PORTLAND’S YOUNG FILMMAKERS COULDN’T FIND A PLACE FOR THEIR WORK, SO THEY CREATED ONE
Maya Tepler
Producer at RadicalMedia LLC
To Whom It May Concern:
I remember the first time I spoke with Daniel Kayamba. I was in an airport after a long weekend in the field, and I was exhausted. I answered and unknown number on my cell phone, and Daniel's exuberance flowed through the receiver and woke me right me up:
"Hi, Ms. Maya? My name's Daniel. I heard you're making a documentary about refugees in Maine, I'm doing that too!"
As Daniel explained his project to me, it was evident that he had storytelling abilities well beyond his years. And as I began to know him, and to work with him, this assumption was confirmed time and time again.
Daniel assisted me in my documentary both behind, and in front of the camera. He was an assistant camera on several shoots, which included sit-down interviews, verite scenes, and scenics. He also let me into his life, and I began to document Daniel's growth as a filmmaker, storyteller, and teenager.
When I watch Daniel make creative decisions for his own film, I am endlessly impressed. His instincts are spot on in terms of interviewing, shot choice, and editing. Sometimes, when I watch his footage, I forget that I am watching the work of a seventeen year-old, thinking instead that I am watching the footage taken by my professional cinematographer. Another creative aspect of Daniel that is so remarkable is his desire to tell the stories of the oppressed. He seeks out those without a voice, and gives it to them, such as his short film about marginalized youth in the city of Portland, ME. He explores topics that might make some people uncomfortable, but he does so with an earnest, and appealing curiosity.
Aside from his talent and creativity, Daniel is an undeniably magnetic young man. When Daniel talks, people listen. But he doesn't rest on these innate gifts. He is hardworking, and humble, and he is constantly seeking to better himself.
Daniel will bring a unique perspective and attitude to every community that is lucky enough to have him. His worldview is singular. Daniel was born in Congo, he's lived all over Maine, and he sees everything through the eyes of a true artist. I cannot recommend him highly enough. He is an engaged community member. Daniel is kind, charismatic, excited to learn, and perhaps most germane, he is a tremendous talent.
Best,
Maya Tepler
Alaric Diremyer
Adjunct Faculty at Columbia College Chicago
Simply put, Daniel Kayamba is one of the most, if not the most, promising filmmakers that I have had the pleasure to teach over the last 12 years. There are three things that make him such a uniquely promising artist:
1) Daniel possesses a unique style that is remarkably advanced considering that he is at the very beginning of his film education.
I had the pleasure of being Daniel's Cinema Notebooks instructor last semester and of seeing his aesthetic come into sharper focus with each project that he completed. What struck me most about Daniel's work was its mixture of originality, visual beauty, and conceptual clarity. I have taught many students who come up with an original idea for one project, who are very skilled cinematographers, or who demonstrate an impressively deep conceptual framework for their projects but none of my previous students has combined all three in quite the same way as Daniel. What's most impressive about this is that Daniel isn't marred by an inflated sense of self or an inclination to look down at the work of students who are much farther away from finding their own voice. I'm assuming that Daniel will submit most, if not all, of his projects from last semester because all four of his projects were creatively successful and aesthetically connected despite being very different from one another and being the product of increasing ambition from one to the next.
2) Daniel knows who is he and that is the source of his artistic strength.
This is another way of saying that Daniel is preternaturally mature and self-aware (in a good way). He has an uncanny ability to draw from his past, his heritage, his sense of style, and his thoughts about the world to come up with inspired ideas for projects. The work that he created last semester drew upon his African heritage, his fashion sense, his love of photography, his interest in social criticism, and his stunningly original eye for interesting compositions in ways that were consistently surprising in both their quality and the fact that they were being made in the first semester of his college experience.
3) Daniel is a generous collaborator who elevates the work of his peers rather than dominating over them.
To me, this is a very important point because it is exceedingly rare for a student that is as talented and aesthetically ambitious as Daniel to also be noticeably open to collaboration in a real way. For instance, Daniel was one of the co-directors of a short narrative film that was based on his original idea. During the making of this film, Daniel was always open to possibility that the idea for this film could be improved by his collaborators and this allowed for the film to be greatly enhanced by a harmonious and professional experience for the five student filmmakers and their two actors. I greatly respect Daniel for truly collaborating with his co-director Macy instead of dominating the experience because I have seen a similar co-directing situation go south too many times, particularly in a scenario where a male filmmaker ends up dominating the set and inadvertently undercutting their directing partner.
I may not be doing the best job of capturing my thoughts here so I want to make sure that my respect for Daniel in this area comes across clearly. It is very rare for a filmmaker of Daniel's capability and potential to be this open to learning from his classmates and the feedback he or she receives from their instructors. The reason this is so important is that this will allow Daniel to continue to evolve and deepen his style because he doesn't think that he already has everything figured out.