Buxton Film Festival - Programme 2010
The Signal Room at The Railway, Bridge Street
Buxton, SK17 6BS
To download printable program click here
We strongly advise that you reserve your seats for all screenings
either by clicking the reserve seats links on this pageor ringing 07955 230158
If you have difficulties making reservations then use this link
or telephone 07955 230158
Wednesday 7th July 2010
| Start Time |
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Certificate |
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19:30 |
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(15) |
free |
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Reservstions Closed |
20:00 |
Buxton Film Club Screening |
n/a |
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Reservations Closed |
Friday 16th July 2010
| Start Time |
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Certificate |
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19:30 |
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n/a |
donation |
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Reservations Closed |
20:15
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(15)
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£4.00
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Reservations Closed |
Saturday 17th July 2010
| Start Time |
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Certificate |
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15:00 |
Up - Award Winning Family Animation |
(U) |
£4.00 |
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Reservstions Closed |
17:00
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n/a
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£2.00
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Reservstions Closed |
18:15
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A Boy Called Dad
Introduced by Producer Michael Knowles
Followed by Q & A with members of cast and crew. |
(15)
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£4.00
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Reservstions Closed |
20:00
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(18)
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£4.00
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Reservstions Closed |
22:35 |
Close |
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Sunday 18th July 2010
| Start Time |
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Certificate |
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19:00
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n/a
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free
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reservations closed |
19:25
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n/a
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free
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reservations closed |
19:50
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n/a
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free
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reservations closed |
20:15
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A Serious Man
Comedy from the Coen Brothers |
(15)
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£4.00
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Reservations closed |
21:55 |
Close |
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Wednesday 21st July 2010
| Start Time |
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19:30 |
Buxton Film Club Screening |
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Reservations Closed |
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Fringe Films Preview
A Preview of the Fringe film weekend including Trailers and film clips and a chance to see this years 'Open Shorts' winner.
As well as getting a feel for our venue this year, you can reserve tickets and get a copy of the detailed programme.
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'Open Shorts' - Winners
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'Open Shorts'
Solving a Derbyshire Mystery - Part 1
Unearthing the Story of Fin Cop - (2010)
Genre: Documentary / Drama
By: Longstone Local History Youth Group
Running Time: 6 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:00 session
A Recent archaeological investigation is the inspiration for this drama-documentary which weaves together both fact and fiction to begin to unearth the story of Fin Cop, a local Iron Age hill fort.
Background
In spring 2009 the Longstone Local History Group received a grant for a community project to solve a Derbyshire mystery by undertaking an archaeological investigation of what appeared to be from Iron Age earthworks on Fin Cop, a hill overlooking Monsal Dale.
As well as doing three weeks of trowel- and spade-work, the archaeologists and volunteers also spent time digging through libraries and archives to catalogue everything, both fact and fiction, that had been written about the site. Liz, Ruth and Michael, three sixteen-year-olds from Great Longstone, drew on all this work, not to mention the help of some of their school mates, to create 'Unearthing the Story of Fin Cop', a short film which neatly brings together some of the different threads of the investigation.
The 2009 dig has only scratched the surface of the Fin Cop enigma. Fortunately the project has secured a second lottery grant and the archaeology will be resumed this summer.
Liz, Ruth and Michael are already working on a sequel. An extended version of the film is on the Solving a Derbyshire Mystery page at www.greatlongstone.net.
Frank Parker, LLHG video mentor
April 2010
(review)
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Who Knows (2010)
Genre: Drama
By: John Cant
Running Time: 10 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:00 session
The unnamed narrator explains how he comes to be in what is obviously some sort of sanatorium. He’s a solitary person who has always preferred to live alone, surrounded by his furtniture, trinkets and curios. Then one night as he returns home from a concert, something strange happens...
Originated on Super 8mm c. 1985. Transferred to Video and re-edited 2010.
One of my “Maupassant” collection.
(review)
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Katrina - 2010
Genre: Reflection
By: Kevin Allsop
Running Time: 6 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:00 session
In 2005 Hurricane KATRINA was the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States the film gives a short account how every living thing on this planet can be over powered by the forces of nature and proves how fragile we all are and soon bounce back from our experiences, we are all guests of this planet and at times what we see in life, good or bad inspires one to make music :
(review)
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The Message (2010)
** Commended **
Genre: Comic / Drama
By: Craig Savage
Running Time: 3 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:25 session
The Magnificent Marty was once in the mime light and stood out as the top entertainer in his field. Then his true love vanished without a trace and he retired from the big time. He never forgot his roots however, and he continued to entertain, just on a smaller level. But someone wants to put a stop to that, and they’ll do anything to get the message across. After being shown the door at one of his children’s parties by some unsavoury clowns, Marty decides he won’t be beaten so easily and takes the fight back to them, slapstick style.
(review)
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La Parure (2010)
Genre: Drama
By: John Cant
Running Time: 12 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:25 session
Mathilde Loisel, wife of a humble clerk in the Ministry of Public Education, is deeply unhappy with her lowly status in life. She yearns for luxury, elegant dresses and jewellery. Then, for one night, with the aid of a rich friend, she is able to fulfil her dreams. It is a night to remember for the rest of her life ….
I have kept the French title because there is no neat English equivalent.
Originated on video, 2005; reworked and re-edited 2010.
(review)
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First Person Singular - 2010
Genre: Drama
By: Dominic Johnson
Running Time: 15 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:25 session
For the past three or four months (depending on who you ask), there has been an ongoing flirtation between two co-workers in a financial consultancy office.
One co-worker, Keely Hampton, is a secretary for the mortgage advisor. The other, Hilton Westfield, is a personal assistant to the firm’s chief partner.
Unfortunately, so far, neither of them have had the courage to take it to the next level. Both of them, though, have fantasised a great deal about exactly how they would go about doing this.
But whether or not they will act on these fantasies is another matter…
(review)
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The Mess Hall of an Online Warrior (2010)
** Commended **
Genre: Drama
By: Dan P.K. Smyth
Running Time: 8 mins
Content Advisory: Contains strong language which may offend
Screened on Sunday 18th at 19:50 session
A mother quietly struggles to deal with her aggressive teenage son who refuses to do anything except play online computer games.
An honest and darkly comic story about compulsion mishaps, loneliness and family redemption.
Set in Manchester, England. Ben is an aggressive teenager who doesn’t go to school, doesn’t eat and doesn’t talk to his mother – that’s because he’s a compulsive on-line computer gamer. His single mother, Jane, struggles to feed Ben – encouraging him to eat his [unappetising] ‘tea’ – but he’s too busy fighting the good fight online.
(review)
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Echoes - 2010
** WINNER Best Short Film **
Genre: Drama
By: Rob Brown
Running Time: 12 mins
Screened on Sunday 18th 19:50 session
A female sex trafficker faces a dilemma when the teenage girl she is trafficking, on a coach from Lithuania to London, turns out to be pregnant. Will she sell the girl into a life of prostitution when they arrive or let her go and face the consequences from her brutal pimps.
(review)
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Feature Films
Language: English
Genre: Drama / War
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes
Running Time: 126 mins
Screened on Friday 16th at 20:15
2010 Oscar Best Picture
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
This is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s most unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives in one of the world’s most dangerous places.
A well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is considered to be the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.
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Up - 2009 (U)
Language: English
Genre: Pixar Animation
Director: Pete Docter
Voices of: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer and John Ratzenberger
Running Time: 98 mins
Screened on Saturday 17th at 15:00
A comedy adventure about a 78-year-old balloon salesman, Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America.
Another masterful work of art from Pixar, 'Up' is an exciting, hilarious, and heartfelt adventure impeccably crafted and told with wit and depth.
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"All I ever wanted was a dad. instead I got a son..."
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Director: Brian Percival
Writer: Julie Rutterford
Starring: Kyle Ward, Ian Hart, Charlene McKenna, Joel Robinson, Louise Delamere and Steve Evets.
Running Time: 80 mins
Screened on Saturday 17th at 18:15
The Film will be introduced by Producers Michael Knowles and Stacey Murray and followed by a Q & A with him and members of the cast and crew.
Writer and director worked together on the BAFTA award winning short film ‘About a Girl’ (2001).
This feature length film is a study of fatherhood and masculinity on a 'run down sink' estate, the backdrop for much of the UK’s problem of teenaged parenthood as well as of families who appear to have been abandoned by fathers.
The film concerns a 14 year old boy’s (Robbie) struggle with his own fatherhood for which he is clearly not equipped to cope although he displays very positive feelings when he witnesses his child being roughly treated. The second, interweaving, strand concerns the re-appearance of Robbie’s own father (Joe); a father who disappeared from his life when he was just 4 years old. In the tradition of contemporary British social realism established by Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, this film is a brilliant analysis of relationships between males; initially a gentle understated exploration of a teenaged boy connecting with his newly ‘rediscovered’ father, but moving quickly into a critical situation which cannot easily be resolved.
The Guardian’s film critic Peter Bradshaw praised the ‘gentle, humorous and touching’ dialogue between Joe and Robbie.
The controversial ending will probably demand an opinion from everyone who watches the film and at this screening you will have the opportunity to discuss this and other aspects of the film with its producer, Mike Knowles and other members of the cast and crew.
Watch the Trailer
www.madeupnorthproductions.co.uk
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'Män som hatar kvinnor' (literally 'Men who hate women')
Language: Swedish with subtitles
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace
Screened on Saturday 17th at 20:00
Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson's best selling novel
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her beloved uncle is convinced it was murder and employs a disgraced financial journalist and a tattooed and troubled but resourceful female computer hacker to investigate.
Noomi Rapace's gripping performance makes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo an unforgettable viewing experience.
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Language: English
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Running Time: 101 mins
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Screened on Sunday 18th at 20:15
Written, produced and directed by Joel & Ethan Coen, this is a very funny black comedy about a man, much put upon, trying to make sense of his family and his life.
Larry Gopnik, a college professor of physics, is experiencing overwhelming problems that threaten to undermine every aspect of his life. A very Jewish comedy in the spirit of ‘life is usually difficult and likely to get worse’.
Larry’s household includes his vulnerable brother who has been living off the family for many months while writing some kind of treatise and who shows no inclination to leave; his daughter who is stealing from him to raise money so that she might get her nose fixed; his son is approaching his bar mitzvah uses a lot of dope and is forever asking his father to fix the TV aerial; his wife wants a divorce and a ‘get’ (a quasi legal device issued by husbands to divorce their wives under Jewish law), so that she can marry a family friend; and there is some doubt over whether he will get tenure for his post in college, because someone is sending defamatory letters to the tenure committee. Further complications arise when Larry is offered a bribe to pass a failing student.
A family friend suggests that Larry would do well to consult a rabbi for advice; and in the event, three different rabbis get to offer banal advice of varying absurdity. And then of course there are the health problems and a developing hurricane…….
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Dcoumentaries / Talks
Moving Memories: Tales of Moss Side and Hulme
Friday 16th at 19:30
Documentary
Directed by: Karen Gabay
Screened: Friday 19:30
Introduced by Karen Gabay
Running Time: 30 mins
This short film is the result of an inter-generational exploration of life in Hulme and Moss Side in the 1960-80s through contemporary BBC North West regional television news and features that were restored by North West Film Archive. The restored footage was taken into Manchester schools, community groups and businesses in order to stimulate people’s recollections of the Moss Side and Hulme areas. The film combines this footage with personal stories and archive from contributors. People recall stories of living, working and growing up in the area in this award winning 30 minute documentary which blends contemporary interviews with news and home movie footage.
The film was produced by Karen Gabay of the Troubadour Foundation in collaboration with the Manchester Metropolitan University’s North West Film Archive and Regional History Department.
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Walt Disney and his Artists
Saturday 17th at 17:00
Presentation / Talk
By: Robin Allan PhD
Duration: 45 mins
Robin Allan writes:
I have had the good fortune to grow up with many of the Disney animated features, from Snow White (1937) to The Jungle Book (1967), and thus have the double exposure of the films, the child's memory and the adult's reassessment through cinematic re-release and through video.
The richness of Disney animation prompted me to examine it for my doctorate for the University of Exeter, and then later for my book Walt Disney and Europe (London, John Libbey, 1999).
During my research in the United States, I was lucky enough to meet many of the men and women who worked closely with Walt Disney himself and I have many slides taken from the artists' own collections. I was also able to visit the Disney Studios and Archives a number of times (both are now closed to the general public). I have lectured on Disney in the United States and in Canada and in various European countries, and have won a number of awards for my book on Disney animation. I will be showing some of my slides and clips today to honour the men and women who made Disney great.
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Open Shorts - Reviews
Solving a Derbyshire Mystery - Part 1
Unearthing the Story of Fin Cop
By Longstone Local History Youth Group
Review
This film begins in rather a sinister fashion with the sun going down behind Fin Cop and a procession of robed pagan figures with burning torches. One poor young chap is dragged into their midst and despatched with what looks like a gardening trowel! As a big horror film fan, the opening sequence had to achieve little else to hook me in.
The action suddenly changes down a gear into more sober documentary style when the pagan priestess transforms into a presenter who goes on to explain the archaeology of the site. Despite the shift from Derbyshire Trowel Massacre to Time Team, the film held my attention. The mysterious tale of Fin Cop is told with a variety of approaches, swinging from drama to documentary, from fact to folklore. For a local youth group, all the segments are surprisingly well thought-out and executed (if you‘ll excuse the pun). There are even some fancy graphics and a bit of CGI.
Shots of what appears to be the whole community working together to unearth their local ancient history makes the whole project look more admirable and worthwhile. Ruth Edmonds, in particular, brings enthusiastic clarity to the proceedings as the narrator and is destined to go on to a career as such. A relation of Noel perhaps? The title and ending suggest that there may be more to come and I, for one, would be keen to see if any of the mysteries of Fin Cop are eventually solved. Not to mention the chance to see more constructive implements of doom.
Ben Jones
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Who Knows
Filmed and Narrated by John Cant
Review
‘Who Knows’ is a frank and unsettling journey into a troubled psyche. A glum introduction from the narrator informs us that he has committed himself to hospital; the reasons for which become clear over the course of his backstory. As his companions on the trip, we are not sure what is imaginary and what is real, and neither it seems, is the storyteller. By his own admission, he is a dreamer; someone who hears voices in his head, hallucinates and relates to objects better than people. The film becomes an exploration of not just his reality, but ours too. Even the title of the film questions our collective perception.
Shot on old Super 8mm film, the grainy and blurred footage seems to amplify the theme of uncertainty and dislocation. The score by Stephanie Cant, is random and intense but also appropriate. There are literary references to Maupassant and Edgar Allen Poe but this reviewer was reminded of the work of his favourite film director David Lynch who presents the everyday as slightly askew, unfamiliar and frightening.
Ben Jones
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Katrina
by Kevin Allsop
Review
This short film comprises a piece of music set against a series of stills taken during and after the hurricane which devastated New Orleans in 2005. (was it that long ago?)
Using the stills and an instrumental composed at the time, while working in Germany, Kevin wants to express and share his feelings and reaction to this event.
The opening chords of the music took me to the ‘deep south’ while the slides recalled the effects of the storm. It does not dwell on the devastation and horror of those few days and the subsequent aftermath it is simply a gentle reminder supported by a lyrical guitar solo.
Martin Wood
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The Message
By Craid Savage
Review
When I first read the synopsis, I thought there was a typo in the text but then realised that ‘mime light’ was what was meant. The film is humorous and very uplifting.
Expertly filmed and performed, this short film relates the story of Marty who uses his talent and humour to overcome the obstacles that befall him. There are a few ‘film references’ which you should spot, having said that, I did miss one which had to be pointed out to me. You, no doubt, won’t miss them.
I was surprised that such a short film could have such an effect on the viewer, leaving one with a feeling that staying true to yourself can be a very powerful attitude.
Martin Wood
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La Parure
By John Cant
Review
This film unfolds with the help of a narrator who provides a lively account of one of Maupassant’s many short stories interweaved with some key ‘acted out’ scenes. The narrator is very good in capturing some of the feelings and aspirations of French bourgeois life, with an entirely appropriate ironical edge to his story telling. The device of part formal story telling illustrated by scenes from French middle class life works well. Backdrops for the film are entirely convincing as is the period dress.
The action, on the other hand, is a little wooden, although the misguided devotion of the husband is evident in his attempts to please his insecure but aspirant wife.
However, the film does do justice to the central theme which is all about ‘appearances’ – finery that is both real and yet also not what it seems. It seems as if even the rich rely on appearances and the rest of us, sadly, can often be taken in.
Martin Thomas
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First Person Singular
By Dominic Johnson
Review
All of us have imagined romantic encounters and possibilities and in Dominic Johnson’s film a young man (Charles White) creates in his mind three outcomes before he tries to make a date with a young woman (Rosy Clarke).
The film switches from colour to black and white – with the colour episodes being the real world and the black and white sections representing what might-be.
The four versions of the date-making scene are book-ended by a brief dream sequence in which he is overwhelmed by her ‘visceral intensity’ and she, fixing on his eyes, sighs ‘like a snake’s gaze utterly irresistible’. He is clearly an intensely romantic young man and this contrasts sharply with his humdrum world of work.
Keith Savage
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The Mess Hall of an Online Warrior
By Dan P.K. Smyth
Review
Ben (Jordan Alexander-Riley) and his Mum (Denise Kennedy) occupy a small world, empty of real human contact. Ben’s sense of anger and frustration finds violent expression in on-line war gaming. Mum has small and the slightest of hopes to sustain her: she is grateful for anything resembling warmth.
In seven minutes this film presents much of what occupies the lives of some ordinary white working class families. It’s grim and unsettling. This may be as good as it gets for those people where communities have been destroyed and unemployment has left a hole where hope used to be.
Dan PK Smyth manages the moods and tensions in this film very well; the score by Aleah Morrison adds to the edginess.
Keith Savage
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Echoes
Written and Directed by Rob Brown
Review
This excellent short film tells an entirely gripping story of the brutalities of trafficking. The scenes of back street London are almost film noir in their depiction of sordid helplessness, but these are the places where trafficked woman are ‘broken in’. The performances of all the actors are really very good indeed. The man seemingly heading up the gang is a frightening and threatening presence; and the two central characters are compelling in their different predicaments – the woman playing the ‘mule’ is completely convincing as initially hard edged but then entirely human in her ‘assumed’ sacrifice; the ‘trafficked’ woman is at once vulnerable but ultimately, one hopes, triumphant. I felt like cheering at her resistance.
A really well made short. It should inspire everyone to join Amnesty International.
Martin Thomas
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