Storiette

A team of TV professionals and documentary film specialists shares the opinion that everybody has a story to tell to the nearest and dearest, be it the history of a family or trifles related to family life, before a new member of the family turns up. Those who are filmed on such occasions become stars or narrators in a production that will be screened before an exquisite audience.

România Internațional, 14.06.2013, 16:21

A team of TV professionals and documentary film specialists shares the opinion that everybody has a story to tell to the nearest and dearest, be it the history of a family or trifles related to family life, before a new member of the family turns up. Those who are filmed on such occasions become stars or narrators in a production that will be screened before an exquisite audience.

”Ten years ago me and your dad met. After three years we got marred, and in 2012 our family was complete when YOU were born, the most beautiful gift we could have ever dreamt of. Since you came, the emotions me and your father have been experiencing have been so intense that we feel we have never lived something like that before, we want to capture those emotions so that after a coupe of years, when you grow up, you can identify those emotions watching this video.”

-Marilena Rata is the initiator of the project entitled Storiette. She will now be spinning the yearn of how it struck her mind to propose that service to Romanians, a service which for quite some time has been operational abroad.

” First we wanted to come up with that only for the elderly, then we reached out to people from various walks of life. I am from Iasi and I have only been in Bucharest for 5 or 6 years, I do not travel back home very often, I go there about twice a year, and I‘ve got only one grandma. She will soon be 93. Grandma kept telling me how she met my granddad, who is no longer with us, how the children in the family were born, what it was like during the war, everything my granddad was going through when he did time in the concentration camp. It dawned upon me that each of us has grandparents, uncles, parents, who simply get old and who haven’t told all they have to say. Maybe they did not tell the nearest and dearest everything they had been through. Then it crossed my mind to film my grandma, so that we can have that short film for us and each time we miss grandma we should watch that film with her. It was then that the idea sprang up. So here’s what we have on offer: we help people tell their story, just as it is, the real stuff. And, which is more, we give people a hand to open up first before their family and their friends.”

Those who decide to tell their story publicly can contact the team. During the first meeting an outline is being provided for the cutout of the future film. Marilena Rata believes that not just anyone who can film with the cell-phone’s inbuilt camera can tell a story the way her team does.

”People contact us and we film them in high-quality conditions. By that I mean the quality of the photography and of the editing, which is only a whisk away from the quality of a documentary we usually watch on Discovery Channel or on other such channels. People get their story filmed and can watch the edited version of the film with family and friends, usually on special occasions. That’s what we have on offer for them, to watch the film on a special occasion or on someone’s birthday anniversary. Usually, the film is watched on the anniversary of the person telling the story.”

Sometimes those who are willing to create such a story want to offer someone a surprise or to leave a message for the future.

“ It is a sign of gratitude, of love, or appreciation the family has for someone whom they hold very dear. The family can make a surprise to someone who celebrates his or her birthday. Suppose we have 5, 6, 7 people we film telling stories, recalling little episodes about the one who is being celebrated. On his birthday, the celebrated one receives a film featuring those close to him speaking about him, and praise is heaped on that person. And I believe this will bring great joy to the celebrated person. All that speaks volumes about what we can offer apart from the sheer shooting operation and from the things we tell people in that short film, namely the feeling you experience when you see the one near you telling all those things in front of the others. “

The screened stories take between 15 minutes and 1 hour to watch. Two documentaries have already been shot and another four are work-in-progress. According to Marilena Rata, the reaction of those who learn for the first time about this project is surprising.

“Reactions have been positive so far and we’ve received a lot of e-mails and Facebook messages that confirm it. People write to thank us and tell us that we do a great job. Those we have already worked with are very pleased with the result. We have met wonderful people who have proved us that Romanians still possess strong family values. What we want is to give people the feeling that they are appreciated and make sure they are well aware of it.”

Storiette means “short story.” Each person has a personal story to tell. And every time we share this story, someone may learn an important lesson.