The Bridge is a film made by Virtual Extreme Youth Media CIC, based in the Jewellery Quarter, to raise awareness around mental health.
More info via Screen WM.
Film
If you’re interested in making a music video – be you musician/band or filmmaker – then keep an eye on the 2Weeks 2Make It website and/or if you’re on Twitter then watch @2weeksbrum like the proverbial hawk.
An article on the Guardian’s film blog has asked:
Can Birmingham’s eclectic lucky dip of a festival help rejuvenate its Digbeth base?
That festival being Flatpack. Now, I was always told that if the title of a newspaper article asks a question then the answer is most likely ‘no’. In this case, the answer given is revealed to be more like ‘well, first of all Digbeth needs a cash machine, some residents, public transport, a post office and some street lighting’. Which is fair enough.
Hanging the cultural hopes of an entire area on one annual festival (no matter how good) was a bit of a reach anyway.
On another matter, two parts of the article jumped out:
Amazingly, points out George Clark, a curator who put together Flatpack’s Build Them in the Mind programme of short films, Birmingham still lacks a proper arthouse cinema. This in England’s second-largest city.
Which is true but needs tallying against Ian Francis saying:
“I hate it when people say Birmingham is apathetic” about film and culture, he says. “The interest is there”
Which is also true.
That there’s only one independent cinema in Birmingham is a bit of a shocker, but mac reopens soon and don’t forget the Light House is only just up the road.
Even better, there are quite a few people getting off their backsides to put films on away from the multiplexes. Film nights are rife – off the top of my head there’s Moving Pictures, Juniper Cinema, Kino Concrete, Filmrats, Popcorn, the Animation Forum events, BIFS, Screen Sunday at The Plough and occasional things at The Sunflower Lounge. Those are just the ones I can remember, too. Pretty much all of those are in pubs, which isn’t always going to be ideal and they’re unlikely to show the latest releases, but I think Ian’s right about apathy not being the problem.
Pogus Caesar’s film ‘Muscleback’ surfaced on the Wooster Collective‘s site the other day. I’m not going to feign understanding but I did watch for the whole 6-ish minutes:
Via the Wooster Collective.
Multi-coloured lines are starting to appear all over the place. That’s Ikon Eastside above. They’ve got plenty of things happening there. Check out the rest of the schedule too and cop some tickets.
Other folks have written about what to see:
- Digbeth is Good – A notice for fans of Irish film, literature and that
- More Canals Than Venice – Music docs at Flatpack, More reasons to get excited about Flatpack
That’s ‘sting’ with a small ‘s’. See below.
I’ve not had much of a chance to check out the Flatpack Festival schedule yet. All I know is that it will be superb and will be worth attending to the fullest possible extent.
For example, the first thing I’ve looked at is a talk by Barry Purves:
Barry has animated and directed many prominent television series such as The Wind in the Willows, Rupert Bear, Bob the Builder and worked on feature films like Mars Attacks and King Kong. His own, often controversial, animated films have won over sixty major international awards and received OSCAR and BAFTA nominations
Which sounds ruddy impressive and interesting to me.
Also, just up on the Flatpack blog is the little sting that’ll be featured between screenings. It was animated by David Mourato, uses an original design and sound editing by Dave Gaskarth and Birmingham City University‘s Visual Communication department were involved in some way too.
This is one of my projects, so please excuse.
In 2008 I organised a 48-hour film competition. It went well, especially considering it was put together on zero budget and six weeks notice. Now…
Film Dash is back!
It’ll happen over the weekend of 5-7 March 2010. Here’s the deal:
Write, cast, shoot, and edit a short film in 48 hours. If you’ve got a camera – even one on a mobile phone –
you’ve got all you need to make a film. You don’t need any experience to join in with Film Dash and it’s FREE to enter.This year’s theme is ‘happiness’, so get thinking; what makes you happy? But remember – you’ll be given a prop, a character, or even a line of dialogue to include in your film, so don’t have too much prepared!
Also: Prizes! Judges! The chance for your film to be shown all over the place!
You can get info and updates on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to Film Dash on YouTube to see the films as they’re produced.
Here’s the poster, designed by the good people of Supercool:
And here’s the winning entry from 2008 – Dunkirk by Team TTV.
Dunkirk from Pete Ashton on Vimeo.
I’ve been hoping this would surface online somewhere. For Capsule’s 10th birthday Film Ficciones created a little celebratory film. I’ve seen it a few times now and I’m pretty sure I’ll watch it a few more cos it’s great.
Right, blimey. Seems the free tickets to see Amelie were popular. So much so that they’ve all gone now. Sorry if you missed out but hark, there is good news!
There’s a couple of other film showings earlier in the day with 65 or so tickets left for each. Those filums are:
- 2.30pm – Twenty Four Seven
- 4.30pm – Big Fish
The date is Thurs 28 Jan, the venue is The Electric and the people to thank are those at The Bullring. To grab yourself a ticket you’ll need to RSVP to holly.ryland-jones@bullring.co.uk and say which film you want to see.
Incidentally, thanks to Jez Turner who suggested Twenty Four Seven when I was asking around for suggestions for feelgood films.
A new work by seminal filmmaker John Akomfrah will go on show at The Public January 2010 as part of Made in England, a partnership initiative developed by Arts Council England and BBC English Regions.
Akomfrah was given access to the BBC’s television, film and sound archives for Made in England, a project that reflects how England makes art and art makes England. He chose to focus on the experience of migrant labour in the West Midlands to create Mnemosyne, a poetic essay on the themes of memory and migration
Another batch of short films from Screen WM‘s Digishorts scheme are set to premiere next week, featuring a hefty wedge of local film talent. There’s a free screening event to see all six Digishorts films at Light House in Wolverhampton on Tuesday 12 January, 6.15 – 8pm, as part of Screen Forum.
The Moon Bird
Names that stick out for me are BAFTA-nominated The Brothers McLeod, who will be showing their dark animated fairytale ‘The Moon Bird‘, and Lewis Arnold, whose film ‘Stained’ is inspired by author Ronnie Thompson’s time served as a prison officer. After the screening there will be a Q&A with some of the filmmakers, so have your hand-raising and poser-posing hats on ready.
To find out more about all of the films on show, visit the Light House website here, and to reserve a free place at the screening, contact info@light-house.co.uk.
There’s been a spate of Birmingham sightings on primetime TV recently. Partly this is due to some efforts by Screen WM (and others, I imagine) to get some more filming done up here, partly it’s due to the fact that there are some darn fine restaurants in the city these days.
The new series of Hustle started on Monday and featured a bunch of local sights from around the Colmore BID – Metro, Hotel du Vin and One Victoria Square (according to the BPo).
Next week the same area will be sporting a slightly different look for the new series of Survivors.
Over on Channel 4, Lasan is doing rather well having reached the final of Gordon Ramsey’s The F Word. Unfortunately the consensus on Twitter last night seemed to be that their chef was a bit of a pillock. Incidentally, Warwick Uni have a Lasan cookbook featuring healthy versions of various South Asian dishes which you can download for free.
The latest episode of Hustle is on the iPlayer here for the next few days and is on every Tues for the next little while. Survivors is on BBC 1 on 12 January and the big final of the F Word is on Channel 4 on Thurs at 9pm.
If you’re free this afternoon then VIVID is the place to be (or one of them, at least) from 2-6pm for Afternoon Delight, another Capsule birthday bash event:
Almost since day one, 7 Inch Cinema have been crouching in a corner at Capsule gigs with a video projector gaffa-taped to a stool showing films of hairy men shouting and small dogs in space. To celebrate the grannies’ remarkable and unexpected longevity we shall be gathering up some filmic highlights from the last decade and showing them at Vivid, alongside the customary mix of light snacks and word-searches
Outer Sight will be there too, bringing “disco sci-fi and noisy puppets”.
Also, if you’re in the area then pop into The Funeral of The Site which closes today.
While we’re on the topic of films, here’s the next few listings for the Birmingham International Film Society:
- 15 Dec – Conversations With My Gardener (6pm) and Le Pere Noel Est Une Ordure (7.45pm)
- 14 Jan – Chevolution (6pm) and Herostratus (7.45pm)
- хотелско обзавеждане21 Jan – Identity of the Soul (7pm)
The latter being a five-screen installation with HD plasma screens combining film, poetry, music and dance. Which sounds pretty cool.
All films are shown in the Library Theatre.
From the folks at Film Forum WM comes the news that Moving Pictures – the film night at The Victoria – are to start screening locally made short films. Sounds like a splendid idea.
Send your films to – Claire Goldthorp, Moving Pictures, The Victoria, 48 John Bright St, Birmingham B1 1BN.
Btw, they’re showing The Life of Brian this Sunday.
Having mentioned it yesterday, it’s the last Filmrats of the year on Wednesday 25 November. From the blurb what has been emailed to me:
the event is a multimedia evening of short films and live music, a hybrid of different creative artistry coming together to showcase their talents, enjoy music, film and to socialise. The night is being held once a month on a Wednesday evening at the Bristol Pear, in the heart of Selly Oak. If you love music and film this really is the best place to go to in Birmingham.
Filmrats is always looking for more Singer/Songwriters, Bands, Poets, Comedians, Performance Artists and Short Films. If you want to showcase your talent then please get in contact. Entry is £1.50, so go along and remember to send in those short films on DVD format to:
Filmrats, Flat 3, 889 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham B29 6ND
Email any questions, etc to filmrats@hotmail.co.uk.
You can also grab them via MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
