Fujifilm and Into the Fold Launch a new film ‘Down not Out’

Earlier this year Fujifilm commissioned director and cinematographer, Jake Polonsky, to make a film that would showcase their upcoming new camera, the XH2-S. Jake reached out to Dark Energy director, Caswell Coggins with a view to their directing the project together. Given a free hand to choose the film’s narrative, long-time friends Jake and Caswell realised it was an opportunity to make a film that could have a lasting impact. They wanted to make a film about mental health and decided on the Bi-Polar condition.

The film is made through Into the Fold a social impact agency of which Caswell is a founding partner and director.

Jake comment, ‘Our aim with this film was to attempt to find a way to show the experience of someone who is bipolar, highlighting the confusion of mood cycling by following a boxer who goes into the ring for a fight against a sequence of mysterious opponents. The hero’s progress through the fights depicts a series of highs and lows representing her hypomanic and depressed cycles. It was important to express the confusion that can be experienced through not knowing when you’re going to feel up or down or why. The different fighters are there to represent the circumstances that surround a bipolar sufferer when they are ‘up’ or ‘down’.

Caswell further notes, ‘Our goal is that the film will help people to understand the experience of Bipolar spectrum disorder either in themselves or in others. If they do go on to have a diagnosis, they will be able more easily to manage and understand it, helping sufferers or their loved ones find a way to navigate through it and get on with their lives without feeling at the mercy of something they don’t understand or have not yet recognised. By sharing the film, Bipolar UK are uniquely placed to get the film in front of the people who might benefit from it most.’

Simon Kitchen, Bipolar UK’s CEO says, ‘We can’t thank Fuji enough for this opportunity to collaborate with Caswell and Jake on this powerful film. It highlights how confusing, scary, relentless and intense it can be to live with bipolar before a diagnosis. Yet getting a diagnosis is taking too long. After first telling a doctor about symptoms of bipolar, it takes an average of 9.5 years to get an accurate diagnosis. As a charity we are calling for quicker diagnosis so that people can get the treatment, support and understanding they need to live well with the condition.’

The film was shot entirely on the new Fuji XH2-S Jake comments, ’The results we achieved with this small mirrorless camera were very impressive. I was particularly looking for decent latitude where the camera delivered performance that was easily on a par with rivals costing ten times its price or more. Sensitivity and colour reproduction were both excellent. For me the camera has clearly earned its stripes as one capable of delivering great looking moving images.’

The film features boxer Lesley Sackey, an ABA British Boxing champion and European gold medallist with all supporting cast being elite amateurs or professional boxers.

The directors conclude; ‘We had the usual challenges of getting everything we wanted done in a limited time….But perhaps hardest was trying to make the fighting look believable and brutal to camera. We were fortunate to have an excellent fight coordinator, Dan Styles, on board to help make everything really work for camera. As Lesley had her final amateur bout coming up a few weeks later it was particularly important that she didn’t actually get hurt! Another challenging aspect was trying to make sure that this metaphor landed effectively and clearly to open people’s eyes to the experience of those affected by the condition.’

The film goes live today and will be featured across the Fujifilm platforms and Bipolar UK social media platforms. It will be showcased at upcoming events that look to highlight and raise awareness of the condition.

You can view the film HERE

You can view stills HERE

About Jake Polonsky:

Jake is an award-winning cinematographer and director. As a DP, he graduated from working on 100s of commercials and music videos – picking up a CADS music video award on the way - into the world of film and television, where he has worked on varied projects including the first three seasons of Billions for Showtime with directors ranging from Reed Morano to Neil Burger and John Dahl.

He shot two Emmy winning episodes of Black Mirror, ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Bandersnatch’, as well as working on many other tv shows including The Great and Doctor Who. He recently completed work on The Sparks Brothers documentary for director Edgar Wright. Jake has extensive 2^nd unit credits on movies including The Mauritanian, The World’s End, Divergent and Enduring Love.

As a director Jake shot for Billions as well as making several acclaimed short films, including School of Life – winner of a British Independent Film Award – and another recent collaboration with Fujifilm, 2020 Vision, featuring poet Hussain Manawer.

He was elected a member of the British Society of Cinematographers in 2015.

About Caswell Coggins:

Caswell is an award-winning director, with a rich track record in directing film, TV advertising and branded content. He works for major brands including Hermes, Nat West, O’Neill, Walkers, Xbox, McDonalds, Shell, BBC, ITV and Sky.

An important dimension of Caswell’s work and equally significant for him, is a focus on filmmaking that addresses social and individual marginalisation. Here, his work has captured for the screen, inspirational, pioneering intervention projects involving, as examples, street children in Ethiopia, young adults with early-stage psychosis, and young people at risk of becoming involved with gangs and street crime.

His current passion is documenting the positive and lasting impact that amateur boxing clubs are having on both young boys and girls at such a formative stage of their lives.

About Into the Fold:

Into the Fold is a creative agency dedicated to showcasing inspiring stories of social transformation: Storytellers with a mission.

Using uniquely tailored film products and communication strategies,

we help companies to enhance their reputation by revealing the humanitarian dimension of their brand and the positive difference it is making in people’s lives.

If a company is doing something that is helping to make the world a better place, whether through its CSR programme, through honouring its brand values, like diversity, inclusion, or sustainability, or through their products or services themselves, Into the Fold tells their story.

Into the Fold is a team of creatives and creative strategists with a combined experience of over a century in advertising and marketing.

Into the Fold recognises the world is changing, and values matter as much as the bottom line.

Intothefold.org

About Bipolar UK:

About Bipolar UK

Bipolar UK is the only national charity dedicated to empowering individuals and families affected by bipolar.

Bipolar UK’s integrated service underpinned by peer support consists of:

• Peer Support Groups for people affected by bipolar, facilitated by trained and supported volunteers who have bipolar or experience of the condition
• A moderated eCommunity with over 11,000 active users
• One-to-one peer support provided by telephone and email
• Information and resources provided on our website which is accessed by almost 300,000 people a year
• A Mood Tracker App making it much easier to record your daily mood, medications, emotions and how much sleep you’ve had, allowing you to track your mood and sleep patterns over weeks and months, spot any early warning signs of a relapse and collect data to share with your family and healthcare team
• Bipolar UK empowers approximately 6,000 people per month to stay well and have the ambition to reach thousands more

Bipolar UK’s mission is to empower everyone affected by bipolar to live well and fulfil their potential.

For further info visit our website www.bipolaruk.org or email info@bipolaruk.org