Sam Coley teaches radio production at Birmingham City University, and on Flatpack opening night he helped us out by recording the Curzonora show. Now he’s gone one better and put together a slideshow about the event.
Flatpack 3: “Curzonora” from Sam Coley on Vimeo.
Last week artist Beatrice Gibson spoke at Eastside Projects about her film, A Necessary Music. It’s been showing at the gallery alongside Simon & Tom Bloor’s exhibition and was also part of the programme for Planning for Play. Beatrice’s talk framed her work with clips from Robert Ashley, Peter Watkins (director of Flatpack feature, Privilege) and a short from doctor of deconstruction, John Smith.
Girl Chewing Gum is the third Smith film that I’ve seen in the space of two weeks and is a fixed-cam street scene of 1970s east London. Smith narrates the piece, calling directions and approval to passers-by as if they are playing out roles on a studio set.
Other Smith sightings included Channel 2’s series of shorts, where a hotel room video diary, that begins as a monologue about his room’s flapping ceiling tiles, pulls back to reveal his location on the Israeli/Palestinian border. Planning for Play also included John Smith’s wordgame-as-film, Associations, and the humour, economy and subtlety found throughout his films has made him a father figure of Flatpack 3. If you can’t wait for Flatpack 4 and the possibility of future J. Smith screenings there’s a DVD available from the LUX shop. Girl Chewing Gum can be YouTubed, here.
Since we metaphorically dug up Waller Jeffs for our tribute event Curzonora a couple of weeks ago, a surprising number of people have been enquiring about his last resting place. In particular, the lady who interviewed us for Midlands Today had definite Nancy Drew tendencies and was very excited about the idea of hunting around cemeteries on a Sunday afternoon. For her and anyone else who is interested, Mr Jeffs’ gravestone can be found in plot no. 947, section B1 at Brandwood End Cemetery in Kings Heath. (Fourth section on the left if you enter from the Broad Lane gate). Photographic evidence above. While we’re on the subject, Scott Johnston has been posting the little filmed interludes from the show on his youtube channel, featuring the excellent Simon Britton as Mr. Jeffs, while the real Jeffs can be glimpsed fleetingly (0.06-0.07 secs) at the beginning of Mitchell and Kenyon’s film of the first Birmingham University degree ceremony.
PS: a nice review of the show is up at Birmingham Live
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Well, Flatpack has arrived! And, after a snaking rail journey through the Midlands countryside, so have I. Leaving Moor Street Station with my suitcase in hand, I headed towards my festival digs – a beautiful National Trust property known as Back to Backs. Set in an old terrace of workers’ cottages bang in the middle of the city centre, my 1930s cottage acts as a time capsule to another world of Clarice Cliff tea-sets and ‘Home Sweet Home’ embroideries. A perfect setting for Flatpack’s first day of events, which took a nostalgic look at early cinema. Read more
Look out for a nice big spread which we wrote on Waller Jeffs, near the back of this month’s Little White Lies magazine. (Che issue)
