As you’ve probably noticed, the full programme went live today. Much euphoria and relief in Flatpack towers, after many weeks of finalising and data-crunching. Bookings launch at lunchtime on Wednesday, but in the meantime browse to your heart’s content and be gentle with us; there are no doubt a few bits and bobs which are still need of polishing, embellishing or linkifying.
The brochures will be out and about at the end of this week, and one place you’re guaranteed to pick one up is the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath where we’re having a little pre-festival warmup on Sunday 6th March. As well as DJs from Colour and various coming attractions from Flatpack we’ll have a great film by Elfin Saddle (Constellation records) called Wurld…
Colour Box, Flatpack’s programme for children and families will take place at mac this year over the festival weekend (26-27 March).
Treats include the award-winning animated uplifting feature Eleanor’s Secret about the power of books. There will also be another chance to see the recent adaptation of Fantastic Mr Fox on the big screen. Chris Bowden from ingenious puppet-makers MacKinnon & Saunders will be on hand to show how the puppets were created. Several versions of the same character were needed so the team ended up making over 500 puppets for the film!
There will be two shorts programmes this year, one aimed for those 4 and upwards, and one for those who are slightly older. As usual the screenings will be packed with all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures and things, including the beautiful Whistleless above.
There will be plenty to do outside of the cinema with interactive projections and a chance to turn yourself into an animated avatar. There will also be a chance to contribute to the longest film in Britain with the team from Unravel. They have been touring the country setting up free film-painting workshops in order to produce a sixteen-hour epic. Drop in to do a bit of painting, stencilling or scratching!
As well as all this on Sunday 27 March a vintage mobile cinema will be visiting mac with an array of shorts and cartoons!
If we weren’t up to our eyeballs in Flatpack we might be tempted to pop down to London in a couple of weeks for the launch of Passenger Films, a new film society exploring ‘the carcrash of geography and cinema’. It’s happening at the Roxy in Borough on 14th March, and guests will include Emma and Ollie from the Vintage Mobile Cinema (catch it at Flatpack) as well as a screening of Wim Wenders’ Kings of the Road (which I’ve shamefully never seen, even though it’s about a projector repair-man).
Last year the excellent Numero Group released Celestial Navigations, a DVD retrospective of artist and animator Al Jarnow. Ordinarily they reissue forgotten soul or folk rarities on vinyl, but in this case they were exhuming fragments of film embedded in the memories of countless 70s children. Jarnow started out making sequences for Sesame St, including the legendary Cosmic Clock, and from his attic studio in Long Island he created a little cottage industry in curious, brain-tickling little films. Like the best experiments he followed an idea through to its natural conclusion. I particularly like the short which gave the DVD its title, in which he plots the movement of sunlight across his wall and then ends up travelling to Stonehenge to compare and contrast.
All of which is a preamble to say that a juicy selection of Al Jarnow’s work will be showing during Flatpack at Ikon Eastside on Sunday 27th March, around lunchtime. Earlier in the weekend there are plenty of other psychedelic animated treats to be found, including some pioneering computer animation and more recent work by the likes of Mirai Mizue, David Wilson and Anthony Francisco Schepperd. More info coming soon.
(With thanks to Rick and Alex for the initial tipoff)
The festival got a nice mention in yesterday’s Observer, as part of Catherine O’Flynn’s cultural highlights:
(NB: It’s actually 23-27 March.) To return the favour – and also because it’s a great book – watch out for Catherine’s latest The News Where You Are, which comes out in paperback on Friday. And while we’re on the subject, Flatpack also pops up in this month’s Elle magazine. You’ll be glad to hear that we’re not draped over a sofa pouting. Maybe next month.
Festival hub launch – This year’s joint Flatpack and Fierce festival hub at VIVID will, for the duration of the week, be re-named The Dirty End. The hub will host a café, performances, screenings and resident artists from both festivals throughout the week.
Shadow Shows – The official festival opening is the first UK performance of an immersive piece using sound and projections, devised by Pram and Film Ficciones. Followed by a knees-up at the Victoria.
Digging for Gold – As part of a celebration of Birmingham-born archivist Iris Barry, a selection of classic silent cinema including Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr, with live accompaniment by Nigel Ogden (The Organist Entertains). Tickets are already available from the Town Hall website here.
We Don’t Care About Music Anyway + Sakamoto Hiromichi -Documentary about Japan’s experimental music scene, followed by a live performance by one of the film’s stars. Sakamoto Hiromichi takes cello-playing in unexpected directions using saws and angle-grinders.
Ra! Ra! Ra! – An evening of music and visuals devoted to the cosmic voyages of Sun Ra, presented by Grandmaster Gareth and Outer Sight.
Saturday 26 March, 8.30pm at Ikon Eastside –
In Bed With Chris Needham As part of the buildup to Home of Metal, a legendary video diary from 1992 filmed by a teenage metalhead in Loughborough.
Saturday 26 March, from 9pm at VIVID
Paper Party – The follow-up to last year’s Plasticine Party will feature live performances by Sculpture and Origamibiro, new VJ set from animator David Wilson and plenty of paper based antics.
© Flatpack Festival 2010