Matt Rice (FITS Europe participant Fall 2010) and his documentary made it into this year’s final of Filmfest Düsseldorf and came in 2nd for the audience award of European Short Film Festival UNLIMITED Cologne.
Watch this Interview with Matthew Rice: http://vimeo.com/32003313 (The Yodel Within)
Watch this Interview with Matthew Rice: http://vimeo.com/32003313 (The Yodel Within)
A new World Perspective
My study abroad trip in Germany not only defined who I was as a filmmaker, but it also helped frame a new world perspective for me. I discovered the power of documentary filmmaking and I immediately became enamored with it. Why try and recreate false experiences on a dark soundstage in LA when in reality stories surround our lives everywhere we go? I had finally realized that a documentary could highlight these interesting stories and emphasize the beauty of our natural world.
I wanted to go to Germany for a very specific reason. I wanted to rediscover my ancestral roots. Some members of my Bavarian-American family have participated in a German oompah band all my life. They are unique for continuing that tradition and I wanted to be unique too by mastering the German yodel. I went to Germany to find a true yodeling master. Luckily, LMU had a study abroad documentary filmmaking program located in Bonn, Germany.
Six months before I left, I researched as much as I possibly could about yodeling. I found several contacts in both the U.S. and Europe that agreed to do interviews and private yodel performances. I had even found the address of Franzl Lang, the World’s Greatest Yodeler, who retired from his yodeling career a decade ago. I sought out my contacts in Germany and finally found a suitable yodel instructor that taught me everything there is to know about the art. I am not quite sure which was more fun for me, developing my yodel documentary or learning how to yodel.
In the end, I produced and directed an eleven-minute yodel documentary that I was proud of. I quickly became comfortable with telling my story because I was able to connect my experience in Germany with my cultural upbringing in St. Louis. This never would have been possible if I hadn’t received the assistance that I did while I studied abroad in Germany.
The support I received from the AIB and my fellow colleagues was invaluable for my experience in Germany. Even after my film has been completed, the AIB is still helping me out by promoting my film in European film festivals. My study abroad experience will always remind me of this international camaraderie and I can only hope that I will receive the same support in my future career as a documentary filmmaker.
I wanted to go to Germany for a very specific reason. I wanted to rediscover my ancestral roots. Some members of my Bavarian-American family have participated in a German oompah band all my life. They are unique for continuing that tradition and I wanted to be unique too by mastering the German yodel. I went to Germany to find a true yodeling master. Luckily, LMU had a study abroad documentary filmmaking program located in Bonn, Germany.
Six months before I left, I researched as much as I possibly could about yodeling. I found several contacts in both the U.S. and Europe that agreed to do interviews and private yodel performances. I had even found the address of Franzl Lang, the World’s Greatest Yodeler, who retired from his yodeling career a decade ago. I sought out my contacts in Germany and finally found a suitable yodel instructor that taught me everything there is to know about the art. I am not quite sure which was more fun for me, developing my yodel documentary or learning how to yodel.
In the end, I produced and directed an eleven-minute yodel documentary that I was proud of. I quickly became comfortable with telling my story because I was able to connect my experience in Germany with my cultural upbringing in St. Louis. This never would have been possible if I hadn’t received the assistance that I did while I studied abroad in Germany.
The support I received from the AIB and my fellow colleagues was invaluable for my experience in Germany. Even after my film has been completed, the AIB is still helping me out by promoting my film in European film festivals. My study abroad experience will always remind me of this international camaraderie and I can only hope that I will receive the same support in my future career as a documentary filmmaker.
Written by Matt Rice
Read more news by FITS participants on www.fits-europe.de
