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/

• Comedy Playlist 1

• LIVE ON FRIDAY @ 2pm - CAHOOTIFY Demo Plus Q&A

  We ask you to use Cahootify for group projects and to enable collaboration, so this talk will be useful to get a better understanding of the platform.

• NAHEMI - playlist

  A programme of some of the best UK student films selected from NAHEMI (National Association of Higher Education in the Moving Image) member Institutions.

• European Film Academy Shorts on Tour (15)

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

• Animated Encounters International Competition

• Queer Vision presents: Best of Iris Prize 2019 

• Shades of Protest - new short films from Palestine

• LIVE ACTION JURY Playlists

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

• Encounters Presents - An Introduction to Mirrorless CAMERAs with SP and Nikon

  Mon, 5 October 2020 11:00 – 12:15

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 

GUEST FILM TALKS - are back! - ALIX TAYLOR - TALENT EXECUTIVE for BFI NETWORK (SW) - #TEAAT3WITHMAMFROMAGE

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND #TEAAT3WITHMAMFROMAGE is back !!!

‘Will be weekly/ bi weekly depending on a couple of things but I am aiming to stick with Fridays.

FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 3:00PM

ALIX TAYLOR - TALENT EXECUTIVE for BFI NETWORK (SW)

A great chance to get advice generally on writing Film Applications for funding?

Find out what the key things BFI are looking for in an application?

and what is the current landscape on funding for short films like in the UK at the moment?

Prior to joining at Watershed, she was with Calling the Shots, where she was Project Manager on New Creatives (South West), the BBC Arts and Arts Council talent development scheme.

While working on New Creatives, Alix oversaw the selection, production and delivery of audio, film and interactive projects from artists aged 16-30 for BBC platforms. Managing a network of regional partnerships across the South West to deliver mentoring, training, development and support to artists locally.

Previously she programmed the digital education courses and specialised film screenings of short film, artists moving image and alternative features for the multi-arts venue, Exeter Phoenix, as well as developing new talent through their short film commissioning schemes.’ - Freya Billington

Topic: TEAAT3WITHMAMFROMAGE

Time: Sep 11, 2020 03:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7952613779?pwd=VndyblVQNGxKSkN6dURrMDJDS3RmUT09

Meeting ID: 795 261 3779 Passcode: TEAAT3

You can catch up on previous chats at: FreyaBill YouTube channel

FILM UCW - Showcase 2020

Please join us for a screening of films by FdA Film & Media Arts Production and BA Lens Based Media Films students Wednesday 29th July 2020 - 7pm

This screening will be online, please join us here, on this page: http://poool.co.uk/showcase-2020

Creative Arts Summer Show - 2020

The faculty of Creative Arts would like to warmly invite you to celebrate this year’s summer exhibition of learners' work as they make their mark on a new creative future.

Join us virtually for our launch night as we open the Creative Arts Summer Show 2020 and introduce exceptional student success from level 1 all the way through to Level 6.

At the end of an academic year that has been challenging and unprecedented, our learners would like to share with you their achievement and what they have produced and learnt against the odds.  We have been truly blown away by their commitment, innovation, resilience and their incredible skills and talents within their subject areas and we are excited for you to see the outcomes for yourself.

Please join us on the 9th July at 5.30pm
via the Weston College Facebook Live event:  https://www.facebook.com/westoncollege

or sign up to join us on Zoom using this link:

https://weston-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZMmgGHIYTDGKFr5kYmNpNw

GUEST SEMINAR - Dr Vanley Burke - Photographer & Artist aka ‘Godfather of Black British Photography’

We were honoured to have Dr Vanley Burke join us for an online guest seminar during UCW Open WEEK - Thursday 18th June 2020

About Vanley

Vanley Burke is often described as the ‘Godfather of Black British Photography’, whereby his iconic images have captured the evolving cultural landscape, social change, and stimulated debate in the United Kingdom over the past four decades. He draws strength from remaining a humble man of the community, whose personable character allows him to capture the intimate and private nature of people’s everyday lives.

His body of work represents possibly the largest photographic record of the Caribbean Diaspora in Britain, and as an avid collector, Vanley continues to connect histories through his substantial archive housed at the Library of Birmingham. From local community organisations to the Victoria & Albert Museum and Whitechapel, Vanley has exhibited widely in the United Kingdom, and as far afield as New York, South Africa and China.

Vanley’s artistic enquiry is not simply limited to black and white documentary photography, as his eccentric rebellious nature lends itself to sculpture and painting, and crafting art that gives life a shape. His simple motivation has been the preservation of culture and history through creation, documentation, and discovery which often leaks into the private.

Watch the video of seminar below:

Links to some of works, artists and people discussed in talk

• Vanley’s photography was used in John Akomfrah's seminal film - Handsworth Songs (John used Vanley's Bolex camera to make it).

• Handsworth Songs - John Akomfrah - Watch Film - Arts Review Article - IMDB - BFI

• John Akomfrah - Tate - John Akomfrah - Lisson Gallery

• Stuart Hall - The Stuart Hall Project

• Harvin Anderson

• Barbara Walker

• Vanley Burke: Freedom of death

• Vanley Burke: My Best Shot (Guardian Feature)

Vanley Burke's best shot: African Liberation Day in Birmingham, 1977 (Read Guardian feature)

A section of the installation ‘5000 Miles and 70 Years’ by Vanley Burke, presented across the 1st floor window panes at Midlands Arts Centre. Photo: Carol Dixon.

• Vanley Burke: 5,000 Miles and 70 Years (M.A.C)

• Vanley Burke: 5,000 Miles and 70 Years (Museum Geographies)

• Vanley Burke: Fightback (Guardian Feature)

• Playing house: why Vanley Burke moved his entire flat into a gallery

Art imitates home life … photographer Vanley Burke in the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

Playing house: why Vanley Burke moved his entire flat into a gallery

The godfather of black British photography has upped sticks and recreated his flat, item by item, in a Birmingham art gallery. A dig through the mixtapes and tribal masks reveals a fascinating alternative history of black Britain

Revisiting the crime scene - A concept by Dr.Vanley Burke based on a diagram of a slave ship. In collaboration with the local community ay Sankliba Eko-Fores...

• Brookes Ship - British Slave Ship

• Vanley’s powerful installation work, 'Sugar Coated Tears' tackles West Midlands connection with slave trade.

• connectinghistories.org.uk/

Black Lives Matter

We recognise this talk is at a time when Black Lives Matter demonstrations have raised many important issues, we have added some links and resources relating to this here

UCW Open Week

Our upcoming Virtual Open Week offers you the chance to chat with our lecturers and students, watch live tours of our fantastic facilities, check out our students’ wonderful work and take part in tasters – all from the comfort of your own home!

Photography, Film and Lens Based Media Degrees at UCW

• Photography in Practice, FdA

• Film and Media Arts Production, FdA

• Lens-based Media (top-up), BA (Hons)

• www.ucw.ac.uk