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Animalis Fabula Film Festival Official Selection Laurels

AniFab Official Selections '21

A Snail's Pace - Short Documentary - UK

8/1/2021

 
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A Snail's Pace', Ian's first wildlife doc! But no commentary. No music. No explanations. Nothing to explain. Just observe. An observational wildlife doc! Presenting 'a snail's pace', my first film shot and edited on a smartphone. Filmed handheld. No tripod or gimbal. No additional lens. No external microphone. Edited on iphone's imovie app. Simple shots. Straight cuts. Capturing a moment, a movement, a journey. From Trivandrum in Kerala, South India during lockdown (May 2021). When my world shrunk to a house and garden. When time detached itself from the days. When the unnoticed became noticeable. When life calmed down. Like its main protagonist, 'a snail's pace' moves at a snail's pace. Presenting a challenge to the audience to keep pace with the intrepid snail. To slow down.
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Director Ian McDonald
Director Statement
I had always been skeptical of the smartphone as a device for 'proper' documentary making. But being gifted an iPhone and languishing under lockdown in India (without my video camera) led to enforced experimentations in filming with the smartphone! I spend every morning on the verandah of my wife's family house in South India drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, and observing life around me: stray cats coming and going, crows excitedly crowing, ants marching, and if it has rained, snails, snails, snails. On one such morning, I saw a beautiful snail and decided impromptu to film it's journey. Without the smartphone, the journey would have been observed but not filmed. But the process of filming concentrated my mind on the snail and I saw my lockdown life mirrored in the snail's journey. Life had become solitary, slowed, methodical, precarious. I am also charmed by the fact that I can shoot, edit and upload the film to vimeo all from the phone itself. But is this 'proper' documentary filmmaking?
AniFab judge's aggregated score is 7.2 out of 10 with one judge sharing the following, "Thank you for experimenting Ian. Silver linings are everywhere, so hard to see sometimes.  Thank you for taking time to spend time with a snail and friends. Keep experimenting.
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    2021 Official #AniFab Monthly  Selections

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    ​Monthly Selection

    Animalis Fabula Film Festival official monthly selections have the opportunity to compete for monthly attention as well as inclusion in the annual live / virtual film festival in Austin, Texas and the end of year fundraising benefit for animal welfare.

    Find out what films have earned monthly awards for the Best Of Fest here!

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Animalis Fabula Film Festival is a production of WA2S Films, World Animal Awareness Society and World Animal Rescue Network., an award-winning 501c3 United States based media non profit.
WA2S Family of Non Profit Organizations
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  • Animalis Fabula
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