One of Goa’s perceptive cartoonists is now the subject of a documentary. Alexyz, who will be celebrating his birthday this month, will have the documentary screened on October 12 at Art Chamber - Galeria de Belas Artes, Calangute. It will showcase his work and his development as an artist through the ages.
The documentary has been made by a young Goan documentary maker Kurt Fernandes who is based in London. The inspiration behind the film for him was rooted at home. He says, “Alexyz has been a family friend of my father for a while now and the first time I met him was when he came over to wish me for my 19th birthday. He gave me a cartoon as a birthday present and I was quite intrigued and excited about it. We connected as friends back then and as my love and creativity for documentary filmmaking grew over the years, I started
to see his work in a more creative light too,” says Kurt.
A mutual respect was formed, and it just made sense to work on a project with him. “I have always wanted to tell real stories about real people and truly also connect with and learn through the people I work with and Alexyz seemed like the most colourful and interesting personality to make a documentary about. His work over the years speaks for itself and I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell his story and shed a light on some of the work he has done over the last 80 years. Having my documentary ‘Alexyz - A Multicoloured Cartoonist’ about Alexyz, get screened on October 12 for his ten day birthday celebration would be the cherry on the top,” he adds.
For the talented Kurt who is 25, making videos is something he has been doing for a long time. When he was 15, his father got him his first DSLR camera. Kurt says, “I would lock myself up in my room and constantly film and edit videos all day long in Goa. Back then I made videos about technology, gadgets, tutorials, and more. I managed to make some successful videos that went up on YouTube and managed to accumulate viewership. However, through this process, which obviously involved a lot of trial and error, I learned the art of video editing. Having a keen eye for how things looked visually and making sure I made it look as close to and perfect as how I envisioned it in my mind is what kept me going. This helped me in terms of the storytelling aspect of filmmaking and how I could structure and pace things too. As I grew up, my interests changed from technology to filmmaking, documentaries, and narrative work”.
Kurt says he started working with several different types of cameras, and his editing skill grew by leaps and bounds at the same time too. He has done a lot of creative work over the years, some of which went up on YouTube and some of which went up on other social media. He has always been truly passionate about creating media. Initially for university he decided to go ahead and do a course in Computer Science in the Netherlands and also as he realised that filmmaking might be a very volatile career to pursue. However, one year into his Computer Science degree he realised that he couldn't see himself coding twenty years down since it was not his passion. He switched to a filmmaking course at MetFilm School in London, during which he learned several aspects of film making, such as directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, and more.
He was quite worried about his future in filmmaking, and this pushed him to create as much as he could during the course. This helped him once he graduated film school and he managed to secure a full time job at The B1M. Currently, he films and edits documentaries for them. He has directed, filmed, and worked on several short films, feature films, music videos, social media content and documentaries, which have managed to accumulate a total viewership of 40+ million views on all platforms worldwide. “Alongside this, I try to stay creative and pursue my own goals as a filmmaker, and I see myself creating documentaries as I move forward,” says Kurt.
Asked about his future plans and if he intended to work in Goa, he says “I would love to make projects about Goa and all the beauty that its people and surroundings has to offer. Currently as I am based in London, I think I will be here for a while now but I do make trips back to Goa twice every year during which I spend my time filming moments with my family and friends. I would like to create more documentaries about other eminent figures in Goa as I am still very connected to the culture of the place and I would like to pioneer in helping put Goa out there on an international scale. I think I have the ability to do so and I will work tirelessly to make my future dreams become a reality”.
“At the moment I’ve sent ‘Alexyz - A Multicoloured Cartoonist’ to a couple of film festivals in India, it has become an official selection at the 11th Goa Short Film Festival and if it does well in the festival run and opens up opportunities in Bollywood, I am open to it too. I think it all depends on the type of work I continue to make moving forward as I have a lot of ideas for Indian based documentaries and international ones too. I want to experience as much as I can and tell interesting and intriguing stories,” informs Kurt.
One hopes this young man’s distinctive vision will attract the attention of the paying public.