Dexter Moss - Film Student

In Episode four of the Inclusive Arts podcast UK, Elaine Foster-Gandey & Cassie Beckley interview Dexter Moss a film student at Ravensbourne University London who made a short film for the Hope project.

Dexter recommends the film, The Worst Person In The World.

[00:00:00] My name is Elaine Foster-Gandey. And in 2016, I enrolled on a master's at the university of Brighton studying inclusive arts. This course helped underpin my work as an arts practitioner coming from a long line of makers and having a career in the fashion industry for over three decades, working as a fashion stylist editor.

PR and setting up designer sales UK that ran for three decades. I was always interested in supporting young people, especially women, whether it was promoting marginalized fashion designers or setting up the real people catwalk show, where we gave voice to people of size, age, ethnicity, gender, and physical ability.

My work has always been about bringing visibility to individuals in groups who are not seen. What I want this podcast to do is to shine a light on projects and individuals who inspire with their work. I hope you enjoy them. And please do leave us a comment at the [00:01:00] end as this helps others to find us.

Today we are interviewing Dexter MOS, a film student currently studying at Ravens born university, London and Dexter made a short film for the hope project. Um, how are you doing today? Dexter? I'm good. I'm good. It's Elaine here. And. And Cassie. Hi. So I work with Cassie on Cassie's Sunday brunch show and, um, yeah, we're here interviewing dexo, which is quite exciting.

Do you wanna tell us a bit about your work Dexter? Yeah, so, um, so I'm a film student and a lot of my work is experimentation and stuff. I kind of approach it from like, Whatever kind of like expression, I wanna kind of feel and stuff. Yeah. I write a lot at the I'm writing a lot at the moment. I've got a lot of films up and coming in the summer, so I'm directing one next week, which would be very exciting.

My mate wrote. And it's just really about having fun [00:02:00] making films. Really? Yeah. Really. It's. Filmmaking and like essence of telling stories and stuff. I guess that's, what's important when you're a student is figuring out a voice and figuring out what works because you don't really doing what, you're something that makes you bored.

Do you at the moment, I'm kind of holding on the idea of whatever I'm, I'm getting enjoyment out of. I'm gonna go further into, do you think that that kind of cuz you are talking about, you know, you said, you know, we just filming me and my friends having fun. Do you think that that's sort of in a response to where we've been in these last few years?

Yeah, maybe I think definitely with COVID and stuff, it showed me like what I need to prioritize and like how times can change. Drastically so quickly. So it definitely made me reevaluate what I was aiming for then and what I'm gonna be aiming for now just to have a good time and like create stuff that I'm enjoying and spend it with people I care about.

I guess what I'm really loving at the moment is finding a [00:03:00] group of people that I feel like I can work with. And also just have a good time with a community, almost uplift friends that just create. I guess it's been a really weird experience over, COVID like almost impossible for a film student. Yeah, yeah.

With all the restrictions. Yeah. 100% just in foundation. I found it a lot harder to make those connections. Cause most of the year was aligned. So coming out of foundation, going into first year, living with people in my accommodation stuff, I found it a lot easier to yeah. Make these kind of like connections.

Do you think many people were, I mean, there were lots of people isolated, uh, in uni. Did you have to stay in your room or could, could you kind of go out a bit and sort of meet others? Yeah. So. Last year, I was living in a flat of my brother in London bridge. So it wasn't as regulated as I know people had stayed in student accommodation and I didn't, I wasn't in student accommodation [00:04:00] for the whole, for any of the lockdown.

So I don't actually, I never experienced any kind of like strict regulation. And then like we, couldn't not leaving and stuff, but I know people that lived in the accommodation last year that I'm in now couldn't have any parties. They couldn't. Go into each other's rooms on a certain period of time. Um, I know that definitely was a lot more strict.

Yeah. Difficult times. Hasn't it. It's been very difficult times. So talk about the hope project. I was gonna say, I mean, it, it would sounds strange if I said so how did you hear about the hope project that Dexter? Cuz I actually invited Dex to, to get involved in the hope project because I was teaching at Sacville school and Dexter.

Was the student there, but do you wanna just tell us a bit about the, the beginnings of that? Well, I remember I was actually in a hot tub when you called me Elaine about the first at the first, like. Cool about the whole project. Very nice. Very good. [00:05:00] Yeah. We were on the phone for like 30 minutes and it really intrigued me.

I think it was mainly my, my main, like intrigue to the thing was working with you. And also my, one of my mates Eve, but also working. Just these different communities and stuff. I really, I found it really fascinating just to be able to like speak to these people that I wouldn't have normally had, have an opportunity to like understand really.

And even to like interview them and to spend quality time with them. It really got me excited. So you made a short film for the project. What kind of film was it that you made? It was like almost there was interviews in there. I dunno the exact name for it, but there were interviews in there and there were, it just showed what was going on in the workshops and stuff.

It was mainly just like a video of hope. Almost like to go along with the exhibition. Just so a video that carried the message of the [00:06:00] exhibition, I guess. Yeah. What did you find most challenging about it? I found at first it was, I think, first. Getting to know the ladies because they come, they come from such a different world to that.

I know. And it was finding like a common ground and someone, their trust found that hard, but at the same easy, like, it felt kind of. Natural. The ladies were so lovely. So it found, I found it quite, it just quite a nice feeling to get to know these women, but cause I'd never done documental interview anyone before.

I think it was breaking that initial trust down and like getting to a point where they felt open enough to talk to me. So the two groups that we worked with was the Leese ladies group and, um, women from refuge. There was a time when, especially in lockdown, there [00:07:00] was a, a rise of women, domestic abuse. So it was.

You know, quite a sensitive project in that respect, because I knew I knew you Dex. So I, I could see that you would be very good in the project because you have got a very warm nature and an easy personality just to, just to add that context in. Yeah. I. I didn't want to, um, I knew it was quite a sensitive topic and like what a lot of these women had been through.

So I didn't, that was also another challenging thing. I didn't know where it was going into end. I need to know where I stood. I didn't liked having almost knowing where I stand with people and it. Hard to know exactly what I could say and stuff to begin with. And then as besides gain trust, it was a little bit easier to gauge what I could say and what I could ask and stuff.

Do you think it's something you'd like to, um, incorporate into what you are doing at the [00:08:00] moment, um, in your studies, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Um, I've actually just signed. I've actually just, um, moving on to the second part second year of my course, we have to, um, choose our, these electives. So it's like specific subjects we wanted to.

Year and documentary was my top choice. Cause I really found it really interesting and taking that from the hope dress, um, project. I knew I definitely enjoyed that and researching stuff and actually like going into these mainly into like communities and stuff. I really wanna go do that more. I find it really fascinating.

That's interesting. Cuz that was gonna be my question. My next question was your takeaway from the project, you know what you got from it, what you gained from the project. Yeah, I think it's. I gained on being a filmmaker and like what I [00:09:00] could take away from it from practical level, like what I can expanding on my like practice, I guess, cause of stuff.

It was stuff I never done before, but also I took a lot from it, from like a spiritual, but also on like a mental level, I guess. Cause. There was something quite, it was, it was just a lovely group of people and a lovely, lovely project and a lovely environment to be around. Cause everyone's very human, I guess.

And just talking to people, getting to ask questions, I couldn't normally have to ask and stuff. I dunno. Getting to know different people. I took. Openness away from it, I guess. And even talking to you, Elaine, about the car rides back from made stone and stuff just took endless conversation as you would have.

It was very, very, like just nice and very positive projects, I guess. Yeah, it was in, because on the, on the journey there, we sort of did a. [00:10:00] Well, it was, I suppose it was a sort of meeting in the car. Wasn't it? We used to sort of have a discussion about what we were gonna be doing, the groups that we were meeting and the confidentiality, you know, these meetings sort of happened as we journeyed.

To the spaces and, um, yeah, you were very much there on the ground and filming lots of different activities in the workshops that we were involved in. So yeah, you were involved really very much with a lot of the workshops and then you also came and got involved in some performance work. So you've sort of come as a filmmaker, but you also became a sort of participant in terms of a performer.

Yeah. So, how did you feel kind of all of that, you know, what, what was takeaway from all of that? Did that, uh, have you, did it inspire you, did it sort of inspired anything you'd been doing lately? It definitely, I wasn't. I didn't doing any performance into. [00:11:00] But it was really when you off, when you said, when we present it, can you come?

You say a few words and stuff. When we went to the popular works exhibition, we put it up there. I really enjoyed it. It was just nice to be able to like, do something. I didn't know. And it was nice knowing these people around me and stuff. They're here to see something that I'm really proud of, I guess.

And it was nice to present it in a way that was. I feel like gave it like this light. It just made me proud of the project more. I guess it's really nice. It sort of adds another dimension, I guess, to each of your projects. Yeah. Because there's the film that you bring into the hope project and there's the experience in.

Like interviewing skills and performance that you get from being involved with the project. So, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Well, it's good to hear. I mean, it's good. Just good to hear kind of, uh, these podcasts are just an opportunity just to kind of find out more about you. I mean, I know stuff, we know stuff about you.

Well, I know stuff about you, Cassie, doesn't so [00:12:00] much. And also just to find out really? Yeah. The takeaway from the hope project and, um, what you got from it, you know, so it's good to hear. Will you be working together in the future? Good question. Hopefully. Yeah. I mean, it's sounds to Elaine. I, I want hunter would work in Elaine again, like it's very, it's really a nice working environment and it should have me again.

I'll definitely work. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, it's always great to have someone who can film and also the fact that you collaborate, you are happy to kind of get involved in other areas, cuz you know, even to the point where we were in my studio and we had to take the actual, this huge. Like 12 foot dress and we had to take it down off the, the, the actual loom and Dexter was there with his brother, Christian and Eve, and lots of the people that were part of the project, all the assistant.

And, um, it was great fun. Wasn't it? We managed to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I think that. You know, [00:13:00] your, your ability just to get involved is great. And, um, I think that's a really great asset to have, and it was a great asset to have on the project. So thank you so much. Yeah. I also think your ability, Elaine, your ability to get people involved and just to ask is really helpful and good.

I like, not that many. I feel like it's just a really nice thing to be asked to do. And. Like trust, like where there's that trust now? And like for you to be able to ask this ex student of yours to do this, to kinda place responsibility on my shoulders. And it's nice. Nice to know you that there's that responsibility that I guess, thank you for getting me involved in stuff.

Yeah, you're welcome. I think I was just gonna end with something like tell us a filmmaker that you really inspires you. That is. It always, always changing. Yeah. Well, film I watched recently, I haven't seen much of his other work, but [00:14:00] I watched films with the worst person in the world and, um, sounds fun.

yeah. and it's, there's a film based in Oslo and it's, it's just an amazing film and that's probably one of my favorite films I've watched recently or probably one of my favorite films ever. I really recommend it. It built out to me like groundbreaking and like. I learned a lot from that film. Thanks, Dexter.

Great to speak to you. And, uh, yeah. Thank you. Go well, thank you for having me.