BAIT – Mark Jenkin

Hailed as “one of the defining British films of the decade” by the Guardian, Bait examines class and globalisation against the backdrop of a picturesque Cornish fishing village. A breakout hit of 2019, Bait is an extraordinary film that offers an exacting sense of place whilst tackling entirely universal themes.

Bait returns to Australian shores via the ACMI as part of the UK/Australia Season. The major cultural exchange between Australia and the United Kingdom.

The programme is a celebration of the diversity of cultures and languages in both countries. With artists, thought leaders and academics from the UK and Australia collaborating to create a diverse programme of panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, theatre, film, dance, design, architecture, music, literature, higher education and public engagement, exploring the question ‘Who Are We Now?

So what is it about Bait that is so alluring?

• Well it’s shot on 16mm film
• It is shot as a silent film. Meaning “every single sound is post-synced.”
• The frame rate is at the whim of a temperamental camera from 1976 enhancing the nostalgically analogue technical production.
• Dialogue was added via lip-reading, as Jenkins’ explains to interviewer Mark Kermode in the BFI Q & A session below.

Listening to Jenkin’s process you begin to understand why he was drawn to this form of filmmaking for Bait. The very act of touching each reel of film himself and being able to recognise when he wore a woolly jumper by fibres on the film. This is something we adore and recognise as the mark of a creative mind.

Carolyn Gregoire says in her article, 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently, “Creative people tend to be intrinsically motivated — meaning that they’re motivated to act from some internal desire, rather than a desire for external reward or recognition. Psychologists have shown that creative people are energized by challenging activities, a sign of intrinsic motivation, and the research suggests that simply thinking of intrinsic reasons to perform an activity may be enough to boost creativity.

The boundaries self-imposed on the filmmaking process by Jenkin himself unleashed the creativity that won him a 2020 BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

Sydney Film Festival had this to say of Bait, “Shooting in black-and-white with a spring-wound 16mm Bolex and processing the film himself, Jenkin’s work defies easy categorisation. The formally composed and classically edited imagery invoke Soviet silent cinema. Post-synch dialogue and stylised performances hark back to British educational films and kitchen sink dramas of the ’50s and ’60s. Its atmosphere of simmering violence is reminiscent of Straw Dogs (1974). Yet for all its intoxicating retro trappings Bait is urgently and powerfully modern, especially in the context of Brexit.”

What: Bait by Mark Jenkins

Where: ACMI and ACMI online from 1st January – 28th February 2022.

Stay up to date with screenings: www.ukaustraliaseason.com