Flatpack Festival 2009, 11th – 15th March in Birmingham
7 Inch Cinema are excited to announce the return of Flatpack Festival, presenting the third annual edition over five days in March 2009.
A celebration of eclectic, genre-bending cinema, where the magic of early film is complemented by the best new animation, graphics, and live music, the innovative festival plays out against the backdrop of Birmingham’s cinemas, warehouses, churches and bars, each brought to life with a colourful array of moving image programming.
Flatpack Festival is a three-dimensional film festival, which brings the pioneers of the past together with the trailblazers of today. It explores the imaginative spaces between film, music, performance and visual arts, resulting in a fertile explosion of creativity.
After a break in 2008, Flatpack is set to be bigger and better than ever, building its reputation as the independent film festival in the UK for showcasing and supporting emerging filmmakers, innovation and new directions in film and creative talent.
The launch event on 11 March in Birmingham Town Hall will pay tribute to the influential showman Waller Jeffs, an early pioneer of cinema in the UK, whose work will be brought together with live music from 15-piece gypsy folk band, The Destroyers. The event promises to capture the spirit of 1900s film culture, with the programme including key figures of early film such as George Melies and Cecil Hepworth.
Other attractions at Flatpack 2009 include special guests David O’Reilly and Guy Sherwin; a programme exploring muralists and art in public spaces, including a special screening of Megunica, Lorenzo Fonda’s documentary about Italian street artist, Blu; and Unpacked – two days of discussions and demos where filmmakers and artists explore creative and practical issues around their work.
There will be sessions on archive reuse, intellectual property, live cinema, and more. For younger cinema aficionados, The Travelling Picture Show is a programme of children’s matinees and workshops, concentrating on the lesser known and the unusual, including the wonderful Paper Cinema, a unique performance using paper cut-outs to create a film before your eyes.
The festival offers the best in new animation, short film, music documentaries and independent features, in culturally significant and alternative screening venues, from Floodgate Kino, a warehouse in Birmingham’s Eastside district which will be transformed into a picturehouse for the weekend, to art project spaces IKON Eastside, Eastside Projects and VIVD, and the Electric, the UK’s oldest working cinema, entering its centenary year in 2009.
Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition at UK Film Council, said:
As viewing habits and distribution models change, film festivals have an increasingly important role to play as a gathering-point both physically and virtually.
But they need to be innovative, flexible and attuned to their audience, and this is why our assessors recognised huge potential in Flatpack’s approach.
It has a really strong identity, and the range of venues and screening contexts means that it can reach people in many different ways. I really think the sky is the limit for this festival.
Flatpack Festival is produced by 7 Inch Cinema, which started as a film night in a pub five years ago. Their work now includes film-tents at music festivals, touring archive projects, short film consultancy and DVD compilations.
Core funding for the festival comes from Arts Council England, ScreenWM and the UK Film Council. In 2008 the Film Council chose Flatpack as one of seven key UK events to form part of a new festival strategy, in recognition of its innovative approach to programming and PR.
The full programme will be announced in January 2009.
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