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| Kim Beamish in conversation |
By Jane Freebury
The Circle’s winter conversations for 2017 wound up with another
filmmaker in the guest chair. Kim Beamish, director and producer at
Non’D’Script Films, now Canberra- based, who has received international
recognition for his documentary work.
His film, The Tentmakers of Cairo, was joint
winner of the prestigious Margaret Mead award for documentary film in 2015. It
also won the Prix Buyens-Chagoll at Visions du Réel, and the El-Ray Award for narrative
documentary excellence at the Barcelona Film Festival.
Kim, who studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and
has a degree in digital arts from the Australian National University, took us
on a quick tour of his varied professional background. It includes work in
media production for universities and government departments, at Bearcage
Productions, long-term volunteering with community television—and a stint in
the kitchen at a famous Sydney restaurant.
He came to Canberra after his wife landed a job in the
public service. A typical Canberra story, quipped Helen.
In the media area, Kim has been involved in productions featuring
a number of identities including artist John Olsen, actor Lexi Sekuless, and
the late Betty Churcher. He is currently teaching again at University of Canberra.
At the start of our discussion, Kim explained his aesthetic
preferences. The type of documentary he prefers to make and watch is verité.
His preference is for the observational approach that allows his subjects to speak
for themselves, with minimal interference or input from the filmmakers, either
on set or in post-production.
Verité or actuality is the approach he uses in his forthcoming
film, Oyster, a doco set in a family of
oyster farmers based on the far south coast of NSW. It observes their way of
life and work and how they are dealing with the impact of climate change on the
environment at Merimbula Lake. The human dimension of the impact of great
change.
For now, Kim is best known for The Tentmakers of Cairo, the documentary he made about the small
community of male artisans, known as tentmakers, who stitch traditional cloths
that have been made in Egypt since pharaonic times. There is no voice of god voiceover
nor music introduced to guide viewer responses. The music that can be heard is
already playing on set or nearby. The emphasis on ambient sound in the covered
market in Old Cairo where the tentmakers work is highly immersive.
Kim explained the serendipity involved in The Tentmakers. It
was made in Egypt during the early stages of the ‘Arab spring’, beginning in
2011 when he accompanied his wife and young family on a 3-year posting. Kim
knew he wanted to record some aspect of the tumultuous events taking place in
Egypt, but just wasn’t quite sure what or how to go about it. At that point, no
one knew what direction events would take either.
Initially he had wanted to work with Egyptian filmmakers,
but found they weren’t interested in documentary.
We were keen to hear how he had managed to film in Cairo
during such a turbulent time. After he was introduced to the tentmaker
community by quilt expert Jenny Bowker, Kim immediately developed a strong
rapport with the subjects of his film. It was Jenny, a Cairo resident and wife of
a former ambassador to Egypt, who was his first key contact.
Kim’s status was then confirmed with a walk through the market
neighbourhood in the company of a prominent member of the tentmaker community.
A demonstration that the young stranger at the side of the ‘elder’ was a welcome
guest to be protected.
Kim had to find his way around Cairo with Arabic that was
minimal at best – ‘shway’ – and no guarantee of entrée. Moreover, brandishing a
cinematographic camera without journalistic or other accreditation, Kim could
have landed himself in trouble. Every journalist he knew had had their camera
smashed, he said.
Despite the risks, the production proceeded to post. The Tentmakers of Cairo premiered at the
Canberra International Film Festival in 2015, and it has been screened in Egypt.
One of the virtues of observational doco style, we all agreed,
is that it is open to a variety of readings.
Finally, Kim talked briefly about his first documentary
feature, Just Punishment, ‘a film
about life and death’, the case of the Australian Van Nguyen who was executed
in Singapore in 2005 for drug trafficking. The production, involving three
years back and forth between Singapore and Australia, was an experience that
still troubles Kim, who has remained close to the man’s mother.
He did not have the same level of creative control over this
first film either, and it is observational only in part. His new film Oyster, is thoroughly in the observational
mode, however.
It was particularly interesting to hear how Kim worked as an
independent filmmaker, how he obtained funding in the development stages of
production and received ongoing support. We were impressed by Kim’s openness
and by his dedication to the integrity of his craft.
Oyster, which Kim
is making with veteran filmmaker Pat Fiske, will premiere at the CIFF this
year.
