Intro to the CineLink Talks presented by Documentary Campus

In the early 1990s, I was a journalist in my native Argentina, and a dear colleague used to mock my travels. They were too frequent and too brief for someone living in Buenos Aires, a faraway land in the southern hemisphere. “You think the world is an apartment,” he repeated. I wasn’t a jet-setter but the daughter  of a single working-class mum who was a student of psychology and a flight attendant. Yes, I sort of thought the world was an apartment, and my stand-by tickets were either free or barely USD 100. Fast-forward almost thirty years; I left Argentina over two decades ago, became a film producer and scriptwriter, and made London my home. I carried my Italian and Spanish heritage across the ocean. I became an Argentine, known as someone who does not feel from anywhere but has everywhere inside. Married a New Yorker, gave birth to an English kid. Yes, from the living room to the bedroom, short steps, long steps, and back again. 

In all these years, I have had the privilege of working with filmmakers from many latitudes who have given me the chance to experience world cinema with real meaning. I am very grateful to the Sarajevo Film Festival, CineLink and the Documentary Campus for inviting me to imagine the talks of the 2020 edition of the festival, and for giving me so much freedom to design them. The programme you are going to experience live at home, online, in the unimaginable year of COVID-19, is the product of my whole self: traveller, artist, producer, writer, journalist, woman, mother, wife, immigrant, storyteller, other, educator and film lover. Saying the past few months have been unexpected is an understatement. We have been organised and chaotic. Emotionally drained and resourcefully resilient. We are all experiencing the same forces unable to predict the future. This is an attempt at self-reflection.

This carefully curated selection of rebels, boundary-pushing colleagues, visionaries and real icons are all people I respect and admire. They are inspiring humans and change-makers related to more than twenty countries from around the world (by birth or residence!). These are people who are turning our business of film and television on its head, moving the parts we need to move to make it better. They shine a light on collaboration, inclusivity, creativity, gatekeeping, and the future of the art and business of our métier. Bringing radical love directly to your home. 

May these talks bring you food for thought and joy, delivering the connectedness we are missing from our time apart. May this programme lead with hope and far-reaching ideas for our industry. We, like the world, need real change. 

In the early days after the killing of George Floyd, Ivirlei Brookes, an actress and storyteller, was speaking about the events from her heart. Her video talking about trauma and racism went viral. She spoke softly and urgently: open it up, open it up she asked. “I see you, and hear you,” I replied online. Here is a proposal for a door. Step in, we will talk about it all. 

Paula Alvarez Vaccaro is a producer, scriptwriter, visual artist, educator and the founder of Pinball London Ltd, a production company based in London.

Documentary Campus is one of Europe’s most renowned training initiatives, providing documentary filmmakers with tailored training and advice on how to develop their film ideas, unlock funding and reach a large international audience.