Freddy Malonda – Portraits : making a documentary with teenagers (CINEMATEK, Education)

1. Making documentaries with teenagers
•Long history (Henry Storck -> Dardenne brothers)
•Misère au Borinage (Storck, 1933)
•Creative documentaries (with a cinematographic point of vue)
•Documentary ≠ television or web reportage
•2014 : 14 documentaries supported by he Film Commision
(and 18 long feature films)
•Very difficult to promote (among teachers, teenagers, etc.)

2. www.laplateforme.be
Making documentaries with teenagers

3. First (unsuccessful) case study
•Portraits of my school (2012, 15 y/o)
•School with teenagers coming from different communities
but living next to each other
•« Pick up one teenager you don’t know and make his portrait »
•Cinema would create social link
Making documentaries with teenagers

4. Why we failed...
•Cinema cannot replace the social link...
•Cinema does not create empathy : you must learn to
know your subject
•Lack of prepardeness (Bowling for Columbine)
•Q&A
•No point of vue
•Top-down initiative
Making documentaries with teenagers

5. Second (successful) case study
•My roots, my culture (2014, 7 y/o)
•Kitchen garden as metaphor
•The kids did (almost) everything
•Long term project (4 seasons)
Making documentaries with kids

6. •Être et avoir (Philibert, 2002)
•« When do you start fictionnalizing your films ? »
•About telling a story
Making documentaries with kids

7. •Être et avoir (Philibert, 2002)
•« When do you start fictionnalizing your films ? »
•About telling a story
Making documentaries with kids