By Miranda Avila
Growing up, I experienced films and tv shows like most kids, but my parents were very adamant on showing me the TCM channel. From there, I got to explore media from all decades, which opened my eyes to comedy, dramas, and thrillers that influenced my influencers and from there, there was no going back. I knew content unlike anyone my age and I loved it. It felt as though I was in on something no one else was. That being said, as a kid, I would be embarrassed to share my favorite movies, because they seemed so weird, so different. At ten years old I declared the 1996 queer comedy Birdcage my favorite movie. For obvious reasons, being a shy kid in a small town with even smaller ideals I felt weird not saying Big Hero 6. I loved sitting down and watching such a spectacle. It wasn’t until years after the first watch that I really got the movie. Of course, I would laugh and enjoy the film, but it wasn’t until I was old enough to understand the sophistication of the humor that I knew, I wanted to make people laugh. I wanted to entertain people like Robin Williams.
From a young age, I knew I wanted to tell stories. From playing make believe to stories written in my wide ruled notebook, I loved building worlds and personas. It quickly became a passion of mine, but I didn’t realize it at the time. It wasn’t until I received my first camcorder at the age of 9 that I was able to find an expressive form for all these ideas, film. It was unlike photography and writing, things I have explored at this point. It was an untapped medium I thought could only be utilized in Hollywood. I quickly discovered how wrong I was and began recording everything around me in hopes to one day use it for my movie. I still have yet to create said movie and honestly question if I was ever going to, but now, I am left with hours of footage and I refuse to delete any of it because it all has value. I like to think of SD cards as sketchbooks. Each one, each off load of one is a wrap on a certain era of your ability. I am able to go back and flip through some of my very early “sketches” and I can be inspired or just amused by what I was, but either way, I learn and grow from a period in my life I didn’t think I had any knowledge to share. The beauty of film is not only in the stories on the page, but the visuals that tell that story and realizing that was life changing.
It wasn’t until I arrived at film school that I found my love for documentaries. Experiencing raw, entertaining stories in this format felt like a natural extension of what I’d been doing for years; following subjects with a camera. I was drawn to the idea that the camera can act as a character itself, capturing the richness of people’s lives.. Much like the mockumentary Tv shows I have grown to adore, this was the same style and I relished in that. There is something that fascinates me about sharing someone’s story in a way where the camera can act as its own character. I have always been immersed by people living their lives. I recently found out that there is a word for this, “sonder.” Sonder is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Whether through narrative or documentary, my driving force in this industry is to share and entertain through the stories of others.