We Are Storytellers
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
What is art for? Is it made for the artist's needs? As a mean of expression of feelings and ideas that need a way to be released otherwise it would impact the wellbeing of the artist? Is it made to be primarily consumed, therefore with the audience in mind? Is it inextricably connected to commerce in a capitalist society? Is it a human endeavor that has existed since the beginning of times? A way in which humans process and reflect the society they live in?
Truth is, art can mean many different things. And there are so many different art mediums. From oral tales, to paintings, to sculptures, to books, to music, to theater, to film. But most strive to tell a story. Stories are fundamentally human. They connect people, they connect different places and different times. Stories help us make sense of the world. One thread leads to another that leads to another that gives us perspective, context and understanding. Many filmmakers like to call themselves storytellers, because it is at the core of what we do, it is what drives us.
In our chosen medium - film - the industry is, for better or for worse, driven by commerce. Not all projects will be super personal, though you always try to find a connection to it. So when you are able to make that story that means a lot to you, it's special. That's how we feel about Through the Blinds. When we decided to make this anthology, our stories came from very personal places. Within our parameters, we touch on larger topics that all of us feel as women in society, like the evolution of women's rights through the decades and the relationship women have with home in a broader cultural sense. But we also explore it in a micro level: how we as people try to create meaning of our surroundings in very specific situations, and how the home is central to it.
A house is primarily how you think of home. It's a physical place you are born into, where you grow up, or you move to. Where you wake up and where you go to sleep everyday. But home is also an ethereal feeling of belonging, an emotional attachment to certain people, to a time and place. Home has a different meaning to everyone, but a house is usually what comes to mind when we think of it. In Through The Blinds, our 'house' is also a character. It evolves with each family that moves into it. A physical place that is touched by the people just as much as the people are touched by it.
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash
In these challenging two years, many are rethinking their lives and what is really important. I know I am. So I'll leave this reflection here: what does home mean to you?
