barandich) had actually been to one of the parties, and one of the interpreter's we interviewed had actually done the job.
These movies are part of an anthology I'm working on with stories about people from all over the World with locations like Brazil, New Zealand and Nepal.
Speaking of the anthology, what's up next?
I've just been invited to shoot my next episode in the anthology in Brazil, so I'll be going ahead with that around February-March next year.
Dekel Berenson, thank you for your time and good luck with the Oscars!
Anna and Ashmina are both unrated. and for more details about this superb shorts check out the websites
and
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