Image taken by author
Last Saturday, I went to the premier of Et in Arcadia, a beautiful and incredibly poignant short film written and directed by Robert Daniel. One of my friends was the Producer and Assistant Director, Jasmine Kaur, and this is a picture of her at the premier last week. Yesterday Jasmine and I sat down and chatted about her passion for film-making, and the highlights of the process of Et in Arcadia.
First of all, I was interested to know why Jasmine wanted to get involved in the craft originally, and how it became her passion. She told me:
‘I love history and I study History, but the thought of writing a book and putting all my research into a piece of paper that would just sit on a shelf where no one would pick it up… It really bugged me, so I was like – how can I make my subject interesting to everyone?
I just feel that mass media is so powerful nowadays. Most of the content we consume at the moment is individual people making content by themselves on social media; it’s about independent creators coming up and expressing themselves and joining the flow of mass media production… So I felt that by expressing my passion on the screen, I could make it much more accessible to everyone.’
For Jasmine, the highlight of film production is bringing a script to life on the big screen, and bringing together all kinds of people to create something beautiful and powerful together.
‘We put out casting calls and it was just so magical to see how a person in the city, at a random college, doing Engineering, or Biology, or Spanish, or anything, would come up and be like: I know about this, I can do this, I can hop on your project! Everyone who played a role in the process did different subjects in different places, but our passions and interests transcended that and we could come together through creating a film.’
I was also intrigued to know how Jasmine originally became a part of Robert Daniel’s project, and Jasmine made it clear to me that pursuing one’s passions is all about getting out there and throwing oneself into things:
‘One of the really powerful things about Oxford is the social events, the kind of networking you can do… you will always find like-minded people whatever your passion is.
So I attended a film networking event run by the university and I met Robert. He told me he had a script and he asked if I wanted to join in and see where it went, and I said I had experience with directing so I could jump on! We opened our own film production company and that’s how our journey started one year ago!’
Although Jasmine had experience with directing before getting involved with Et in Arcadia, when I asked her what advice she would give to anyone wanting to get involved in film production, she emphasised that experience is not necessary, and passion is all you really need to get started:
‘It requires quite a big time commitment, but you don’t necessarily need to be an expert to join in… you just need time!
There are so many roles on set that can just be filled by anyone who just has the passion and wants to get involved. You don’t need anything special – you are already special if you want to get involved in film!
Go to networking events, like for example the Oxford University Film Foundation run some, or contact people who do have experience in filmmaking (like me!)… Facebook is a great way to connect with people in Oxford.’
Above all, Jasmine made it clear that being confident and seeking connections with others is the key to most opportunities:
‘Most of the opportunities I have been given and most of the friends I have made have come from sitting across a formal dinner table and just being like: “Hi, my name is Jasmine and I make movies!” That is the power of sitting across from someone at a dinner table and having the confidence to put yourself out there.’
I really enjoyed talking to Jasmine because even through just discussing her work, her passion, motivation, and drive are so evident. It was so inspiring to see someone with such a devotion to something outside of work, outside of the mundane everyday deadlines and assignments. When I asked her what she would be working on next, she said:
‘I already have another project lined up, this time I am writing my own script so I am really personally attached to it, because it is sort of like my baby! It is going to be a fusion of historical and contemporary times, focused around Oxford. I really want to take the buildings and atmosphere we are in right now and work with that, and display that to a larger audience outside Oxford. I also want to make it relevant to Sikh history because that is my field of expertise, and a story I feel the world needs to hear!
As well as this, Robert Daniel is also planning on making a couple of sequels to Et in Arcadia, and hopes to work with Jasmine again, so it will be exciting to see what he comes up with next!
It is so important to engage with life in Oxford and seize all the opportunities we can. There is much more to life than the work our tutors set us, and people like Jasmine inspire me to engage with my passions. Her concluding statements really resonated with me:
‘Everything is possible, each and every one of your passions can be pursued in this city, don’t set limitations for yourself!’
It is essential that we explore the beauty of everyday opportunities here, the beauty of everyday Oxford.