Masterclass at the International Film Festival The Hague: Cinematic Storytelling, From Sign to Symbol
I’m thrilled to share that I will present the masterclass Cinematic Storytelling: From Sign to Symbol at the International Film Festival The Hague (IFFH), on Saturday, November 14th, from 10 to 11 AM, in Hall 5 of Pathé Buitenhof.
The Hague holds a special place for Sandy Siquier and me. Last year our film Domestic Animals had its Dutch Premiere at IFFH and was awarded in the “Women in Focus: Social, Political and Spiritual Stories” category, and Sandy led her masterclass “Bringing Performances to Life: Directing Actors for Film.” This year, Sandy returns as a member of the festival’s jury, and I have the honor of joining the masterclass program. To be invited back, each of us in a new role, speaks to the trust this festival has placed in our work, and we are deeply grateful.
Every film teaches us how to watch it. From the very first frame, we learn its approach to framing, light, mise-en-scène, sound, and editing, and our minds go to work completing it. The true film happens in the mind of the viewer, not on the screen. In this masterclass, I will explore the conceptual tools behind that process: how every choice a filmmaker makes, where to place the camera, how to light a face, when to cut, is a sign, and how, through patterning and context, those signs become symbols the audience learns to read. Drawing on Domestic Animals, I will show how a single image, a silent cat watching from the sidelines, can carry the weight of an entire story.
Since 2018, IFFH has grown into a true home for independent cinema, a platform for emerging talent and underrepresented voices, curated from several hundred submissions each year and sustained by a passionate team of volunteers. This year’s edition runs November 13 to 15.
The setting makes this especially meaningful. Pathé Buitenhof stands on the historic Buitenhof square, steps from the Binnenhof, in a protected monument designed by architect Johan Mutters, whose present façade dates from 1904. In 1935 the building became the Cineac Buitenhof, one of the newsreel theaters whose name joined cinéma and actualité, where audiences came to watch the world unfold on screen. In 1995 it reopened under the name of Pathé, the French company founded by the Pathé brothers in 1896, one of the oldest names in film history and the creator of the first cinema newsreel. The festival’s screenings and masterclasses take place in its two recently renovated boutique halls, 4 and 5, whose murals draw on details from the building’s past and bring its history into the room. It feels right to talk about how we read images in a place where people have gathered to watch them for nearly a century.
I’m honored to share the masterclass program with three remarkable colleagues. Kelly Bergsma, Dutch Australian filmmaker, producer, and Managing Director of Double Shot Creative Studios, presents “The Art of Making It Happen” (November 14, 10 AM, Hall 4). Aimee Greenberg, Bay Area theatre artist and filmmaker and founder of the theatre companies HEIJERA productions and fruitlessmoon theatreworks, presents “From Page to Stage to Screen” (November 15, 10 AM, Hall 4). Prof. Nikola Vukčević, PhD, film director and Head of the Film and Media Department at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, Montenegro, presents “Storytelling Principles & Structure: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond” (November 15, 10 AM, Hall 5).
My sincere thanks to festival director Avnish Rajvanshi and the entire IFFH team for this invitation, and for building a festival where cinema becomes a space for dialogue.
If you are in The Hague, I would love to see you there. Register here.
