Rebecca E Marshall: Biography
FILMMAKING APPROACH
My practice through the last twenty years blends deep observation with storytelling. I film every day, paying close attention to the details of daily life; people, light and landscapes. My camera lens helps me see what emerges with this slower type of looking. I return to uncertainty as a starting point. It is a quiet, personal rebellion – to look after the things I see in the way I can, and to protect my sensitivity. I draw from this filmic sketchbook for my projects.
My films have screened at festivals including Thessaloniki Doc fest, Locarno, Creteil International Women’s f/f, Kerala f/f, Berlin Short f/f, London Independent Documentary F/F, Kasseler Dok Fest, Les Enfants Terribles! f/f and venues including The Royal Danish Academy, the NFT, The Roundhouse, The Arnolfini, Musee Du Louvre, The South London Gallery, Glasgow Tramway, De La Warr Pavilion, and The BlackShed Gallery.
MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE AND FILMMAKING
I was awarded a scholarship for a PhD in film by practice, with Exeter University and The London Film School.
Completing this in 2022, my thesis is a study of Michel De Montaigne. I fell in love with the essays of this 16th-Century humanist philosopher because his thoughts offer a sense of huge familiarity even after 500 years; his observations move fluidly between grand moments and everyday textures with humour, honesty, lightness of touch and deep attention.
His experience of time is felt deeply through external observations of the world, as well as internal bodily sensations.
You can read about this in my Journal of Light and Motion.
Through my study of Montaigne, I developed a filmmaking methodology applied to my filmmaking practice and teaching.
TEACHING
In workshop settings, I support new and experienced filmmakers and visual artists to use their phones as a creative tool. We explore possibilities for practising deep looking, for creative expression and staying playful.
I am a visiting lecturer for the MA documentary department at The London Film School, holding workshops to facilitate creative thinking and poetic storytelling in short-form documentary filmmaking.
CURATING CINEMA
I have always loved films and moving image in all their forms. In 2001, I co-founded The Electric Palace Cinema in my hometown of Hastings with Rachel Pearson.
For over twenty years, alongside my filmmaking practice, I co-directed the cinema, curating a year-round programme. Together we forged an independent space for lovers of film and filmmaking, before handing it over to a new generation of cinefiles in 2023.