In praise of Jordanna Moran

Emily Graham and Jordanna Moran

I like to think that there are lots of reasons why an audience should watch and
react to "I've Seen Angels", and I'm confident that they will.  However, if I
was pushed for a definitive answer, if there was one reason why I think people
should watch the film it's to witness the performance of Jordanna Moran as
Rebecca.
This young actress from West Wales has created a highly memorable performance
which has elevated the film rather than simply contributed to it.  This is
because she is, an an actress, incredibly creative, energetic, restless - she is
always searching, looking, discovering in each moment.  She is aware of the
simple truth of acting, and can create in the moment.  In this way she is
already an 'artist' rather than an actor - a creator rather than one who
replicates. Over half of what you see on screen is her - her words, her ideas,
her images.  She has tremendous trust, courage and enthusiasm, an an incredible
intuition and instinct for what she does. 
She first came to my attention playing Lady Macbeth in a Merlin Youth Theatre
production last summer - she has a capacity for creating a powerful intensity
in her work, and with that in mind I'd written the part of Rebecca for her -
still not really knowing if she could pull it off.  It's this ability she has for
playing in a negative register that's so impressed me - and she does it with
subtle touches and insights in each and every take.  Actresses like
Jordanna make directing the best job in the world.

At another level, directing is a rather shameful occupation.  It doesn't seem
to matter - it's not like being a doctor, or peacemaker, or teacher.  What am I
doing in this rehearsal space with these people pretending to be someone else?
Then one of them speaks their lines, moves and gestures with such truth and beauty
that I realise it's incredibly important - it creates wonder, light, understanding,
insights into what it means to be a human being.

When you direct a film, as the director you have a certain set of very
important responsibilities to your actors - to be honest, to let them
create, not to let them be bad, to have answers to their questions, to give them
permission to fail, to know what you want as a director.  However, there is
still in this process, this digital-technological construct and manipulation,
something fundamentally human and mysterious - John Cassavetes talked about
"...digging deeply into the way things are through people...to find the delicate
balance between living and dying...I think that's the only subject there is..."
There is a deficit of wonder in the world.  Jordanna's performance contains this
sense of wonder and mystery.  I don't really know how she does it, and even if I
did I wouldn't reveal its secrets.  I simply continue to wonder...