If you could go back and speak to your twelve-year-old self, what would you say? This is the question posed by local filmmaker Lester Alfonso in his recently released film Twelve. The film, a National Film Board of Canada production in association with CBC’s The Lens, explores aging and immigration by examining the experiences of twelve subjects, all of whom moved to Canada, like Alfonso, at the age of twelve. Alfonso feels, “immigrating specifically at age twelve had such a tremendous effect on me that it still informs the decisions I make today.” The film is another in the genre of autobiographical drama for Alfonso, following his film from 2001, Trying to Be Some Kind of Hero, which traces the footsteps of his missing grandfather.
While being twelve years old, negotiating the cusp of teenage hormones and unfamiliar emotions, can be difficult enough for any pre-teen Alfonso says “adapting to a new country at this age can be very overwhelming.” By exploring the stories of others who have lived through similar experiences, Alfonso became empowered to consider his own adolescence and immigration. He explains, “the core idea of Twelve was to talk to someone older who also immigrated to Canada at age twelve, and see myself in the future somehow.” Discovering stories that, in some key ways, mirrored his own became a complicated process of self-examination: “I knew a deep part of me could be healed by this journey and making the film was the only answer.”
While the idea behind the film developed, the project took a national spotlight as Alfonso was selected as one of the winners of the 2007 Reel Diversity competition. The project “provides emerging filmmakers of colour from across Canada with training, mentorship and the chance to direct a documentary with the NFB.” After being picked as one of eight in the country short-listed for the prize, Alfonso won the competition along with Gesar Mukpo for the film “Tulku.” Despite getting the green light from the NFB, Alfonso claims participating in the competition with some of Canada’s best directors “still felt a little bit like taking part in some kind of reality-game show.”
Cinematically, Alfonso claims Orson Welles’ 1941 innovative film Citizen Kane as the main influence in the making of Twleve. For Alfonso, the role he filled in his film was similar to “playing the reporter character from Citizen Kane, jumping from person to person trying to piece together a complete picture.” Alfonso explains, “the cinematographer Gregg Toland never fully revealed the reporter’s face and always positioned him with his back to the lens on the lower right-hand side of the frame. We made the same rules apply for Twelve.” Like Citizen Kane, Alfonso wanted Twelve to “have a classic film look, or what I called a ‘stable vessel’ to deliver the core idea.” Alfonso explains, “there was enough budget and the idea was simple enough that the film didn’t have to look like a documentary.”
When asked, without spoiling the film, what Alfonso would say to his twelve year-old self, he replied his remarks “on any given day would be different from another.” However, “Today,” Lester would tell his twelve year-old self, “You’ve got what it takes, kid. Don’t let people and situations discourage you. You can go far. Keep believing and don’t give up.”
Twelve will be screening as part of Re- Frame: Peterborough’s International Film Festival at Showplace on Sunday January 25 at 2pm. Alfonso will be will be participating in a question and answer session after the film. For more information visit Alfonso’s webpage: www.originalplastic.com
Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 September 2009 10:46
