Film your first documentary “Erik's hope”

Erik’s hope - Short documentary

Featuring : Erik Håkansson
Edited and directed by Theresa Khalil
Produced by Docnomads 2013

What challenges can you face when filming one of your first documentaries?

I will answer this question from the experience of producing and directing my short film "Erik's hope"

1- Low budget or no budget

My budget for this film was almost zero $

Although the film was produced by Docnomads joint masters degree, we were not offered any financial budget. I had my DSLR camera "Nikon D5100" and I was able to borrow the H4n zoom recorder and a shotgun microphone from the university. Paying for transportation and other expenses was from my personal pocket.

2- The film protagonist Who will be the film about?

The only request we had for this film was to have the word "hope in the title" I was in Budapest, Hungary, a country that speaks a different language. My relations were limited to my master's colleagues and some expats I met through the couchsurfing website.

I always let my instinct lead me, if I see an advertisement about a topic I am interested in or an event I am curious about, I don't hesitate, I go and discover the country I am in and what it has to offer. That's how I usually find my protagonists unless I have a clear idea about the topic or the idea of the film, only then I can research online or ask around for recommendations that fit my requirements.

At that time I was joining a documentary film club. Every Sunday they meet in an underground cafe, watch a documentary and discuss it afterwards, luckily all this was in English. There I met Erik! Every thing about him caught my attention. His way of talking, the body language and his appearance. After a short conversation I asked him if I can make a documentary film about him. What encouraged me is that he said he was an actor and this made me want to know more. Can someone stutters and be an actor?!

Unfortunately he rejected my request. He said that he can act in a feature film but not to be a subject of a documentary. He explained that he values his privacy. There are two possibilities in this case, the first is to forget about this idea and find another protagonist or the other possibility is to try to convince him by developing your relation.

3- Developing your relation with the protagonist

This what I worked on for the days to come. I met him few other times, was able to gain his trust that he invited me to visit his home and meet his family. His mother was in the film industry as well and that made me connect easily. When I asked him again to be in my documentary he was welcoming.

4- Setting boundaries

Is it your film or the protagonist film? One of the big challenges when filming a documentary is how to set boundaries with the subjects you are filming. It can happen that the protagonist will want to interfere in how the film will look like or what to show and what not. This has to be set from the beginning. The film protagonist can only watch the film when it is screened not before. In this film, Erik was always insecure about him stuttering and didn't want this to be shown in the film, while for me the film was about how he is being able to overcome this challenge when acting. If he watched the film before it was ready he wouldn't allow to show the scenes in which he stutters. but when he watched the film after it was ready he was able to appreciate the message in the film and told me "It is good to give people hope"

These are few of the challenges you may face when filming your first documentary but you can still tell your story and share it with the world.

Now you can watch the film.

If you are interested in filming your first documentary you can join my online course