H2
See examples of Bindu's work:
Can you tell us about a film you have shown at the Electric Palace or at our film festival?
I have screened two of my feature films at the Electric Palace Cinema in Hastings. The first (my debut) JUMP starring Claire Price and Glen Blackhall and the second FINDING CAMILLE starring Anna Ferzetti and Luigi Diberti. It’s been an honour and a pleasure to show my work at the Electric Palace and my films have always been welcomed with open arms, both by its staff as well as their amazing and loyal audience.
Do you remember a moment when your love for the moving image was sparked?
There are so many moments, I can’t pinpoint a single one… But I remember two moments when I witnessed cinema being made in front of me, both as a child, and was instantly fascinated by the process… by how visual storytelling was created. One was a short film (a period drama) shot in my grandmother’s large garden… the other witnessing my step-mother (the Swedish actress Marika Lagercrantz) on set. It was mesmerising.
I was also a great lover of movies growing up… not the intellectual, sophisticated ones cinephiles liked, but the romantic comedies of the 80’s - the John Hughes coming of ages stories that represented and romanticised growing up.
To this day, those films are the ones I turn to in moment of comfort ;-)
Is there a difference in producing films for a large screen or making work for online viewing?
I think good story is the same, whichever medium you view it on… the imagery and way you show it might differ and of course its important to remember how your audience will view and consume your work, but the necessity for the story to be good, gripping, honest and moving, is what I believe to be most important.
Do live audiences in a cinema matter to you?
Of course! The collective experience of watching a movie together is incredibly powerful.
It's a potent thing to watch a story unfold, in a darkened cinema, together, with a group of strangers… and feel the collective rollercoaster of emotion. I’ve missed it terribly this last year…
I’ve sat in many cinemas watching my films with an audience and I can tell you that no two screenings are the same.
The movie is… it hasn’t changed, but how a live audience interprets it, can differ greatly, depending on what the mood of the audience, day, location is… It’s been a huge revelation to me how much a story can change, depending on how an audience interprets it.
Has living in Hastings influenced your work?
Definitely… Hastings has allowed me much more space to be creative and breathe life into my ideas.
The sea and living by it, is very inspirational.
What continues to inspire you as a filmmaker or artist?
Story… always Story... a good story… and human (global) behaviour.
I am also a great lover of subtext and it’s something I am more and more interested in. As a writer as well… the things that are unsaid. How much a look, a smile, a moment of silence can say, more than words can, is intriguing...