Encounters Film Festival 2020 - 18th Sept - 11th October

Each year we attend the brilliant Encounters Film Festival, usually held at Watershed in Bristol. This year the festival is online and we have secured digital passes for you, you can get these via Weston college shop for £10. The Digital Festival pass will give you access to the festival programme for the entire 3-week duration of the festival (18th September - 11th October 2020).

Please purchase these via Weston College shop - LINK HERE

This is always a great resource for your research and inspiration for your own film projects. Add reflections from festival to your workbooks/ blogs.

SELECTIONS TO WATCH

We will add selections we think you should look at here (you will need to buy a pass) and log in, in order to access films/ playlists.) Use links below or select from https://watch.encounters.film/

Take a look at a variety of different film programs inc.

Take a look at Events, Masterclasses’s and Q&A Sessions inc.

Let us know what you watch and give us your recommendations.

Adam Hellend recommends:

Ernie

21 mins | United Kingdom | 2020Director: Ray Panthaki
Under the influence of dangerous right-wing propaganda and his domineering father, a lonely school caretaker looks for connection. Watch

Alex Drummond recommends:

Backwards

11 mins | United Kingdom | 2019 Director: Marco Augelli

In a corporate world where everybody walks backwards, one young man stuck in a dead-end job tries to break out of the cycle of normality. Watch

Rich also recommends:

EXAM

15 mins | Iran | 2019 Director: Sonia K Hadad

A teenage girl gets involved in the process of delivering a pack of cocaine to its client, and gets stuck in a weird cycle of occurrences. Watch Part of Live Action 5 programme.

MOTHERLAND

14 mins | United Kingdom | 2020 Director: Ellen Evans

Tracing the experiences of Jamaican-born Brits who have been forcibly returned to Jamaica, MOTHERLAND explores what it really means for someone to "go back home" Watch Part of The Uncertain Kingdom: Volume 1 programme

ARKA

15 mins | Croatia | 2020 Director: Natko Stipanicev

A grandiose transoceanic cruise ship sailing the seas. Watch Part of Animated Jury Journey: Day 1 programme

About the Festival

Festival Director of ENCOUNTERS FILM FESTIVAL RICH WARREN, Rich talked with MamFromage about the upcoming (and original) Short Film Festival, how they have moved it online and give his thoughts on what makes a great short festival film, watch below.

Notable Short Films by Major directors

In the TeaAt3WithMamFromage Talk (see above) Freya and Rich spoke about short films by Directors, who went onto be very successful, how they used their short films to show and develop their style. Examples given include:

Peel (1982) - Jane Campion - Watch Here

The Big Shave (1967) - Martin Scorsese

Doodlebug (1997) - Christopher Nolan

Once you have bought your pass (via Weston college shop) you can log into Encounters Portal here

About Encounters: ‘We’re delighted to announce that our 2020 competition selection is now live, with Digital Festival Passes available to buy online! We’ve selected over 250 titles, from a huge 3000+ submissions, to be part of this year’s digital festival.

Your Digital Festival Pass will give you access to our festival programme for the entire 3-week duration of the festival (18th September - 11th October 2020), unlocking a world of international short film, and much more.

Our Guest Programmes, curated by our valued festival partners, include an international range of diverse and far-reaching narratives, from new and exciting voices across the industry.  

You can also tune in to Networking sessions run by our partners, join Q&A’s with competition filmmakers and filmmakers from across some of our Guest Programmes and much more!

This year’s selection is far-reaching in terms of content, form, and contexts. Though the 2020 digital edition of Encounters might look different to previous years, our selections are as eclectic, bold, and brilliant as ever.’ - Encounters Film Festival