The end of the school year often means the impending doom of exams and existential dread about post-graduation plans. For one UC Berkeley student, though, this time of year holds a different kind of significance: It’s film festival season.
Filmmaker and freshman Noam Rignault Clement’s most recent short film, “Little Things,” was selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Youth Works category — this marks the first time in the festival’s history that a short film in the category has crossed over into the general shorts category. The Daily Californian sat down with Clement to discuss the festival and his filmmaking process.
“SFFILM has always been present through my journey in film,” he said, explaining that, having grown up in the Bay Area, the festival was the natural choice for where to submit his work. “I submitted it as like a ‘why not?’” Clement explained. “This is the best thing that could possibly happen.”
For Clement, who has spent his life using creative expression to externally process internal struggles, this accomplishment is especially meaningful. “I just made (the) movies I wanted to see and I wanted to be part of,” he said.
As university students know, finding time for creative endeavors can be challenging. When asked how he manages to tackle both, Clement explained: “It’s definitely hard, but I just have my priorities set. I want to do film in the future, so I’m doing film now.”
Clement was quick to praise both the Film & Media department and his broader UC Berkeley education as vital to his creative development. “I’ve found lots of help in a Global Studies class I took last semester,” he noted, highlighting how learning about global history has shaped his production process: “(it) kind of seeped into my film I’m working on now.”
Outside his UC Berkeley education, Clement has found inspiration and influence in prominent contemporary directors. “(Wes Anderson) has got this very direct way of saying things,” he gushed. Clement also commended Taika Waititi and Jordan Peele for their immense creativity.
More than anything, Clement cited the bonds he has with the people in his life as his greatest source of creative inspiration. He remembered spending much of middle and high school making films with his friends, and said they became a space where he could collaboratively work out his ideas. With “Little Things,” Clement was faced with a project that he had to work through on his own. “It’s strange, because I don’t really have another person to bounce ideas off of,” he explained. “It’s kind of just everything in my own head.”
Though Clement was alone in the production process, he had a familiar face in front of the camera: his younger brother, Luca Rignault Clement, who portrays the short film’s protagonist, Leftie. When it came to working with his own family, Clement found it easier to give feedback and get the best performance out of his star. “It’s easier to give them notes in a way that you know won’t hurt them and in a way that you know will work with them,” Clement explained.
Filming the short with his brother helped give “Little Things” its uniquely therapeutic tone. Leftie’s inner monologue gives a voice to complex feelings, be it the fear of growing up too quickly or dread for the inevitable end to the good things in life. Through the process of developing the film, Clement reflected on his childhood with the balanced, wise perspective of a young adult.
In many ways, “Little Things” urges audiences to find their own versions of serenity each day. The film’s thesis — to “enjoy the little things in life” — is a call to action that Clement himself is still working on. When asked about what his own “little things in life” were, he took a second to determine his answer. “Of course I have some, but I just can’t think of them,” he said, agreeing that sometimes university life makes it easier to forget to find the “little things.”
Clement exemplifies the importance of taking time to notice and appreciate the things you care about. After taking a beat, Clement described Bay Area sunsets and the smell of chimney smoke after it rains as his “little things.” “I could just freeze in place and lose myself in that,” he said. “I feel like it brings me back to memories of my childhood.” Ultimately, your “little things” can be anything — the important part is remembering to look for them.