The most personal is most creative
The unexpected virality and beauty of personal passion projects
In his acceptance speech for the Academy Award for Best Director, Bong Joon-Ho - director of Parasite - famously said that "the most personal [filmmaking] is the most creative".
When your project is personal, it is unhinged from the expectations of the market. You are not worried about worldly metrics like no. of downloads, turnover, footfall, box office rankings etc. You are just working on something with a purist vision, and however it maybe, it sees the light of the day. I wrote about
Wordle, a game originally meant for just two people, is taking the wor(l)d by storm. (Link)
96 is a deeply personal film for C. Prem Kumar (director), which revolved around his school life. He wrote the complete script in 20 days. I break down the scene where the protagonist recounts an incident from his childhood, and how his love interest reimagines the same scene differently, hoping it would lead them to be together. (Link)
This is pretty much the sentiment with which I am starting this newsletter. It will be an honest attempt to express myself creatively. Hoping you would join the journey and see how far we can go together..
Until next time,
Mandar