Alex's Things

iM a dOcUmEnTarY mAkeR.

(I've made a few short documentaries that are actually watchable.)

They're my most recent attempts at some combination of research and sTorYTeLliNg; translating complex information into something people will actually care about.

We'll See (2025) is a 25-minute documentary about Visual Anthropology.

A documentary about making documentaries. Ground-breaking stuff. I made it during my Master's in Visual Anthropology in Manchester, so at least in that context it was a Visual Anthropology of Visual Anthropology.

The final edit is a product of learning by both watching and doing. In a way it is a 'study' of not only the product, but the practise, discipline, group and individuals of this pretty niche field. I had no funding but they gave me a camera, so it took me a year to research, write, shoot and edit it.

There are also, of course, several academic essays if you give a shit about things like that: The first is about the signs and symbols of identity amidst the late-modern conditions of uncertainty. Absolutely stellar and not pretentious. The second directly accompanies the film, and is more a critical analysis of the academic discipline.

Side View of a Falling Cat (also 2025) is a 15-minute film about home and the intimacy that defines that place.

It is the result of interview-based research and a search within out existing personal archives, made at a time when Kyra and I both felt far from that idea.

Ironically I think working together both gave us that connection we both missed while in Manchester.

How to: Plane Spotting is what it sounds like. No not instructional but a 6-minute exercise and homage to John Wilson.

Oh and there's a zine of the actual 'anthropology' project that happened alongside.

Same Melody, Different Words (2024) is 8 minutes long and was made with/under award winning filmmaker Manman Yang. It follows an English language class for migrants held at a restaurant in Manchester.

It's very observational, and neither the sound nor lighting were on our side during the day, but we wanted to capture what was happening in the room; a bunch of adults, learning together like children.

This one's a minute long. Just an exercise of three shots made with Kyra, about play.

I've also taken photos at points.