bff full programme 2013.compressed

27 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2013

SUPPORTING FILM VARIETY

WWW.BEDFORDFILMFESTIVAL.ORG

327-29 SEPTEMBER 2013 | BEDFORD FILM FESTIVAL

INTRODUCTION 5

VENUES 7

FULL PROGRAMME 10

FEATURE FILMS 14

DOCUMENTARIES 17

WORKSHOPS 19

SHORT FILMS 21

Contents


WELCOME TO BEDFORD FILM FESTIVALChristmas 2012 and in a festive haze the idea of a film festival was formed. Hardly a revolutionary idea but one of those moments where you wonder why it hadn’t been thought of before.

But, the question that really needed answering was how could we organise something that Bedford could really be proud of? Skip forward a few months and Bedfordshire based director Richard Jobson is one of the everyday radicals speaking at TEDxBedford. Paul Hutchinson and Stephen Judge were in the audience and during the break Richard commented that he’d heard about the film festival idea and wondered if we were open to working together.

We decided early on that this should be a festival for Bedford. With something for all ages, tastes, communities and budgets. We also wanted to help inspire budding film makers with an exclusive workshop programme facilitated by industry experts. We hope you’ll agree we’ve achieved that.

The festival starts with a drinks reception at our primary venue, The Higgins Bedford, before a screening of a film shot right here in Bedford - Wayland’s Song, presented by the film’s director Richard Jobson. We’ve then got a weekend with something for everyone. Family entertainment from animated feature Turbo, three weeks before its general release, right through to an exposure of a cult classic with the writer of Quadrophenia, Martin Stellman, followed by an outdoor screening of the film.

Our British feature films include dark comedy Dead Cat and the thought provoking Dummy Jim and Back to the

Garden. We’re very pleased to bring foreign films In the

name of… from Poland and Una Noche from Cuba to the town, before we then close the festival with Hollywood A-list film Emperor, another preview not on general release until mid-October.

The documentaries available cover everything from Adam Ant and his struggle with depression in The Blueblack

Hussar right through to Hip Hop imposters in The Great

Hip Hop Hoax and snowboarding culture Crash Reel. We’ve another preview screening here too, a full month before general release we bring you Muscle Shoals. The story of a small town in backwater Alabama, home to the studio where almost every soul legend and rock icon you can think of recorded some of their most popular tracks.

In-between the films we’re helping to educate and inspire future film makers with a series of workshops in directing, camerawork, lighting, make up and working in ‘the cloud’.

We hope you enjoy what we’ve put together in such a short time and we hope you’ve come to see films you might not have considered before. Whatever you’ve chosen, thank you for supporting variety and thank you for supporting Bedford Film Festival.

Stephen, Paul, Richard

Introduction

ADDITIONAL THANKSKatrina of Katrina Dixon Creative, James at

Bedfringe, Maria at Pensieri, Libby at La Piazza, our

projectionists Jesse and Ben, volunteer managers

Caroline and Rachel and all our volunteers, Iris and

Tony at Cambridge Film Festival, Graham and Jim

at Bonfire, Keiron and his team at Bedford Borough Council, everyone at The Higgins Bedford, Bedford

College and The Higgins Pantry, and the ever patient

and fantastic Annie, Francesca and Kayte.


THE VENUESYou don’t need to own a cinema to show good fi lms.

In our fi rst year we have kept our venues limited but we hope that as we grow, so will the number of venues across Bedford that want to be part of our festival.

We hope you enjoy the venues we have chosen this year and if you are interested in hosting a Bedford Film Festival event in 2014 please contact us.

THE HIGGINS BEDFORDRecently reopened following a major redevelopment project, The Higgins Bedford now boasts excellent facilities for schools, space for workshops and talks and improved facilities for visitors and has been transformed to feature new exhibition galleries.

We believe the ideals of The Higgins Bedford match the ethos behind our festival and we are delighted they have agreed to be our primary venue.

www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk

BEDFORD COLLEGEOff ering creative arts courses in fi lm and media production, plus animation, graphic design, photography and many more, Bedford College aims to produce the next generation of creative thinkers. Whether you’re leaving school, an international student, interested in degree-level courses, want to study part-time to improve your job prospects, or would just like to take up a new activity, Bedford College off ers a fantastic range of subjects in spaces that inspire.

www.bedford.ac.uk

Venues

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DIRECTING MASTERCLASS TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Barbican

WAYLAND’S SONG - OPENING TIME VENUE Feature fi lm opening ceremony, £8 18:00 The Higgins, Gallery

LIGHTING & SHOOTING A SCENE TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 12:00 The Higgins, Barbican

TURBO (U) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 96 minutes, £5 13:00 The Higgins, Gallery

SHORT FILMS - REEL 1 TIME VENUE A selection of short fi lms, FREE 13:30 The Higgins, Barbican

BACK TO THE GARDEN (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 93 minutes, £5 19:00 The Higgins, Barbican

MAKE UP FOR FILM TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Barbican

UNA NOCHE (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 90 minutes, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Gallery

THE GREAT HIP HOP HOAX TIME VENUEDocumentary, 93 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Gallery

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WORKING IN ‘THE CLOUD’ TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 12:00 The Higgins, Barbican


DUMMY JIM (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 90 minutes, £5 13:00 The Higgins, Gallery

IN THE NAME OF...(W IMIE...) (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 102 minutes, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Gallery

THE BLUEBLACK HUSSAR (15) TIME VENUE Documentary, 98 minutes, £5 16:00 The Higgins, Barbican

THE CRASH REEL (15) TIME VENUE Documentary, 110 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Gallery

EMPEROR (15) - CLOSING TIME VENUE Feature fi lm closing ceremony, £8 19:00 The Higgins, Gallery

QUADROPHENIA (18) & MARTIN STELLMAN TIME VENUE Feature fi lm event & guest speaker, £10 17:00 Bedford College

DEAD CAT TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 86 minutes, £8 19:30 The Higgins, Gallery

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MUSCLE SHOALS TIME VENUEDocumentary, 111 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Barbican

Putting Bedford in thepicture since the 1800s...

14 BEDFORD FILM FESTIVAL | 27-29 SEPTEMBER 2013

This event is founded and run by Bedford Film Festival Limited.

Feature fi lms

Join us for pre-screening drinks in the court yard of The Higgins Bedford before we go into our specially created ‘indie’ cinema for Wayland’s Song, fi lmed right here in Bedford. With opening comments from Richard Fuller MP.Injured on the battlefi eld in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, a soldier, plagued by epileptic seizures as a result of his injuries returns to his provincial hometown to fi nd his daughter missing in mysterious circumstances. Wayland’s Song is a daring, formally invigorating approach to fi lmmaking.

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WAYLAND’S SONG - OPENING TIME VENUE Feature fi lm opening ceremony, £8 18:00 The Higgins, Gallery

See it here fi rst, not on general release until 18 October 2013. Featuring the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Samuel L. Jackson and Snoop Dogg.Theo is a young speed-freak, the only problem is that Theo is a snail. After a mysterious encounter with the inside of a souped-up sports-car little Theo suddenly discovers that inside his shell is the horsepower he’s always dreamed of, and sets off on a madcap adventure to fulfi l his ambitions of tearing up the race-track.

28SEP2013

TURBO (U) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 96 minutes, £5 13:00 The Higgins, Gallery

Promising debutant director Lucy Mulloy immersed herself in Havana, researching the city’s true character and seeking out young non-professional actors. ‘Una Noche’ is a vibrant and highly authentic portrayal of the struggles facing Cuba’s younger generations.Brother and sister, Elio and Lila, devise a haphazard plan to make the 90-mile journey to Miami, escaping the poverty, disillusionment and repression that their homeland has come to represent. But the plan is fraught with scrapes and mishaps, and a happy ending seems unlikely.

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UNA NOCHE (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 90 minutes, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Gallery

The 1979 cult classic Quadrophenia comes to Bedford as we celebrate the history of the fi lm, its story and its message.Quadrophenia writer Martin Stellman talks about the fi lm and its legacy, before we watch the fi lm as the sun goes down. Set against the soundtrack of The Who’s 1973 album “Quadrophenia”, Phil Daniels plays working-class Jimmy who comes alive at night, with the all-nighters, his pills and his scooter-riding friends. Always on a high, life can’t get any better but what goes up must come down.

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QUADROPHENIA (18) & MARTIN STELLMAN TIME VENUE Feature fi lm event & guest speaker, £10 17:00 Bedford College


Michael and Kristen were childhood sweethearts, but haven’t spoken in 10 years. Thrown back together as they both begin their thirties, is there still anything between them?With only a gang of hilariously dysfunctional friends as allies, the former lovers attempt to work out whether their chance reunion constitutes love or just nostalgia. Dead Cat is a winsome, entertaining take on contemporary relationships, and a breezy shot in the arm for British comedy.

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DEAD CAT (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 86 minutes, £8 19:30 The Higgins, Gallery

Jon Sanders continues to explore his improvisational techniques with great delicacy in his new fi lm, Back to the Garden.It’s a year since the death of an inspirational theatre director and teacher, and his widow is struggling to come to terms with her loss. A group of close friends, many of whom are or were actors, come to spend the weekend with her to off er their support and to celebrate his memory in an entertaining and moving performance before scattering his ashes in the garden.

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BACK TO THE GARDEN (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 93 minutes, £5 19:00 The Higgins, Barbican

After his mother sent him the curious memoirs of deaf cyclist James Duthie, fi lmmaker Matt Hulse was compelled to give the maverick Scotsman’s story the recognition it deserved.Twelve years in the making, Hulse blends conventional narrative and documentary to tell the remarkable tale of ‘Dummy’ Jim’s attempt, in total defi ance of his impairment, to cycle from Scotland to Morocco – a journey which took him instead to the Arctic Circle. While an absorbing, layered sound-scape provides a feast for the ears, Hulse has also kept hearing-impaired audiences in mind off ering a plethora of visual stimuli.

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DUMMY JIM (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 90 minutes, £5 13:00 The Higgins, Gallery

We are very please to bring this Polish language fi lm to our festival.Adam is a priest working at a centre for delinquent young men. Behind a confi dent, devout exterior, Adam harbours illicit homosexual urges, which are stoked by the arrival of the enigmatic Lukasz. As he fl irts with the forbidden, Adam’s life threatens to come tumbling down.Though the fi lm has been subject to conservative invective on home soil, the sensitive religious context is well-handled — providing a catalyst for psychological drama rather than sensationalism.

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IN THE NAME OF… (W IMIE…) (15) TIME VENUE Feature fi lm, 102 minutes, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Gallery

See it here fi rst. Not on general release until 04 October 2013Join us for a short and informal Q&A to discuss ideas to encourage fi lm making in Bedford before we screen Emperor, starring Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur, who in the wake of WWII had to decide if Emperor Hirohito was to be charged with war crimes. The historical aspects of the fi lm are handled with respect but considerable tension remains as the audience shares the tension of MacArthur’s decision.Closing comments from the festival founders and Mayor of Bedford, Dave Hodgson.

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EMPEROR (15) - CLOSING TIME VENUE Feature fi lm closing ceremony, £8 19:00 The Higgins, Gallery


Documentaries

In the early 2000s, the music charts on both sides of the Atlantic were dominated by American rap music.Enter Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain who, having built a sizeable home following, were looking to launch their hip-hop career. Rejected by A&R men the pair reinvented themselves as Californian rude-boys with accents and wardrobes to match. Now masquerading as Silibil’n’Brains, Boyd and Bain set about establishing their new personae with convincing online promo videos, and before long the record labels came knocking.

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THE GREAT HIP HOP HOAX TIME VENUE Documentary, 93 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Gallery

See it here fi rst, not on general release until 25 October 2013The backwater town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has been a hotbed of musical creativity ever since the early 60s. Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James and Percy Sledge all recorded songs there, followed by The Rolling Stones, The Osmonds, Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2 and Alicia Keys.Narrating Muscle Shoals’ story via interviews with a host of stars, the fi lm’s most captivating moments see the artists recalling those magical moments in the booth before recording started.

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MUSCLE SHOALS TIME VENUE Documentary, 111 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Barbican

Adam Ant was one of the biggest pop-stars of the 1980s, before a nervous breakdown consigned him to a creatively enervating passage through the mental health system.The result of over a year spent with the eccentric singer, award-winning fi lmmaker Jack Bond’s documentary charts Ant’s much vaunted return to the music scene — older and wiser, but still the erudite, charismatic, fl amboyant fi gure of 30 years ago. Largely a fl y-on-the-wall, Bond’s camera is nevertheless a revealing window into Ant’s life: his overactive mind and his eff ervescent personality.

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THE BLUEBLACK HUSSAR TIME VENUE Documentary, 98 minutes, £5 16:00 The Higgins, Barbican

Aged 18, Kevin Pearce was a starlet of the snowboarding circuit and considered a shoo-in for the 2010 US Winter Olympics team.But just weeks before the Olympics, Pearce suff ered a horrifi c accident leaving him with serious damage to his brain and one of his eyes. Despite the risk of fatal trauma, Pearce insisted on returning to the sport.Immersed within both snowboarding culture, and Pearce’s close-knit family group, this is an incisive insight into the world of extreme sports, where danger is the criterion of value.

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THE CRASH REEL TIME VENUE Documentary, 110 minutes, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Gallery

Adobe are proud sponsors of Bedford Film Festival 2013. To find out more about our range of market leading software and the Creative Cloud, as outlined in our workshop, please visit:

www.adobe.com/uk/products/creativecloud

Manfrotto are proud sponsors of Bedford Film Festival. To find out more about our vast range of lighting and filming products, as utilised in our masterclass, please visit:

www.manfrotto.co.uk


WorkshopsAward winning director and one of Bedford Film Festival’s founders, Richard Jobson, works on a scene with a group of actors and breaks down into minute detail how he would treat the fi lm through the rehearsal stage onto the set of a movie.If you’re an aspiring actor or director then don’t miss this chance to see the bare knuckles of transferring a director’s vision onto screen.

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DIRECTING MASTERCLASS TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 17:00 The Higgins, Barbican

Anyone who has watched home movies will know fi lming is not just a simple case of pointing a camera at something and pressing record.Making sure the look of a scene matches the mood is just as important as making sure the actors use the right words, tone and emotion.Lighting cameraman Andrei Austin shows how he has become the most sought after steady cam op in the UK, presenting a detailed lighting scenario and showing how he creates both atmosphere and tension in his work.

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LIGHTING AND SHOOTING A SCENE TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 12:00 The Higgins, Barbican

The glitz, the glamour, the characters on screen look truly beautiful at times.The role of a makeup artist ensures that performers, models, presenters have suitable makeup and hair before they appear in front of cameras, touching up if and when needed. Alison Kynoch will take workshop attendees through her own career so far, giving them an exclusive insight into the life of a make up artist, talking about how to create contacts, maximise opportunities for paid work, and the importance of ‘set etiquette’, giving them a good foundation for a successful career.

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MAKE UP FOR FILM TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 15:00 The Higgins, Barbican

Just a little over 100 years ago the fi rst fi lm was made, in the 1930’s ‘talkies’ appeared and genuine colour fi lm arrived much more recently. Now there’s CGI, 3D and digital processing creating fi lm quality like never before. But what next?Adobe exec Matt Gyves shows how the next big advance could well be more for the fi lm makers than the audience, by working in ‘the cloud’ using all the available Adobe software tools. From Writing to Editing and Grading – almost anything is possible in ‘the cloud’.

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WORKING IN ‘THE CLOUD’ TIME VENUE Workshop, 1 hour, £5 12:00 The Higgins, Barbican


Short fi lms

Worm - Bert&BertieA darkly comic tale of fear and loathing... and invertebrates.Imbolc – Redbird Films, 16 minutesContemporary drama set in real time and fi lmed at the time of Imbolc.They say people come into your life for a reason. For Brigid Liston and her son Quinn, such a person comes in the form of American anthropologist, Janet Hattridge; researching her Ulster Scots roots and her family’s link to a long forgotten witch trial.As the relationship between Janet and Quinn deepens, Brigid’s mother dies. Fuelled by grief, Brigid is set on a path that ends in tragedy, and as her actions unfold, the past reveals itselfTelling Time – Another Short FilmTelling Time was shot in various locations around Bedford in November 2008, including a call centre, a village hall, a cafe and an underpass. Rachel is a depressed girl, who fi nds comfort from the tramp with the smiley face, who she passes regularly. On fi nding him beaten up, she refuses to accept the reality at the Police Station.

Phobias - Bert&Bertie, 8 minutesA surreal adventure into the minds of fi ve phobiacs in a waiting room.Marvin - Mark Nute, 7 minutesNarrated by Steve Coogan with music composed by Jeff Mercel of Mercury Rev ‘Marvin’ is a short, slightly twisted, animation based Frank Pudney’s original concept.It tells the story of a young boy born with an unusual extra orifi ce in the middle of his forehead and the adventure he embarks upon when one day something important falls out.The Taxidermist - Bert & Bertie, 22 minutesA darkly fantastical love story that will knock the stuffi ng out of any tail that has gone before.

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SHORT FILMS AT BEDFORD FILM FESTIVALOur short fi lm sessions are your chance to try something new and see how you don’t need a long time to tell a powerful and emotive story. Our selection runs over two days and is free so you really have no excuse but to come and see the variety that’s out there.

Please note that short fi lms are not offi cially rated and so audience discretion is advised.

Bedford Film Festival operates an appropriate audience policy and people under the age of 15 will not be permitted entry.

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The Pantry are proud sponsors of Bedford Film Festival. A family run restaurant in the heart of Castle Quay serving fine Italian cuisine, using fresh ingredients with strong southern Italian influences.

www.thehigginspantry.co.uk

www.blackletterpr.co.uk

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bff full programme 2013.compressed

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