Review and critique at least one short film production

Home Truths, Kathryn Ferguson, England, 2017

Home Truths tells a selection of stories from young people, exploring what their concepts of ‘home’ are. The documentary is politically driven and successfully spreads awareness and bashes stereotypes of young people and of immigrants. Its character led, an intentional stylistic decision as it provides a clear, strong and independent voice to minority groups who are wrongly represented in the media. This style of documentary also helps to inform people in a far more personal way, and helped me relate to the characters creating a stronger reaction to the information I received whilst watching.

Ferguson’s style is very artistic, in the case of this film I felt it represented the “culture, diversity and self-expression”[i] of the the young people featured, as well as the ever changing modern world. One type of shot was remade for each person’s story, which found particularly powerful, the coloured square fabric backgrounds against ordinary outside settings which felt symbolic of each character’s own individuality being prevalent and a part of their ‘home’ wherever that physical location may be.

As earlier mentioned the narrative is carried solely by the characters in the documentary which is very compelling as it makes the stories feel more genuine. The music also felt like an important part of the film, it changes for each story, adding another form of expression for that person as well as being structurally important to smoothly move from one person’s story to the next. The editing also works really well intergrading close up shots of the characters, the physical closeness being effective in constantly keeping the documentary very personal, with shots of their surroundings being that the physical locations in which they live as well as things that represent their personalities.

Home Truths had a very clear message which I believe was to inspire the the audience to understand and appreciate people’s uniqueness and to inspire them to redefine our possibly outdated definition of ‘home’. The documentary was more than just this though, as it was able to touch on political issues such as immigration and the housing crisis and how these are more relevant than ever to young people. I feel it’s a very powerful documentary that should be watched by many to educate on who lives in our societies and help us reflect on who we are.

[i] Kathryn Ferguson, Description for her upload of Home Truths on Vimeo