LONDON — The film awards season may be over, but the industry continues to forge ahead.
Earlier this week at the Curzon cinema in Mayfair, a cinephile crowd turned up to listen to creatives who work behind and in front of the camera at the annual “Power of Film” symposium. It was hosted by Charles Finch’s magazine A Rabbit’s Foot, with support from Mubi and StudioCanal.
Speakers, including Luca Guadagnino, Stefano Baisi, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Jack Lowden, Harriet Walter, Phyllida Lloyd and Samantha Morton, touted the power of the stage and screen.
Walter and Lloyd talked about the importance of creating stories for women. The pair had worked together on a Shakespeare trilogy, where they cast only females in a remake of “Julius Caesar,” “Henry IV” and “The Tempest,” which were all set in a prison.
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“A lot of the movies we see have a Shakespearean element — and it’s very much tipped in favor of the male story — so we thought we should change the world,” Walter said.
Walter and Lloyd worked with Judy Clark, who spent nearly 40 years in jail after being convicted of murder, on “The Tempest.”
It’s through collaboration that many of the figures on stage found their place in the industry.
“Back to Black” director Taylor-Johnson and “Slow Horses” actor Lowden both said that having romantic partners working in the same field propelled them to problem-solve on set and to view the work they do differently.
“Why am I going to work and leaving the best actor at home?” said the director about her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Lowden, who was a producer on “The Outrun” starring actor Saoirse Ronan, said the two would go home together and brainstorm the logistics of difficult scenes.
“The producing bug has got me — I really enjoy feeling useful,” he added.
Another powerful duo on the stage was Italian director Guadagnino and production designer Baisi.
The pair worked on “Queer,” the semi-autobiographical film based on William S. Burroughs’ novella of the same name. Baisi, a trained architect, said “Queer” was the first project that he worked on.
Guadagnino also offered advice to young filmmakers in the audience.
He said he’s against mood boards when he’s making a film. “Mood boards are for advertisement agencies. When a filmmaker comes to me with a mood board, that’s the death of that,” he said.
He also added that the best way any filmmaker can learn about being a director is to spend one week on the set of a film and to soak in everything rather than attend film school.
Finch also offered some inspirational words to cinema lovers.
“We need to cherish the independent spirit. Cinemas are closing down all the time. So make sure you make the cinemas a part of your life, not just something you go to once a year,” said Finch, adding that A Rabbit’s Foot will soon be launching a film club.
