American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 14

Short Takes

Small-Gauge Shangri-La
By Phil Rhodes

The subject of the short documentary The Way of the Dodo
is likely to be close to many AC readers' hearts - or any heart that's
stirred by the puttering sound of 8mm or 16mm film moving
through the gate. This nostalgia is not only the narrative basis of Liam
Saint-Pierre's seven-minute documentary, but intrinsic to the creation
of Ciné-Real, a non-profit film club based in East London. Established
by Saint-Pierre in 2011, the club specializes in small-gauge exhibition
and holds monthly screenings in Hackney. Without it, the documentary might never have existed.
"My background is in still photography," says Saint-Pierre. "I
started getting involved in moving images as a camera operator.
Then, living in Hackney and having an interest in film, one evening I
was wandering home and found a Super 8 projector in a bin. And I
thought, 'This should not happen.' So I took the projector but I
couldn't get it working. I knew there was a shop in Hackney that
fixed these things, so I went in the next day with this Super 8 projector and asked him to fix it."
The shop in question was Ümit & Son, now run solely by the
indomitable Ümit Mesut, a man who, if the decline of photochemical motion-picture imaging continues its present course, must be a
great prospect for the world's last film holdout. Various sources
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June 2015

describe the shop as an "Aladdin's cave" of small-format film, with
projection equipment and prints for sale. It's a small space packed
firmly with the paraphernalia of an increasingly defunct sector of
industry - the kind of collection that raises passions in every quarter
of the filmmaking world. Saint-Pierre continues: "While he fixed [the
projector], we were talking about film and how it's sad that you
can't go and see film projected. And as well as his love of film, he
has a love of doing a deal. He said, 'Don't pay; it's on the house. You
can have it, but if you really want to watch film, I have a 16mm
projector here for £200.'"
Even at this very early stage, the documentary potential of
the situation wasn't lost on Saint-Pierre. "I said, 'This is a great story
- can I film you?' And he said no, that too many people ask and
there's no way." It was at this point that the idea of a regular film
show came into being. "I thought, wouldn't it be interesting to put
on a film evening where we project 16mm?" Saint-Pierre continues.
"I said, 'Would you like to be the projectionist?' And again he said
no, he didn't have time."
Undeterred, Saint-Pierre bought a 16mm projector and set
up a film night in Hackney. "I did the first night with about 20
people there, and we showed a print of Jaws," he says. The technical realities of film projection, however, came as something of an
awakening to Saint-Pierre. "There were points where I definitely
struggled," he relates. He went back to Mesut, "and I said, 'Can you

American Cinematographer

All images courtesy of the filmmakers.

In an ever-evolving digital world, Ümit Mesut, an East London shopkeeper, fights to keep passion for
small-format film alive in the short documentary The Way of the Dodo.

American Cinematographer - June 2015

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