Photo: Dani Yannoulis
Narrative Practice Consultation for Creative Projects
I’m dedicated to supporting artists, creatives and educators in articulating their visions in ways that can be shared with clarity and can withstand the various challenges that arise in the process of transforming ideas and experience into expressions and projects that shine light on topics and themes in unique, ethical and influential ways. I'm particularly interested in how we can support people engaged in creative projects to work with sensitive topics and issues in ways that sustain well-being and mental health care for all involved in the process.
Individual
The sessions I offer are uniquely designed for artists, filmmakers, creatives and educators based on my experience and knowledge as a narrative therapist, trauma specialist, film participant and film consultant. Whilst my practice has roots in therapy these sessions are not therapy. Although the effects may be indeed therapeutic!
These sessions can be both a wide starting discussion to identify and articulate what needs to be explored in detail or alternatively can be focused in on one specific area. It is not important for me to understand or know about the project in advance (unless you feel it is important to send me material before hand). The focus is what is most present or important for you to speak about and then the conversation can develop from this starting point.
People who have attended these sessions frequently share that they value the way these conversations assist them in both articulating their local personal vision and approach whilst bringing into sharper focus how their work is situated in the wider cultural, political and social spheres.
These sessions can be both a wide starting discussion to identify and articulate what needs to be explored in detail or alternatively can be focused in on one specific area. It is not important for me to understand or know about the project in advance (unless you feel it is important to send me material before hand). The focus is what is most present or important for you to speak about and then the conversation can develop from this starting point.
People who have attended these sessions frequently share that they value the way these conversations assist them in both articulating their local personal vision and approach whilst bringing into sharper focus how their work is situated in the wider cultural, political and social spheres.
"Some of the sessions I have had with Poh Lin felt like co-writing a piece of poetry about yourself, your experiences or your work. You have words, images, sensations, fears, doubts - and through a distinct and focused line of questioning - Poh Lin moves with you through these until you arrive at a clear and tangible understanding.
Poh Lin does not use her distinct line of questioning to just find an answer. The questions themselves are inviting you to view your project and experience of self in a way that you may never have considered before. This line of questioning takes you to a place of imagination, bodily sensations, metaphors and dreams.
Poh Lin is inviting you to see your work with kaleidoscopic glasses so that you might step away from what is known and into the unknown. It is here that you discover all the intricacies of your approach, your work, own life story or ideas that may not have been visible before."
Gabrielle, filmmaker www.gabrielle-brady.com
Poh Lin does not use her distinct line of questioning to just find an answer. The questions themselves are inviting you to view your project and experience of self in a way that you may never have considered before. This line of questioning takes you to a place of imagination, bodily sensations, metaphors and dreams.
Poh Lin is inviting you to see your work with kaleidoscopic glasses so that you might step away from what is known and into the unknown. It is here that you discover all the intricacies of your approach, your work, own life story or ideas that may not have been visible before."
Gabrielle, filmmaker www.gabrielle-brady.com
Workshops
I offer workshops that are developed to bring together people engaged in creative processes around specific topics and themes. This started with a two day workshop that focuses on people exploring, clarifying and at times renegotiating the type of relationship they have with their project.
I notice when doing this workshop that in the exploration of the relationship people experience some distance and space to appreciate and notice the project from alternative perspectives which quickly highlights what is working well, where the gaps are and the clunky points that require closer inspection and creative crafting to enable movement and progress as defined by the person.
It is like - instead of taking the well known direct route when talking about the project the exercises and facilitation offer the opportunity to take the scenic route, the less well travelled roads and in this creating the possibility to uncover relationships, know-how and innovative paths.
The workshop I offer on creative identity is designed specifically to create an alternative space from which creative identity can be deconstructed and separated from dominant neo-liberal ideas about efficiency, productivity and commercial viability. Simply put it is designed to assist people in articulating and reclaiming their own preference in relation to creative identity to further support the creative processes they are engaged in.
I notice when doing this workshop that in the exploration of the relationship people experience some distance and space to appreciate and notice the project from alternative perspectives which quickly highlights what is working well, where the gaps are and the clunky points that require closer inspection and creative crafting to enable movement and progress as defined by the person.
It is like - instead of taking the well known direct route when talking about the project the exercises and facilitation offer the opportunity to take the scenic route, the less well travelled roads and in this creating the possibility to uncover relationships, know-how and innovative paths.
The workshop I offer on creative identity is designed specifically to create an alternative space from which creative identity can be deconstructed and separated from dominant neo-liberal ideas about efficiency, productivity and commercial viability. Simply put it is designed to assist people in articulating and reclaiming their own preference in relation to creative identity to further support the creative processes they are engaged in.
“The workshop was a beautifully bonding experience. Using metaphors felt very freeing and made me experience how much easier it is to share something intimate through images and metaphors rather than trying to describe the feelings.
It made me think of how maybe that was the reason I decided to make films in the first place.
I became aware of how the constant attempt to decode images and metaphors into feelings, to quickly grab hold of their meaning can cause a blockage and make me unable to stay open in imagining. During the different exercises, it became clear that staying on the metaphor and remaining playful with the imagination can keep the flow going.”
Antonello, filmmaker, https://plattform.dokomotive.com/autor/antonello-scarpelli
It made me think of how maybe that was the reason I decided to make films in the first place.
I became aware of how the constant attempt to decode images and metaphors into feelings, to quickly grab hold of their meaning can cause a blockage and make me unable to stay open in imagining. During the different exercises, it became clear that staying on the metaphor and remaining playful with the imagination can keep the flow going.”
Antonello, filmmaker, https://plattform.dokomotive.com/autor/antonello-scarpelli
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Belongings: A photographic exploration of Surti family heirlooms
This project brings together a collection of stories told through family heirlooms in Surat, India. The participants generously shared with me their heirlooms. Each one — from an entire house, to small and delicate pieces of jewellery — was rich and diverse. The objects shone with memory and emotional connection. Some were kept out of love while others were kept through duty and obligation. The participants spoke about keeping their heirlooms to evoke memory, preserve a story, or represent a precious moment in time. The process of undertaking the photoshoots, and receiving the stories, was a delicate exercise in listening. While the outcome honours the individuals who are featured in the project, the photos and stories do more than shine a light on the participant’s personal journeys in Surat. Each object, significant in its own right, reveals the participants’ connection to their ancestors, and suggests a subtle connection between the present and the past.
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Solange sie noch arme haben
As long as you still have arms "The 1980s of the GDR - the group around the puppeteer Frank is arrested for distributing pacifist pamphlets...Different truths and memories stand side by side. The focus is on a person who tries to never act out of a position of victim and shows his personal approach to the dictatorship of the GDR." Hofer-filmtage trailer |
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Fortschritt im Tal der Ahnungslosen
Progress in the Valley of the People Who Don't Know "One of the most original, funny and at the same time melancholic films of the Berlinale 2019" Andrea D’Addio - Goethe Institut |
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Foreign Body
“A truthful tender story of reclaiming the body after abuse. A beautiful and brave piece.... strikingly simple…. one of the most truthful explorations of the subject…. restrained direction... a stunning soundtrack… this show will only continue to grow and charge people with the courage to speak out.” Hiive |
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Island of the Hungry Ghosts
“The best documentary award goes to a film that demonstrates extraordinary mastery of the full symphonic range of cinematic tools: cinematography, editing, score, sound design and, perhaps greatest of all, an exquisite use of metaphor. To a film that moved us deeply, impressed us immensely and made us feel we were witnessing nothing less than the emergence, fully formed, of a major new cinematic talent." Tribeca Jury |
What filmmakers/creatives/educators say...
"...(Poh) is one of the most extraordinary guides in my creative and inner work. She helped me overcome some major hurdles with Foreign Body, encouraging my vision for it and enabling me to take it to a wider audience than I'd dared to imagine ...” Imogen Butler Cole, Theatre maker, business trainer, public speaker and activist www.imogenbutler-cole.co.uk/
"At the end of the project Poh Lin carried out a long interview about the process of making the film which helped to connect the dots and reflect the events of a three year working process. It not only built the foundation for writing the synopsis and director's statement, but also helped me to arrive at a deeper understanding of the decisions and learnings I made along the way and how they are both part of my own biography and wider socio-cultural and historical context." Florian Kunert, filmmaker www.floriankunert.com
“...Poh helped me overcome some of the creative hurdles I was struggling with during the development of my project....after each session I would find a deeper sense of clarity in my artistic voice and left feeling creatively inspired and motivated...” Abby Dunn, Filmmaker
'”...These sessions with Poh Lin help to open up a powerful and supportive space for navigating and grounding one's practice, methods and intentions, and explores how these elements may sit in relation to your personal and professional narratives…” Brigitte Hart, sound artist & vocalist www.brigittehart.com
"...Poh Lin's contribution to the project was invaluable. At a point where the creative process had derailed we identified the emotional disconnect causing the problem and explored the options to get the documentary back on track. She immediately understood the heart of the film - the story we were trying to tell - and helped to arrive at some very practical suggestions to move forward..." Eddie Narain, filmmaker
"I worked with Poh Lin while experiencing a creative block in my culinary work. I was very unsure about how her approach could help me but I was taken aback by the whole process...her questions and angles drew from me what was always there but had been squashed by months of business pressure and self doubt...it not only shifted this specific block but also brought to light some internal ideas I was holding around my own capabilities that, once recognised I was able to step away from and move forward with confidence. An incredibly positive outcome." Jade, chocolatier and business owner wawachocolatier.com
"I had already had the premiere of the film and it had been showing at festivals for some months, so I felt it had come around a full circle in terms of the process of making the film. But then I engaged with Poh Lin for a full day session and realised I hadn’t finished the project at all! This one day immersive session with Poh Lin allowed me to look at the film in a completely unexpected way that was not connected to industry standards, but rather my very own personal experience. Poh Lin used a series of exercises that used metaphors, rituals, visualisations and unique questioning so that I was able to reconnect to the journey I had in making the film. From this I was clearly able to see how I had grown as a director during the process, but also to see what difficult parts of the process I was ready to shed so that I may begin embarking on my next film idea. Seeing the film through symbolism and visualisation I was able to experience the core beauty of what I had been able to create in collaboration with others. It helped me immensely to move away from the self critic that had been preventing me from connecting to my imagination so that I could be so much more free and loose and ready to explore the early ideas of my next film, without stopping myself every second thought!" Gabrielle, filmmaker www.gabrielle-brady.com