In the news today…

3 articles: My take on the world.

I’ve decided to make this blogging more regular so am going to try and write a weekly entry of my thoughts on 3 articles from the news that day, or anything happening in the world around us, related or completely random…

The first thing that grabbed my attention while surfing on the BBC News webpage was the situation in Indonesia. Not only have they been suffering from a tsunami but a volcano has also erupted in another part of the country. Tsunamis are my worst nightmare, literally, and my thought and prayers are with those caught out there, struggling and surviving.
Strangely enough the first thing that came to my mind was Eat Pray Love. Wither you’ve read the book, seen the film or none of the above you cannot have been oblivious to the phenomenon it created. So my thoughts are going to those who ended up booking their ‘round-the-world tickets “Elizabeth Gilbert style” as American travel companies had started advertising for, copying her journey from the US to Italy, India and Indonesia. May I just say that, this just beat the whole idea behind the book itself and I am worried about the effect the film is going to have on people? While the book was more about the emotional journey of a person finding himself or herself, the film was more focused on relationships and travelling.

So by buying tickets copying the characters journey, will not help you find your inner peace because you will be mimicking someone else’s search of themselves. You might become more like that person than yourself. If you are feeling lost in your life, that you have the lingering feeling that you have lost your touch and sense of belonging (which is a growing feeling in the western society) then take a break and reconnect with your self. Find what it is that your heart longs for, and it may not include jumping on a plane, increasing world pollution and copying, like a horde of sheep, what you saw last on screen. Internal peace comes from the knowledge and respect of one’s self, meditation and some sort of spirituality.
That is what the book was really about, and I don’t quite know how the film got to the point of creating the adverse effect.

This leads me to my next point, also on the BBC website, an article stating that recent researches have shown that people are more and more keen to go on silence retreats with no phone, no internet… just you and your own thoughts for the week with an hour counselling if needed during the day. Have a look, it’s an interesting article and I agree with it more than anything.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11588293
There seems to be sounds everywhere I go. I hate it, can’t even hear my own thoughts. Right now as I type I hear a bus waiting outside, puffing out, the music from a car behind the bus, more traffic, a police car and that’s with closed windows. And the rest of the time your either losing yourself in songs that portray emotions that are not yours, reading gossip about celebrity lives or faffing around in other people’s lives with facebook, twitter etc…

People are spending less and less time with themselves and therefore are getting less and less comfortable with themselves. I guess that is what leads to the “Eat Pray Love” syndrome. It’s time that people let got of their Iphone and blackberries one minute and take time to reconnect with what is around them. Talk with a friend face to face or ring them instead of ‘facebooking’ them, read a book, do something creative, meet up with some mates. Don’t let your life fall into the murky pond of digital being.

The last thing that I wanted to talk about is something to ponder on more than a fact. Counties in Italy and other countries around Europe and Africa are installing a ban on miniskirts in the hope to lessen crime, aggressions and sexual indecency. May I just remind you that Italy is also one of the countries banning women from wearing the burka. Interesting contrast isn’t it?
I think this sums up pretty well the unease of the society we live in today. Somehow, a there must be a balance to be found. I feel like I want to know what you think. What’s your take?
Personally, I do think that some girls take it way too far in terms of clothing with the shortness of their skirts and cuts of their tops. I don’t want to have someone’s boobs in my face when I get up to leave a bus, and I don’t want to see up a girl’s almost non-existing miniskirt when I am going up the escalator. But I haven’t got a choice, apparently, if I want to see where I’m going. You can look gorgeous and feminine and attractive without having to swoop that low. That is almost anti woman’s rights. I think we’ve gone from sexual liberation to sexual aberration. Look around you, that’s what everything is about these days. Magazines: Whose husband cheating on who? Charts: Rihanna with Rude Boy?

What are we gaining from this apart from horny underage teenagers, leading to teenage pregnancy and indecent behaviours from guys who can’t keep their hands in their pockets… to put things nicely!
A balance has to be found... But what can you expect from a society that is losing touch with themselves, with spirituality and trying to fill that gap with other things…

I think that’s enough for one day!
Hit back with feedback if you want ☺ I love a good debate!!!
Xoxo

Fio

Refferences are made to various BBC NEWS articles all available on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Pictures found on the net

Lucy

A short film I directed last summer!
Enjoy!
xoxo
fiona

Imaginary Portrait

And to finalise the list of my online showreel :)
An Imaginary Portrait, which I wrote with Sujay, the director, after he liked the story of the "First Time" monologue filmed for our acting classes.
It won a prize in the short film festival in Punes 2008.

Black Swan

This is the short I graduated from Uni with.
You can really feel my surrealist and experimental influences here! 5 years later... I'm working on a feature inspired by this story :)



UK 2007
Director: Fiona Cross
With Amith Rahman (previously known as Abraham Chowdhury) and James Horseman


Once upon a time, there was a very ugly duckling, unloved and rejected by his family and society. The lonesome bird grew strong and bitter, plotting a way to get back at society for what it had made of him.
Black swan reflects on what has pushed our society to create its own ugly ducklings. Transferring this tale onto the London life style today has proven itself to be more than successful, playing with the audiences’ conceptions and stereotypes. Saeed is first introduced as a young Muslim, whose faith has given him the strength to go and achieve his goal. Although this isn’t made clear, through his journey across central London, it is strongly believed he is on his way to join the line of terrorist attacks. But what is it that actually convinced us that this was who he was? This deaf and dreamy character in a white skin would not have seemed more innocent. And here comes Peter James, a disturbed attention seeker who thinks the whole world is against him. So, when a London station does blow up, and Saeed is in that station confronted by Peter James, our prejudice and maybe unconscious racism is forced forward. By focusing on who might be a potential suspect, we forgot to look at who showed obvious signs of danger. The grown ugly duckling, now an oddly graceful black swan, has finally found a way of getting back at society from ignoring him for such a long time.
The directors’ third short has taken a more experimental and political turn. The style is striking yet gritty with some beautiful locations such as the Woking mosque, the oldest of the whole of Britain. The sound inspired by French film “Sur mes Levres” supports the quirkiness of the fast editing and the montage sequence. The colours have subtly been edited to fit Saeed modified vision of the world around him, increasing the peculiar feeling, the world we know but some is somehow difficult to recognise.
Her surrealist influences lead her ideas and the narrative of this short reflect this with some recurrent landmarks already such as the montage/day dream sequence and the strong aesthetic presence of nature.
Far from the fairy tale aspect, the film however remains poetic and unpretentious with the integration of all members of the crew passing in front of the camera at one point in the film so as to prove that they are not above the audience and that they would have probably made the same mistake.
Black Swan is a tender yet abstract and disturbing short which pulls us all out momentarily of our reality and pushes us into this dark, prosaic and political position, forcing us to loose trust in our own thoughts.

First Time

Directed in 2007.
Amazing looking back at old work and being able to see how much you progressed in 3 years.
Still this was one of my favourite shoots with an excellent team!
Much love to you all

What a difference a day made

Missing my two little adings
xx

For a Smile

Because we all have them

We all have them.
Moments.
Moments of doubts, moments of fear, moments of anger, moments of madness.
Or moments of laughter, moments of happiness, moments of bliss, moments of pride.
Whatever they are, they are best not to be lived alone. Share them with someone and the pained will be halved, or the happiness doubled. Open up yourself to the ones your love and trust. They are part of who you are, they make you more real, and in touch with your inner self. Hiding them to appear stronger will weaken you more than anything, putting a veil on an issue does not make it disappear.
Don’t force it. The first step is to realise that you are holding back. Find the moments in your day when you feel you could have said something but didn’t. If it’s still accurate to do so, then bring those thoughts back up later. Slowly those realisations will become closer to the moment, and soon it will be seconds between the thought and it’s expression. Just stay connected.
It’s a long process to master, but be it career or on a personal level, expressing your true self is what will take you further in life, rather than baring the mask of the one you wish to be. The stronger one, the funnier one, the darker one. Bas les masques is what I would say in French. Live with what you have been given and make those qualities stronger, turn them into your shield. They are a gift from God, and it’s now in your hands to master them.

Picture by http://technicolorpsyche.blogspot.com/

Inception

One word: Waw.
Maybe that’s not a word but that’s the only one that can summarize it’s all mighty amazing-ness.
The subject itself was enough to attract me. Dreams. If you are reading this then you probably know me. And if you know me, then you know how much dreams are a recurrent theme in my life and my work. Most of the films I’ve written or directed have included a dream sequence. I just like the surrealist feel of them and how art uses them to subtly reveal the unconscious. Anyway, back to Inception.
This film is a masterpiece. An true art work from director Chris Nolan who has cleverly orchestrated a film that will leave you wondering what just hit you.
The film was flawless. The special effects were impressive, and mostly never seen before and the editing fitted to perfection the pace of the story. And as for the performance of DiCaprio, Cotillard and Co, simply faultless.


But were Nolan proved his genius was with the swift switching between realities, to a point where more than ever, you leave the cinema wondering wither you are yourself in a dream.
Usually, after watching a good film I feel like I am living in the said film, at least for 30 minutes until after the film has finished. The experience of watching a film in itself is, as a principle, the idea of entering someone else’s’ reality for a couple of hours. My fellow film graduates will know that it’s our inner “voyeur” side. So entering someone’s not only reality, but also their dreams is taking the experience one step further.
Anyway, if you think how confused the audiences were in the 20’s after seeing a close-up for the first time, thinking that a head had been cut up for the screen, this is the feeling we had leaving the cinema today.
Nolan has put spectacle back into film. We are entering a new era, realism has taking a new turn. And British film-makers are back in the game!
Move over Hollywood. We are the new generation of British directors and we are taking you for quite a ride. You’ll be wishing you were dreaming.

Pictures borrowed from Traileraddict.com and media.nj.com

Jean Paul Gaultier

I never really thought about him in much depth. Actually, I never really had any thoughts about him a part from maybe the fact that two of my close friends used to wear his perfumes, and that he was a controversial designer.
But because of a recent assignment for work I have had to look into his life a little bit more and have found some really inspiring notes on his work ethics and beliefs which have made me think and I found myself inspired to write again.

JPG started working as a designer at the age of 17- and from then he started a world-changing career in designing.

But the message behind his talent is what has really drawn me. He has taken feminity to a whole new level. Like Channel did when she broke down the conventions of corsets and got rid of all the superfluous laces and thrills, JPG has also given women a chance to express their independence and their rights. Funnily enough, he did that by bringing those corsets back in.
Both rebels with a cause, it just makes you think of how much fashion represents the changes in our society, and how much women and their perception have evolved in the past 50 years.

JPG was influenced by his grandmother; a woman with an extremely strong personality and a lot of his iconic items derive from some memory of her.
(See article from the guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/aug/28/fashion.shopping3)



And so his icons are women with equally strong personalities. Models who incarnate his ideal of a woman. Any size, any race, any tattoos or piercings, JPG has the gift of bringing the woman out of herself, sometimes in quite literal terms, but in anyway, with the one intention of making a lady feel more woman just by embracing who she is. That explains his passion for Madonna or Lady Gaga. They both go for self-expression rather than wearing something they think will please others. And that is what fashion is all about.
Though some of his more haute couture designs are a little controversial, raunchy and provocative (leather harnesses, Conical bras, elaborate corsets…) I don’t think any woman in her right man would think ‘Oh, that’s what I’ll wear to work today.’ These are images of a woman. They explore and represent exteriorly how she would be from the inside. Strong, direct, straight, powerful, yet feminine and beautiful.
This is art. Art is expression, and so is fashion.

This is my favorite quote from the man to sum it all up: 'my raw material isn't fabric, it's human beings. Voila!' (From the Guardian Article)

I guess the message I want to put across is for my fellow ladies out there, don’t be afraid to express who you are, how you feel. Don’t let yourself down. By respecting and knowing yourself as a woman, you will gain respect from others around you. Keep smiling and keep trying. Stay humble and you will see the world fall at your feet. We ARE worth it.

Images found on the web.

Tightrope, high hopes.

Who said you couldn’t dance in a wheelchair? Well, this is a current affair that is being addressed in various medias. Any other fellow Gleek will have seen that episode where Archie gives up on his dream to be a dancer because he is a wheel chair. I think maybe the producers of the show should have got tickets to see Tightrope this weekend in Hammersmith. Trust me the trip from L.A would have been well worth it.
The show put on by Amici really put things into perspective for the whole of the audience watching. From start to finish, they kept us breathless and teary-eyed and I’m not usually the emotional type. I think I cried at least 4 times. Everything reached perfection in this colourful and powerful performance.



The show started with a very powerful piece where a paralysed dancer gracefully glided across the floor soon followed by a flood of ladies holding white umbrellas and holding them around him, making a screen on which was projected some footage of a tightrope dancer. Dreams are achievable if your belief is strong enough is exactly what you are thinking when, at this very point, the very same man bursts through the umbrellas and into the air, flying across stage.
That was the first time I cried. Running time: 2 minutes?



No amount of description will make this show any justice. Every participant was better than the other! But I just want to point out the other scenes that really got me.
First was a beautiful rendition of a Carmen scene, which for this circus was called The Love Pyramid. An ex- ballerina paralyzed from the waist down and her dance partners got the audience whooping and cheering at their romantic dance piece, on and off the wheelchair. I felt so much pride and admiration for this beautiful young woman, she was just so captivating and inspiring with her determination.
Then the duet between two severely paralysed dancers took me away again. They gracefully circled around, hands reaching out for each other, smiling wide enough to blind you!
It wasn’t just emotional, it was also really funny, with the strong men act and the opera singer failing trying to reach a high note … The full house audience was just always on edge to see what would be next.



This amazing performance was crowned with the final message that the company put through with the amazing ending. Two suited men, representing a corporate and norm-following society decide that these are no real artist and “burn” their circus down. How very accurately said. An amazing statement to what the arts are reduced to these days.: “Conform to what is commercial or you will be turned into irrelevant ash”.
But hope always lurks around the corner.
As for the Amici Circus, they represented this by each performer rising from that ash, holding a red balloon, brandishing them proudly over their heads. The great stage directing made the lighting fall onto the balloons to make them look like 20 red lanterns floating up.
It was a brilliant finale to a brilliant show, which really deserved that standing ovation.

For more information on Amici,, look them up on http://www.amicidance.org/

Endless romance

You hold my hand and lead me through infinite magic,
You whisper softly, that there are none like me.

You hold me so tight, that I forget to breathe.

I become the character of a classic black and white movie,
In which we are caught in an endless waltz,
Yet the colors around us have never seemed so bright and beautiful.

Maybe it is what we are, the essence of an endless romance,
In which your mouth has been perfectly painted to fit my lips,
And where your hand has been made to never leave mine.

Resuscitation Pascale.

Et voila une résolution pas vraiment tenue! Ecrire toutes les semaines, et garder la trace de mon progrès ? Que nenni ! Enfin peut être que c’est que le progrès, bien que toujours en développement se fait plus long que prévu. Mais je ne vais pas me laisser avoir, parce qu’au bout du chemin, je sais ce qu’il m’attends !
D’ailleurs, ces deux dernières semaines, je me suis rendue compte que je m’éloignai du but et me suis remise à réorganiser mes priorités. Je suis toujours plus guidée dans ces moments la. Rencontres et sorties propices, moments d’espoirs relevés, me voilà prête a accepter un signe. Et arrive cet email : Recherche Producteurs pour mission caritative en Asie ou Afrique. Abe et moi sommes en train de préparer nos applications avec tous nos doigts croisés, même ceux des pieds, nos yeux rivés vers le ciel en prière constante. Cette entrée de blog est assez religieuse on dirait ? Mais bon, c’est Pacques après tout… et cette fois, c’est mon espoir de réussite et de changer le monde qui se ressuscite.
Allelujah.
Bonnes Fêtes a tous !
Fio.

Falling in Love

This poem is touching more on my surrealist work and will be the poem over one of the next short videos I will be making with my team!
This will be read in voice over as dancers will dance on the music and beat of the poem, representing the movement the mind and heart go through when one falls in love.
I hope to put this into production by the end of April, before flying off to Spain.
Enjoy!
Fio.

I rise and fall,
I fly and stumble,
Light as led,
Heavy as air

Caught in the eye of the cyclone
Sitting proud on my throne

There is nothing to be done
It still may come undone

Life is nothing but trouble
Love is all and humble

I watch you tremble
You see me assemble

The peace of your head
The pieces of my mind

Melted and forged

Like a flowing river
sliding down the hills of fever

gently falling on cotton fields,

clouds of warmth
towers of refuge
elation and strength .

By Fiona Cross

Caught in a feeling.

What can I say, being in love makes me want to write my heart out, to express those feelings endlessly in whatever form.
I want the world to see how amazing it feels. This is a poem or song lyrics I wrote for my man a while ago now.
Enjoy
x
Fio

PS: art work to follow

I’m stuck in a feeling,
Caught in a trance,
I’ve stopped breathing
And am locked in your glance.

The people around us
Are slowly fading out,
Blending smoothly into the hazyness of the night.

The music merges into me
I can no longer make the difference
Between the beats of my heart and the beats of drums.

I’m stuck in a feeling
Lost in our dance
Feels like I’m falling,
Held up by chance.

They’ve all disappeared
Only you’ve remained,
But the closer you get, the stronger the fear

I’ve waited so long
To be held in your arms
Something this strong could never go wrong.

I’m stuck in a feeling
Caught in a chance
Dancing on the ceiling
Yet frozen in your glance

There’s no way out now;
I’m melting in the embrace
ushered into a place
where we vanish without a trace.

I am nothing but a bare soul

To Abraham,
with love.

I feel my heart stopping
My eyes closing
My breath slowing
Softly,
until my body loses it every ache
It’s every strings
It’s every thing
And I am nothing but a bare soul
Shinning next to yours.
And I am nothing but a bare soul
Shinning next to yours.

But then you are gone again,
And my world looses its dimensions
Reflecting on me only it’s pain.

Life digs it’s shallowness back into my days
And I wander aimlessly between the hours and the days
That separate me from that one smile which will make my life worthwhile.

I feel my heart stopping
My eyes closing
My breath slowing
Softly,
until my body loses it every ache
It’s every strings
It’s every thing
And I am nothing but a bare soul
Shinning next to yours.
And I am nothing but a bare soul
Shinning next to yours

Paris

C’est la ville la plus romantique du monde. Je l’ai entendu des milliers de fois mais je ne le crois que depuis cette semaine. J’en suis rentrée il y a deux jours et je suis déjà en manque de Paris. Tout prends une couleur nouvelle là-bas, les sentiments sont renforcés, les yeux émerveillés et les cœurs tout amourachés. Le mien y compris. Je me mets a rêver de cette ville comme la mienne, cet appart dans le 16*, mon petit chez moi, ce café mon rendez vous quotidien pour écrire et manger autant d’éclairs au café que possible. Les étoiles semblent a portée de main.



Enfin ce voyage n’aurait pas été ce qu’il était si il n’avait pas été aussi bien accompagné !


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Je vois la tour Eiffel de la chambre de notre hôtel. Nous venons juste d’arriver et l’immeuble est vieux et un peu charmant. Notre chambre est la n*32, au 4 eme étage. Il faut monter un nombre infini d’escaliers en colimaçons avant d’y arriver.



La clef est en bronze dorée … Je vous le dis, je suis déjà charmée. On s’en fiche des hôtels 4 étoiles, du champagne, du service de chambre.


Nous sommes à Paris et le luxe se trouve dans nos Sentiments, pas nos revêtements. Quoiqu’il faut bien que j’avoue, nous allons faire jazzer Paris en ce soir de réveillon, lui dans son costume cravate et moi avec mon chapeau années 20 et mon châle en fausse fourrure de renard argenté ! Et puis notre sourire, qui a lui seul fera de l ‘ombre aux plus gros diamants.



Tout me paraît un peu magique ici… pourtant je n’ai pas toujours été fan de Paris, qui me semblait être un préconçu pour touristes ! Mais voilà, mettez moi dans le métro avec l’homme que j’aime a regarder défiler les stations aux noms les plus poétiques les unes que les autres (La muette, Jasmin, Michel Ange, Alma Marceau, Piquet Grenelle, des mots qui en fait, ne veulent pas dire grand chose mais qui sonnent a mon oreille comme un nouveau Français. Et voilà !





Je rentre donc dans cette chambre et par la fenêtre haute, derrière le pot de géraniums rouges, elle se dresse fière et sensuelle dans sa robe de dentelle noire et grise. Elle se fait belle car elle sait que dans quelques heures, revêtue de ses joyaux de fêtes elle illuminera les yeux émerveillées de centaines de personnes. Elle patientera et fera monter l’excitation générale jusqu'à l’heure ultime, ou aux douze coups de minuits, elle explosera de couleurs et de lumière pour nous annoncer le commencement de cette nouvelle année qui s’annonce déjà si… magique…
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