TEDx Talk: How do we make decisions?
Some people find it hard to make decisions. Especially if those decisions will bring about a dramatic change to our life and the lives of those around us. This is how I learned to overcome my fear of making decisions and started this film festival, when those around me said it was a waste of time.
From my first days at school, I found it hard to speak in front of my classmates (or even raise my hand). But, of course, I had to learn you can’t always run away and hide. Today, being the founder of an international film festival, I have to face this fear over and over again. Now, I try to have fun when I’m in front of an audience.
But then came the day when I was asked to give a TEDx talk (at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts). I felt honoured to receive such an offer. But just thinking of standing in front of dozens of people – being challenged to articulate an idea in just 15 minutes and memorising a whole talk – seemed terrifying.
It took me a week to think through whether or not I could do this. Finally, I decided to accept the challenge. Why? Because MoMo means everything to me, and being offered the chance to spread the word about the festival via a platform like TEDx seemed like an opportunity I couldn’t afford to miss.
First, there were weeks of exhilaration, despair, panic and finally happiness and even euphoria – just before falling right back into fear and terror mode. This could be my biggest failure. Ever.
Well.. the day of my talk came and, can you believe it, I didn’t get eaten by the audience!
Giving that talk was a daunting but truly unforgettable and enriching experience. It finally helped me silence my inner monologue that told me: “You can’t do public speaking”.
So, here is the story of MoMo:
Levelling the Playing Field for Filmmakers
“What about a festival for films exclusively shot on smartphones? Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, when I came up with this idea about 4 years ago, I got so excited I quickly told my friends. But.. they all just smiled politely. Making films on a smartphone and screen them in a cinema? That will look crap for sure. Shouldn’t you find a proper job?
It was at a time when my self confidence was low. Having studied here, at this university, and having had a well paid job, I decided to become a full-time mom. After a while, staying at home, I began to feel isolated. I was already starting to check job adverts again when I met Simon Horrocks – now co-founder of MoMo – on Twitter. He liked the idea and said something important to me:
“Don’t take decisions based on the fears of others.”
This gave me the courage to just dive into this adventure, setting up a film festival from scratch, with no experience, no money and not much of a plan.
But why would that matter to you?
I grew up in a little village of 500 inhabitants. There were so few kids, I was the only girl in my class, up until secondary school. As a 4 year old, I didn’t think of it as being something that would affect me. But after a while, I realised it did actually make a difference for me.
I loved doing sports, but as the only girl, nobody wanted me in their sports team. A lot of times I was waiting on the sidelines, wishing to be able to just be on the playing field, like everyone else.
These experiences later always gave me the need to help others. Trying to make things equal for everyone. And I believe that this ultimately gave me the drive to work on this project with all my heart.
Why a film festival?
Cinema has always been my passion and, to me, Film is one of the most powerful ways to tell stories. Because moving images – combined with great acting, sound and music – can blow your mind and even change you forever. Film can get the world’s stories on stage.
Think about how many creative people live on this planet and how many stories there are worth telling! But unfortunately, filmmaking expensive. Not everyone has the chance to try it, or even just buy a film camera.
But wait… Please raise your hand if you have a smartphone.
Did you know that nowadays there are more smartphones in the world than there are people? Your smartphone comes equipped with a great camera, and I mean really great.
Searching for Sugarman
I’m sure some of you have seen Searching for Sugarman. It won an Oscar for best Documentary in 2013. What most people don’t know is that some of the scenes were shot on a smartphone because they ran out of money during the shoot.
Tangerine
Tangerine was one of the first feature films shot entirely on phones. Chris Bergoch said that they kept it a secret, because when they talked to friends about this, they would just roll their eyes, going, ‘Oh, that’s not a real movie. No one is going to take you seriously if you shoot this thing on an iPhone’. The Sundance Film Festival did take it seriously and it became a major hit there.
#MyEscape
Smartphones open up entirely new possibilities to thousands of people out there! It means that, today, anybody anywhere in the world is able to tell stories through film. Refugees for example are now able to use their smartphones to take us with them on their journey, opening our eyes in a way never seen before.
Steven Soderbergh recently said that filming on a smartphone is “like being a painter and having an idea and just walking to the wall and starting to paint”. It allows you to take the focus away from all the gear, the money, massive crews and instead concentrate on the heart and soul of telling a story.
Unfortunately, money still rules the film industry and people with money decide which stories are being told and which are being silenced. So I asked this question: do we want to live in a world where only those who have money decide whose stories are told?
No! And that’s why we need a film festival with no barriers; a festival that can give everyone a voice.
Just.. How to set up a film festival with nothing? We decided to use crowdfunding to cover the basic costs of the festival. Primarily, because it’s very difficult to find sponsors for something that doesn’t exist yet. And second, because crowdfunding is a great way to build a community and generate momentum.
What we experienced during the campaign blew me away. The support was incredible, both from filmmakers but also from people who just wanted to become a part of this. (tweets) We smashed our funding goal within just a few days.
The first films
Right after the campaign we started our first call for film entries and I can still remember one of my favourite films. It was called Horseface, a 30 $ budget Comedy-Horror-Science fiction-thriller-Animal-Drama short film starred by the director himself and his grandmother. I recently checked it up again and realised that it has won 61 awards in the meantime!
The festival was sold out, mainly by our crowdfunding backers. Seeing all of our backers coming together, sitting in this beautiful cinema, eating our handmade popcorn and watching our carefully selected films – that was a moment that still gives me shivers just thinking about it.
MoMo was one of the first 4 smartphone film festivals in the world and the only one in Switzerland. We are regularly ranking in the top 4 of most influential events in Switzerland, measured by its Klout score.
Putting my heart and soul into this project has been an amazing journey: of passion, of struggle, sometimes endlessly waiting, other times experiencing pure joy. I learned how mentally exhausting it is to keep giving all of you into your work; that you need to be able to separate your project from your person.
The uncertainty over the future of the festival, mainly because funding is still the most difficult part, sometimes causes me sleepless nights. And just recently I came to the point where I thought about just giving it up.. and I checked job adverts again..
But just then, something magical happened: A young Egyptian filmmaker submitted her heartbreaking film about a girl fighting to be accepted in an boys only football game instead of watching them play on the sideline.
And her story reminded me of mine, and of what Simon told me: “Don’t make decisions based on the fears of others.” MoMo can give a voice to everybody. The time has come to level the playing field around the world, so that filmmakers on the sidelines can bring their stories to all of us. Thank you.”
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