New York-based, South African filmmaker, Salomon Ligthelm, put the spotlight on his abilities at last year’s Young Director Awards with three films that picked up prizes in three different categories.
His emotional video for Daughter’s Medicine picked up a gold in Music Video, North America. Young Fathers’ Mr Martyr and Never Idle for Valvoline won a silver Screen Award each in the Short Film, North America and Broadcast, North America categories respectively.
Of course, winning international acclaim as a young director is not as easy as Ligthelm’s success suggests. Ligthelm is open about the challenges he faced and generous in his advice that passion projects are the key to success.
“I always wanted to make work that moved people. I did that in music for a while and then started getting into filmmaking. I felt like both media had the power to transport people to places and move them emotionally,” he explained.
“I definitely think it’s become a lot easier for new talent to break through. Honestly, I don’t even really think it’s about talent anymore (sadly). It’s about personality. The internet has created a monster, in my opinion. Influencers are now the hottest thing. Most influencers don’t really have much talent – at least in the creative industries. But they keep getting hired because they look hot etc. That’s a very cynical perspective, I know, but I see it in every treatment from an agency or client.”
…which is one reason why he believes in the importance of YDA and competitions like it.
“I think it’s very important for the artist to have their work shown among peers, and to then be able to share thoughts, ideas and perspectives with those peers. It’s a great place to meet new, potential collaborators or creative partners.
“I also believe these competitions help unearth new talent that might not otherwise have had a platform. Things can get lost online and to have a panel of judges carefully curate and present new talent in a streamlined, beautifully presented format allows young talent the opportunity to have industry eyes on their work.
“It’s always amazing going to the YDA because you get to see some of the best work that our peers are doing at that moment,” Sigthelm added.
“The YDA creates a great platform for young directors not only to showcase their own work, but also see the work of others and meet other filmmakers.”
It’s also a learning experience. No director is the ultimate judge of his own best work.
“The video I did for Daughter, Medicine, had perhaps the most emotional impact, although I thought Mr Martyr for Young Fathers would have been the more obvious choice. I think it’s always surprising what ends up resonating,” Lightelm noted.
“I’ve had great feedback on Mr Martyr, and equally to Medicine, however I think there is a slight aversion to emotional content at the moment. Everything is just too cool. For the people who were able to sit patiently and watch Medicine I think it landed pretty hard, gauging from the feedback.”
Medicine came from a very real, very personal story.
“The two actors were actually extras that my DOP friend, Khalid Mohtaseb, found while shooting a commercial in Lone Pine California. He was so struck by their love for each other, and [the husband] Terry’s willingness to lay down his passions and work to take care of his wife, Becky, that he kept their contact details and arranged a time to come back to visit them and gather further details on their story. I then worked with Khalid to flesh out the story-beats and create a simple little narrative,” Ligthelm explained.
And challenges can come from surprising places.
“I think the most challenging film to create was Mr Martyr, only because I had no connection to young gang members in Paris. Creating the world of the film took a couple of scouting trips, which I can get quite particular about.
I like to scout a lot – as in ‘all over’ – and see everything. Paris is great to film in, but because of the recent attacks on the city, the alert levels have also been on critical, so it means we had to be very careful what we were shooting and where we were shooting it. We had an initiation scene, which involves a kid getting shot wearing a bulletproof vest; I wanted to shoot this on the streets, but because of the security threat, we had to shoot in an enclosed area. It actually worked out fine and ended up looking quite nice in the end.”
Awards are not the end of the path to success but the beginning, Ligthelm notes.
“I honestly tend not to think too much about awards and I mean that with all due respect. I think it was such an honour to get the award, but I think the work is always the thing that creates the space for the next project. The award is such a great platform to showcase work, to share it with peers and industry people.
What made you want to get into directing in the first place?
SL: I always wanted to make work that moved people. I did that in music for a while and then started getting into filmmaking. I felt like both media had the power to transport people to places and move them emotionally.
Your work often tells very emotive stories; is that something you’ve always gravitated towards and, if so, why?
SL: Yes, I think so. I like the idea of being emotionally invested in people’s stories. I’m not a very analytical or calculating person. I’m very impulsive, reactive and emotional. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I often don’t make sense. I just have to get things out of my system, even if it’s a jumble. And music and filmmaking often help me organise my thoughts and ideas into somewhat of an emotional spine, be it a narrative, a documentary or a piece of music.
What advice would you give to any director looking to carve out a career in advertising?
SL: I think the single most important advice is that, if you want to start a career in advertising, then start working on your passion projects/music videos or narrative/documentary films. It’s where you can express yourself most freely.
What are you working on at the moment?
SL: Writing a feature, and then in the early stages of developing the next one. I’m also editing three music videos and one commercial. It’s a little manic at the moment.
Entries for the 2018 Young Director Award close May 15. Enter here.
