Documentary filmmakers visit York St John

Towards the end of last term, Communications and Media students at York St John University had the opportunity to meet two of Britain’s leading documentary filmmakers, Kim Longinotto and Molly Dineen.

Both women are self-shooting directors who have won a large collection of international and domestic awards including BAFTAs.

The day was split into two, in the afternoon session Year 2 Film and Television Production students enjoyed a workshop where the guests discussed issues concerning the representation of realty, with particular regard to two of their documentaries.  These were Divorce Iranian Style (Longinotto) and Heart of the Angel (Dineen), two films that students are invited to analyse for one of their assignments.

In the evening workshop, attended by Film Studies, Media and FTV students, they talked about their prolific output of films.

The event was organised by York St John University Senior Lecturer Pete Cook, who, like Molly and Kim, is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.

He said: “The guests were very impressed by what they saw and heard about the Film and Television Production (FTV) course at York St John. Both have expressed an interest in a return visit. 

“On a visit to the FTV technical stores they admired the equipment that our students use for shooting and were motivated to buy cameras that match the quality of ours.

“Many of those who attended the workshops described the sessions as, ‘inspirational’.”