Short Pick Of The Day: ‘Nod. Wink. Horse.’ by Ollie Magee

“A film behind a horse. Obscuring the narrative. My act of self destruction.”

Graduation film by Ollie Magee made at the Royal College of Art, U.K., 2019.

Screened at over 15 film festivals including Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival, Hiroshima, Fantoche, Encounters, Animateka, and Kaboom.

Director’s statement:

This was once an entirely different film. One in which the central character was a horse. This film developed, and the horse became side-lined, an obvious burden on the story. I’ve always struggled with this aspect of film making. Pre-production. To me, it’s restrictive and kills spontaneity. And as usual, I found myself frustrated with the process. A familiar moment of self-doubt. I realized that what was important to me was the wider context of the film, and my own emotional response to it. Hiding the film was taking this horse character and letting him win – giving him center stage in spite of the rest of the film. It was about taking out my frustration on the work itself and allowing those “self-destructive” habits to influence the film. The result is to deny myself and others of my own work. It’s quite an antagonistic film, not just to annoy the audience but hopefully to inspire some conversations about narrative, and the relationship between film maker and audience. I think audiences deserve more agency and input. In this case any interpretation is as valid as my own.