LOW BUDGET, HIGH EFFORT Forbes gave it his all in Mother & Wild , Memories of Mortlake (both above) and Quiet on Set (left)
– Forbes shaved down the runtime and started submitting to festivals. “I haven’t had a lot of work in the last year, so I’m grateful to the festivals that have given me their generous support,” he shares. “It’s a personal story, but it’s not just for or about me. It’s for all the people who have unfortunately left the industry because of the recession, and the lack of representation for working-class people.” The industry has established programmes that aim to rectify this, but there’s still much to be done. Forbes took it upon himself to make a statement: “Nothing was going to stop me making this film.” He calls upon a long list of UK organisations – including the British Film Institute, Film London, Sky Studios, Amazon MGM Studios and the BBC – to acknowledge the problem and make serious changes. “I want it to premiere at the right festival,” stresses Forbes, “and that would be Sheffield DocFest. If it can get into that, then I’ll be over the moon.” Face time For Forbes, festivals are the primary place for making industry connections – which he would have done at film school, had he gone. “I refuse to submit to online film festivals,” he declares. “If there’s any advice I can give to other filmmakers, it’s this: don’t submit to online festivals because you’re not going to get to network – I hate using that word, but you’re simply not going to get to meet people. You won’t be interacting with people.” He continues: “That’s a big part of filmmaking, and people often forget about that. It’s about meeting
and TV industry that’s still very relevant, especially in this country,” he says of the UK. “I’ve always wanted to make a film about the struggles of making a film – like getting into festivals and dealing with rejection. It all just fell into place.
Suddenly, I was interviewing filmmakers, actors, cinematographers, other people in the industry – and I did over 100 edits.” After a test screening in Glasgow, thanks to producer Maureen Hascoet – who supported and organised the event
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