2 LFF LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2

‘Death to Short Film’ - 6shorts

shown at the National Film Theatre

London UK on Thursday 25/10/07

Friends forever - Hinterland - La leçon de Guitare - Porn - Rotten Apple - Wake up

Here, with an interesting (and subversive!) title was a collection of flicks, the shortest being 11mins. Philip Ilson, who had had a hand in the selection said it was a depressing programme - but we’ll see.

First away was ‘ROTTEN APPLE’, 2007, HD/35mm, 14mins, written & directed by Ralitza Petrova, was produced by Paul Zabihi & Zara Balfour - we see pictures of a desolate farm in a very rugged landscape and there’s a v.o by the boy( Nathaniel Gleed) decribing his and his father’s quiet lives, which is disturbed by the arrival of a new step mother. Tilting towards black, the focus is very accurate on the beetle racing that the boy arranges - he kills the loser! DOP Namone Mercer has made it practically possible to smell the manure and the rottenness in the vegetation - a pretty brilliant metaphor for the behaviour of the father( Glenn Conroy). A nice, really rural, little flick. paul@pictureonthewall.co.uk

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‘FRIENDS FOREVER’, 2007, Thriller, Super16, 23mins, written by Melanie Martinez & Marçal Fores, directed by Marcel Fores, was produced by Ania Nakov - late teenager schoolboy( Sean Hart) who is gay, is dropped back at school where he is having talks with a psychiatrist. We get to understand that his best friend has died in some kind of accident but he knows his friend is alive, so he’s treated as an oddity ...

In showing the above there’s a scene with his friend( Sean Bourke) dancing on the desks to some great rock music - there’s material here that makes it look like a feature. Shot in a few days in London and the Black Forest, Marçel said that it was the actors first job - so, its even harder to find fault.

hsharda@nfts.co.uk

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Lucky third was ‘LA LECON DE GUITARE’, 2005, France( subtitled), 35mm, 18mins, written by Martin Rit & Mariette Désert, directed by Martin Rit, was produced by Mikhael Hers - 40yr old Michel( Serge Riaboukine) is having a dull life until he answers an ad for private guitar lessons. He turns up and we watch as his ability grows, he’s trying to sing about L A E T I T I A - and we see the cheerfulness of the teacher( Sébastien Morin) change - he gets to smile and strum in accompaniment!!

Such a simple little insignificant story, that has made a really great little film. Plus charmant. contact@premium-films.com

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‘WAKE UP’, 2006, Israel( subtitled), DV, 14mins, written, directed and produced by Hagar Ben Asher - teenager( Dana Ivgi) is in her bathroom and hears Dad go to work. As they all come home she has to put up with her father’s new girl friends. They’re in her space, so she starts to listen and to pretend to be asleep at other times. This film, mostly shot in a flat, seems shorter than 10mins of really not a lot going on, so something great is happening in the filming. For agoraphobics! info@mecfilm.de

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‘PORN’, 2006, Poland( subtitled), 35mm,11mins, written & directed by Jan Wagner, was produced by Andrzej Bednarek - teenager Mirek( Tomek Rolinski) is playing around with friends on a building site, an old swimming pool and then on a swing, when a forward girl, new teenage arrival Wioletta( Anna Gross) appears and shakes his hand (having shown him her most private parts). She is seen getting into cars and eventually she has to appeal to his protective instincts - which slowly get kindled beside a late bonfire.

Jan said that eventually, to speed up the auditioning of High School kids (he auditioned 800!), he, with his DOP Michal Stajniak, made a Video Sketch (to show camera movements/framing et cet) for prospective cast members, which also ultimately meant the shooting ratio was very low - the acting feels quite normal & professional - so the first video paid dividends.

Shot in Lodz for about 15,000euros, Jan drolly said that this was his 2nd year fiction exercise and that nothing else special happened! Looks like there are some clever people around here as well as lots of modest people in Lodz. A great filmmakers flick!

wczolnowska@filmschool.lodz.pl ;

janrichwagner@yahoo.de.

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Last, the best place to be was -‘HINTERLAND’, 2007, France( subtitled), 35mm wide screen, 28mins, written by Damien Goubeau & the director Geoffrey Boulangé, was produced by Sebastien de Fonseca - we see a woman, with two children on a walk in the mountains of the Central Massif, not following the normal tracks. The boy( Adrien Mienville) has a mind of his own and, with his sister, they wander away and find a dying horse. With his sister they call for their mother who leaves David to do what he thinks best - it’s a little test of their relationship.

A flick in which the majestic landscape is really the most important part, the DOP Benjamin Echazarreta had his hands full of great pictures & the end is affected by what David does about the horse. Geoffrey said that, in that region of France, the event portrayed is not so unusual - and he had a similar experience. He also said - “If you say to a producer - children, horse, mountain, scope... Usually he say That it's a problem!!!!”

Quite. A nice, quietly moody, flick. production@chateau-rouge.info

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It was raining, when Phil said it was depressing - I reckon Phil is a French leaning Israeli Pole with a foot in London (where it rains, incidentally, less than in France and Poland, not sure about Israel!).