We were thrilled to host the film tent at Wychwood Music Festival, an excellent little festival in Cheltenham showcasing the best in national and local talent with an eclectic range of music, workshops and performing arts. Our corner of the festival featured a host of short film showreels, features, documentaries and live AV events, celebrating in particular the exciting interplay between music and film.
Working with a number of contributors, including the University of Gloucestershire, Oliver Ralfe from Ralfe Band and several film score artists - The Cabinet of Living Cinema, Colliderscope and Toss and the Soundtrack Band - we aimed to bring the cinema tent to life and make it a very prominent and necessary part of the festival. We also worked with Soda Pictures and Revolver Entertainment to bring you a number of out-of-the-ordinary cutting edge feature films. See below for programme details.
A heartfelt South Korean drama which tells the story of two young sisters, Jin and Bin, who must look after one another when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.
This film comes courtesy of Soda Pictures.
Friday, 6pm
The Small Steps Project is a humanitarian charity that delivers shoes and aid to children on inhabited rubbish dumps all over the world. It is a non-profit organisation, which has exploded over the last two years and its documentaries Around The World in Eighty Dumps have been screened all over Europe and Australia. Catch one of these documentaries at Wychwood and learn about the real slumdogs.
Friday, 7.45pm
Links: Small Steps Project
The Cabinet of Living Cinema is a meeting of artists dedicated to creating “living cinema” experiences through live performance. Making Tracks is a regular night in London and a groundbreaking platform on which to showcase up-and-coming filmmaking talent. The idea is simple: Whirlygig Cinema seek out top quality short films, strip them of their original soundtracks and The Cabinet rescore them ive, using experimental and semi-improvisational techniques.
Featuring films by Beatrice Baumgartner, Lesley Butler, Magali Charrier, Paul Gillespie & Angel Villadiego, Max Hattler, Kiron Hussain, Kimberly Jarrett, Kayla Parker, Ben Rix and Wirrow.
Friday 9pm
With music by composer and vocalist Fiona Soe Paing, and visuals by animation artist Zennor Alexander, "No Man's Land" is a surreal and hypnotic audio-visual performance, combining projected 3D animation, experimental electronica soundtrack and live vocals in an immersive 'live cinema’ experience.
Friday, 10.15pm. A second performance will take place on Saturday at 8.30pm.
Links: Colliderscope
Fearless and upfront, Mary and Max is a dark animated comedy about the unlikely pen-pal relationship between two very different people; an awkward and lonely 8-year-old Australian girl and a Jewish American man who suffers from Aspergers Sydrome. With cutting edge ‘claymation’ and storyline to treasure, this is truely one of the biggest must-sees of the festival.
This film comes courtesy of Soda Pictures.
Friday, 11.15pm
Links: Official website
A beautifully animated fairytale about two boys, raised as brothers until cruelly separated and then reunited as rivals on a quest to free the mythical Djinn fairy. Only one of them may succeed... This film can be enjoyed by children of all ages and adults alike.
This film comes courtesy of Soda Pictures.
Saturday, 9.15am, children's feature
Join us as we take on the strange and immersive world of comedy through a hilarious programme of short films including sketches, mockumentaries and animations.
This programme is the same as that shown at the East End Film Festival on 2nd May. See below link for further information.
Saturday, 5pm
Links: Programme details
Ahead of the screening of his film Tangled Up With Dylan: The Ballad of AJ Weberman and also The Mighty Boosh On Tour on Sunday, Oliver Ralfe from Ralfe Band will be performing brand new material in this intimate and unique venue. For this exclusive live solo set, Oly Ralfe will be debuting brand new songs alongside favourites from Ralfe Band albums Swords and Attics Thieves, plus songs from Ralfe Band’s highly acclaimed soundtrack to British feature film Bunny and the Bull.
Saturday, 6.15pm
Links: Ralfe Band
Documentary chronicling the life, times and crimes of notorious Bob Dylan obsessive and Garbology inventor, AJ Weberman. The film is punctuated by a hilarious recorded telephone conversation between Weberman and Dylan, and explores the relationship between one of the world’s greatest songwriters and his most controversial disciple.
Saturday, 6.45pm
Links: Official website
With music by composer and vocalist Fiona Soe Paing, and visuals by animation artist Zennor Alexander, "No Man's Land" is a surreal and hypnotic audio-visual performance, combining projected 3D animation, experimental electronica soundtrack and live vocals in an immersive 'live cinema’ experience.
Saturday, 8.30pm. First performance on Friday, 10.15pm
Links: Colliderscope
Returning after last year’s successful performances of Faust and Metropolis, Toss and the Soundtrack Band present The Last Human; the story of a man who thinks he is the Last Human, battling against a disease that turns people into vampires. Most of the band’s live performances are to silent movies, yet this film had so little dialogue in it that they managed to keep most of the spoken dialogue as well as writing a new score for the film. They suggest that rather than thinking of the music as a soundtrack to the film, you imagine the films as a video to a live concept album!
Saturday, 9.30pm
What happens when you give a video camera to the world’s most notorious graffiti artist? A documentary about a French eccentric’s mission to film the world’s most nortorious graffiti artists of course! This is your chance to catch the latest masterpiece from the West Country’s very own Banksy.
This film comes courtesy of Revolver Entertainment.
Saturday, 11.15pm
Links: Official website
Wake up to lots of really old and really new short films for kids and see how much film has changed over the years. Packed full of laughs and gasps, this is a sure fire way to start your day!
Featuring films by Charlotte Blacker, Greg Doble, Jane East, Rik Goddard, Evgenia Golubeva, Ed Hartwell, Tanya Moshkova and Mark Nute.
Sunday, 9.30am
Whirlygig Cinema presents a short film programme celebrating the manipulative nature of music; how it can probe our emotions, tell a story and instantly change our perceptions of what we see on screen.
Featuring films by The Astburys, Beatrice Baumgartner, Joon Goh, Adina Istrate, Kimberly Jarrett, Carla MacKinnon, Samantha Moore, Robert Rapoport, Joe Whitney and Sophie Windsor Clive.
Sunday, 5pm
Another creation from musician and director Oliver Ralfe (whose band Ralfe Band also provide much of the soundtrack), this on-the-road documentary is an exclusive and intimate behind the scenes look into the chaos and genius of The Mighty Boosh as they navigate a nation hooked on their cult. Filmed across their mammoth 99-date UK tour during which they performed to 270,000 fans, this is a fascinating insight for Boosh fans, as well as those interested in comedy and documentaries.
Don't miss Oliver Ralfe's live solo set in the cinema tent on Saturday at 6.15pm, just ahead of his other film The Ballad of AJ Weberman.
Sunday, 6.15pm
Links: Official website
To celebrate local talent, the University of Gloucestershire will present a number of award-winning short films by students from the vibrant and exciting Digital Film Production course. This programme includes Small Hours, Best Film at the Learning on Screen Award, North West 5, selected as Film of the Week on bestforfilm.com and Launderette, winner of Best Documentary at the BFI Future Film Awards.
Sunday, 8.15pm
The original French 1920's silent movie with a brand new soundtrack. This is a movie adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe classic, featuring brand new songs and music by Toss and the Soundtrack Band.
Sunday, 10pm
The 1960s comedy classic about a man who is forced to kill people in order to feed the bloodthirsty man-eating plant that he has cultivated. Never fear the silver screen!
Sunday, 11.15pm