Q&A with a 14-Year-Old Film Director

Two years in the making, Isaiah Bischoff’s summer camp documentary is hitting the silver screen.

by

14-year-old Isaiah Bischoff isn’t rolling out the red carpet for the premiere of his documentary, All in the Circle. But he is hosting its premieres this week at the Riverview Theater with the help of In the Heart of the Beast puppets, Tiyumba Dance’s African drumming and dancing, and Native American storytelling by Dakota elder Bob Kalnderud, who is featured in the film.

Originally, Isaiah’s film project was imagined as a highlight reel of Minneapolis arts and nature summer camp All in the Circle, put on by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light. But camp director Erin Pratt asked Bischoff if he was interested in working with film professional David Howell to create something bigger. The pair filmed during the 2015 summer camp, and spent the next two years producing, editing, and bringing their cinematic vision to life.

Before the big night, Bischoff talked with us about the camp, film editing, and why he loves documentaries.

You were interested in filming this camp even before the documentary idea came up. Why?

I liked the message of be kind, love nature, and care about the earth. Hopefully the camp will help the kids eventually care about climate change.

What do you hope viewers get out of your film?

I hope that when people watch All in the Circle, they learn about the philosophy behind the camp. I hope people want to donate to the camp after they watch the film. Because that’s part of the goal of the documentary, that Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light can use it to help promote the camp and give it a permanent location, more funding for it, because they don’t have a permanent location now. [It has taken place at various Twin Cities parks, including Theodore Wirth.] I just want people to learn about the camp and its story.

Working with David Howell, what you learn about the filmmaking process?

I learned a lot while filming the interviews and the camp and even more about the editing process just after the film was done. For me what was most surprising was how long it took to make it into a cohesive kind of piece that we could show. We had several editors because we had so much footage.

This may be your first full-length film, but you’ve made a number of other videos.

I’ve always been interested in making movies. I used to make short videos, fun movies with my dad, and I always liked the process. When I started making videos on my own, they were just for fun. Some of them were for our friends or family. I’ve filmed a couple of live events where I just film it and give the footage, but I’ve also edited some short commercials and smaller pieces about people’s businesses.

What draws you to filmmaking? To documentaries?

I like capturing something and trying to tell a story. That’s one thing I like about documentaries like All in the Circle. It’s a real story and real people, and you get to meet people. I like that you get to experience something and also capture it for others. There are a couple of moments that I really like in All in the Circle, where we moved our focus from the interviews to having moment play out as it happened.

With this film, you’ve helped film, edit, produce, and promote—it’s a lot. For other youth just getting started in filmmaking, do you have any words of advice?

Just get started. The first projects don’t necessarily have to be great. It’s just important to start doing it and keep doing it, and you’ll get better.

All in the Circle Premiere. May 18, 7 p.m., Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Ave. S, Mpls., mnipl.org.