Artist and film maker from Radford Semele recognised for her work at international film festival

Her film project has also been been listed as an official selection at the Montreal Independent Film Festival
Sioda Adams has won an award for her film. Photo suppliedSioda Adams has won an award for her film. Photo supplied
Sioda Adams has won an award for her film. Photo supplied

An artist and film maker from Radford Semele has been recognised for her work at an international film festival.

Sioda Adams has been a freelance artist working in dance and physical theatre for 18 years and launched her own company Earth-bound in 2016, making multi media performance for festivals and outdoor events.

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The 39-year-old's short film project titled ‘Give me a minute’ won an award at the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival.

Her film project has also been been listed as an official selection at the Montreal Independent Film Festival.

Sioda said: "I’ve been making films only in this past year, during the pandemic. I have choreographed for films prior to this but I’ve never made any of my own until now

"The films were shot, written, produced and directed by me in and around Radford Semele on a Digital SLR, with camera assistance from my husband Richard Adams.

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"'Give me a minute’ was created on a small budget from the Surf The Wave Recovery fund, awarded in April 2020.

The promotional image for Sioda's film. Image design by Sarah Dekany at DekanyDesignThe promotional image for Sioda's film. Image design by Sarah Dekany at DekanyDesign
The promotional image for Sioda's film. Image design by Sarah Dekany at DekanyDesign

"Film editing was by Yorkshire based filmmaker Wayne Sables and I received sound composition/production assistance from N.Ireland based, Emmy nominated composer and BBC Radio 3 presenter Hannah Peel."

Speaking about the ideas behind 'Give me a minute', Sioda said: "The films are a development of a solo theatre show I began working on in February 2020 called ’Shut Up And Listen’ which focuses on giving a voice to those who often feel unheard, not listened to or even ignored.

"It takes a humorous approach to looking at introverted personality types and comments on the pressures and expectation of individuals to be more extrovert, aggressive and competitive, in order to be recognised, taken seriously or rewarded.

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"Then there are the additional challenges of being a woman and a mother, trying to survive in a world that rewards predominantly male extroverts.

"So when the pandemic hit, I continued my journey of research and development and decided I wanted to make 10 short, one minute films to reflect the challenges of being an introverted woman and mother and give an intimate insight into the mind and heart of one woman, who finds small moments of solace, in one (stolen) minute of time to dream and move, voice and express, all that she’s going through, focusing on what’s often unsaid and difficult to express through usual conversation.

"Motherhood in particular is often presented with a rose tinted filter and that can make anyone struggling emotionally and mentally, feel very isolated, especially as an introvert.

"I’m also finding, as I get older that womanhood is becoming even more complex and no one really talks about that either.

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"Give Me A Minute’ is phase two of a bigger project - the next phase being to place these films and others that I’ve been making this past year, into live performance experiences, for non-conventional theatre settings, aiming to reach the general public and give them something to be inspired by, as we come out of our lockdown lives."

When asked how it felt to win the award, Sioda said: "I put my heart and soul into these films, from the performance, the poetry I wrote, vocals I created, to the storyboarding and detailed direction of each second of each film, so, although I am brand new to the film industry and still feel fairly clueless to how it all works, I feel really pleased and proud to be recognised internationally in this way, and particularly on a platform that aims to raise women’s voices.

"I’m so excited about this pivot in my career and how making these films has allowed me to express my creative voice more wholly, already leading to new career opportunities and new commissions.

"I’m excited to see where my new passion for filmmaking takes me next.

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"What I love about making film, that is different to live performance, is that you’re able to make more magic happen.

"As a theatre/dance maker I sometimes struggled to bring to life the creative vision in my head, but in film, that’s achievable and you can make almost anything happen.

"I find that really exciting and inspiring both as a maker and as an audience member."

Sioda's project has also led to more commissions including; ‘Ripples Of Change’ commissioned by Pentabus Theatre and Heritage and Culture Warwickshire for Culture Central’s #ItGetsLighterFromHere campaign and ‘From My House To Yours’ a community film project, commissioned by Live and Local’s Living Room Project.

For more information about Sioda and her work go to: https://earth-bound.co.uk/

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