Taking Stock
Taking Stock spends an action-packed month at work in South Africa. Clive, a shopkeeper-philosopher, is forced by his filmmaker-son into exploring his conflicts with relatives, employees, history and country, through the lens of his 60 year-old family business, ultimately leading to a change in Clive's attitude and also their relationship.
Interview with Director/Producer Ben Stillerman
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thanks! This is my first feature, a documentary about my father and his South African family business. It started as a graduation piece at film school, and during development I had two primary concerns in my head - the first was that I didn't want to do anything that someone else (more famous than me) was going to maybe do too, and the second was that I wanted to do something that I wasn't going to be sick at the end of the several years I knew were necessary for production. A story about something personal and specific just felt right - I was pretty sure Werner Herzog wasn't planning a film about my Jewish South African Shopkeeper father, and I was pretty sure I would still care about my father, no matter how long the film took to complete. 4 years later, sure enough, no Werner Herzog film, and he remains my dad.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
At first look this is a film about a particular man who you as an audience member don't know. He's not a celebrity and he's not your father. But the story grows into a universal one, which discusses relationships between parents and children, and between work and home-life. It is also a unique lens on South Africa - which has struggled with too many one dimensional and reductive representations. Apart from all that, the protagonist is a wonderfully funny, complicated, compelling lead, even though he curses like a sailor.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Well, the film is obviously intensely personal. It's a story about my father and the family business that I have known my whole life. And through the film, we get pretty deep. But the business and our relationship works as a springboard on to bigger issues, of family, community, country, guilt, happiness and legacy. Because of the unfettered access I had to my own father, we were able to broach sensitive universal topics which are not always easy to discuss in films where there is no close relationship between the participants.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The most obvious evolution for the film was my participation on screen. At the start of the film's production, I felt like the best version of the story would have me offscreen as an objective observer to the systems of a family business that I happened to have access to. By the end of production, I had been drawn in to engaging with the story on a much more personal level, and I had to shift the creative structure of the film to reflect this. This also required giving a massive amount of trust to my editors, who were able to push me to show what sometimes made me uncomfortable, and help me keep an objective eye on a story that I was clearly very personally invested in.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been great on one hand, and difficult on the other: We have screened the film at festivals, family business associations, and for individuals, and the response has usually been extremely positive. However, we've also had to contend with film festivals and distributors saying things like "it's good, but I'm not sure if it will appeal to a wide enough audience". Documentary film has become very closely affiliated with either celebrity or social justice, and when something deals with neither of these, it can feel difficult to place it in a genre. This seems a pity to me, because I think it is ultimately personal stories which most resonate with audiences - as shown very simply by the types of dramatic fiction films which succeed. I always find solace in the reactions of the audiences who have watched the film and been personally moved by it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I don't know if the feedback has surprised me. There were certainly people telling me not to take the risk of making a personal story from the first time I pitched the idea to a film school class. But there were also people saying they thought Clive (my dad) should have his own reality TV show... so sometimes you don't know who to trust. Now that the film is complete, I have been extraordinarily surprised by how well it's been received specifically by people who have a connection with family business. This audience has connected with the questions the film raises in an extremely profound way, and that has been tremendously satisfying: To see someone walk out of a screening in tears to phone their own shopkeeper father was almost enough of a reward for the entire production.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Our first goal for the film is to bring it to audiences who will understand and appreciate the main themes we discuss. Family businesses and small enterprises account for a massive percentage of the world's economy, yet are not represented creatively very often. The pleasure of connecting with people who have lived and experienced family enterprise is at the heart of our distribution strategy. Beyond this, we're interested in connecting with people who are curious about a modern representation of Africa, or those who like documentary film for the engaging and intimate way it allows access to stories which are different from the life of those watching.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
At this stage, we've done the hard work of building a strong distribution strategy. A cornerstone of this has been connecting with people who have ties to family businesses and more specifically, to people who have connections with the many academic and non-profit family business associations all over the world. We'd love to keep traveling with the film as much as possible throughout the year, and that means finding more family business or Africa focused groups who would benefit from the discussions catalyzed by the film.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Documentary film is sometimes about bringing a mirror to society, and sometimes about bringing a hammer. The idea is to reflect on the world and also offer ways the world should change. I think our documentary is mostly a mirror-type film, where we examine a story that has not been seen often before. I think this is valuable because when a new story is heard, it is obviously an enlightening experience, but more than that, when we examine lives which are on the surface different from our own, we are often surprised by how much we see of ourselves in it regardless. I think for me the ideal impact of the film would be that people see a story about a life which appears quite different from their own, and yet nonetheless see their own hopes, fears and stories reflected in it. I would also really like it if more people found the film as funny and entertaining as our first audiences have!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I think without a doubt the question raised by the film most obviously is about legacy. The film deals with the relationships between parents and children, and the relationship between work, family and community. These dynamics are the seat of many tensions, and the film is inquisitive and unflinching in its examination of this. If people commit a lifetime to creating a thriving business, it may come at the expense of other relationships. Likewise, sometimes to follow a different career means abandoning a family legacy. The question then, at the heart of many people's lives, is how to balance these intersecting and conflicting influences. All these topics are dealt with in (I hope!) a poignant and engaging way.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
This was the first feature film for most of the crew, and I am so proud to see where we have come since we started talking about the potential for this project all those years ago. Careers have shifted but we're all still making movies: Arun, our producer, is now a successful screenwriter, and Dave who shot the film, is now working happily in Virtual Reality too. I'm working on my next feature (not about my family!) and have also started a company focused on outreach media for environmental organizations. Our crew was mostly made up of contemporaries from film school, and happily, we still hang out and work together all the time.
Interview: January 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTIAQ+, scifi, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Taking Stock
Taking Stock spends an action-packed month at work in South Africa. Clive, a shopkeeper-philosopher, is forced by his filmmaker-son into exploring his conflicts with relatives, employees, history and country, through the lens of his 60 year-old family business, ultimately leading to a change in Clive's attitude and also their relationship.
Length: 87 minutes
Director: Ben Stillerman
Producers: Ben Stillerman and Arun Narayanan
Key crew: Sean Jarrett and Harris McCabe - Editors, Dave Dorsey - Cinematographer, Jan Bezouska - Sound
Looking for: An excited audience!
Website: https://www.takingstockfilm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/takingstockmovie
Other: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/takingstock
Funders: Thanks to our fans on Kickstarter!
Where can I see it in the coming months? Available NOW on iTunes and Vimeo for Pre-Order; Wide Digital Release 15th February on Itunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vimeo On Demand, Vudu