Edinburgh Film Festival

by SWS on 03-Jul-09 12:42

This year, South West Screen was able to give five producer/directors small bursaries to attend the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

One of the five was Sasha Collington from Dorset, who is just about to graduate from the Masters in Filmmaking at the London Film School.

Here's her account of a whirlwind six days at the Festival:

Friday 19th June

I arrived in Edinburgh late afternoon on Friday, bought my delegate pass, checked into my accommodation (a room in the flat of a local librarian as part of festival beds) and went to the networking drinks at the delegate centre. There I began talking to a group from the NFTS. Their short films were screening in the festival.

I went on from the networking drinks to the made in Scotland party held at the Assembly Rooms. There was lots of Scottish dancing going on and apparently Sean Connery was there, though sadly I didn’t get to see him.

Saturday 20th June

I went to the press screening of a Taiwanese film, ‘No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Bu Neng Mei You Ni)', which is the story of a disenfranchised father fighting the bureaucrats who are trying to take his daughter away. I found the film really interesting as I loved the central characters, the father and daughter, and found their relationship really moving. I was particularly interested in the subject as my last film was about a mother/daughter relationship.

I then went to the Birds Eye View networking drinks at the delegate centre. Three female directors talked about their films, which were showing at the festival: Lindy Heymann the Director of 'Kicks', Caroline Paterson the co-Director of 'Wasted' and Najwa Najjar, the Director of 'Pomegranates and Myrrh', and followed that up with a screening of ‘Wasted’, the story of two addicted runaways.

Sunday 21st June

I went to see the press screening of 'Humpday', an American independent film that had won the Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence at Sundance. It is about two old high school buddies who find themselves locked in a mutual dare: to make an amateur porn film about two straight guys having sex. I was really interested to see the film as it had been produced on a really low budget. It was extremely funny and really inspiring to see how such a simple idea with low production values could make such a clever and witty film.

Following screenings of Shane Meadow's 'Le Donk', and 'Outrage', I went to the party for the film, 'Rudo y Cursi' where I met several interesting people, including a DoP who graduated from the NFTS and was there for a film that he had shot, and a composer also from the NFTS. It is really useful for me to meet talented people who I could potentially collaborate with on future projects.

Monday 22nd June

I had coffee with Chris Moll. Chris told me about the features initiative that is going to be launched in Bristol. I was intrigued to hear this as I have directed five shorts now and I'm looking to make the move to developing a feature project. All my scripts have been set in Dorset, where I grew up, even though I've had to shoot them in London as that’s where I have been studying for my MA. Now that I'm graduating, I want to base my next projects in the South West.

After meeting with Chris, I went on the press screening of the Trailblazers shorts. One of the shorts really stayed with me. It was called 'The Grace of God' directed by Ralitza Petrova, a student at the NFTS, and was the story of a German man who believed that he had been swapped with Prince Charles at birth and was the real heir to the throne. The main performance was so compelling and I liked the premise so much. I always find it really fascinating to see what films are out there in festivals and figure out where my material fits.

After the screening I went to the Pitch and Connect event organised by Birds Eye View for female filmmakers. There I met Rachel Millward who is the director and co-founder of Birds Eye View. I had a fifteen minute slot booked with Rebecca Mark Lawson, who manages the short film programme on behalf of the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund.

I went from the Pitch and Connect event to the delegate centre to meet for coffee with the other delegates from South West Screen: Alison Sterling, a Producer, David Pope, a Writer/Director, and Kate Swan, a Producer.

That evening I went to dinner with Directors and Producers from the Trailblazers programme. I then went on to the Trailblazers party.

Tuesday 23rd June

I went to the press screening for the Cinema Extreme short films. I was really interested to see the films as I would like to apply to this year's Cinema Extreme. I had loved Andrea Arnold’s ‘Wasp’ but I hadn't seen many other films made on the scheme. The films were fairly wide ranging, but it was the last film, ‘Little Red Riding Hoodie’, I found the most interesting. It began with the close up on a tight t-shirt that reads 'fuck me' and the camera pulls back to reveal that it is a little girl wearing the top, doing a hula dance. It was such a good beginning. Overall, I found the Director’s voice unique and interesting.

After this I went to the Directors' Lab Open session: Finding Character through Subtext, led by Marten Rabarts, Artistic Director of the Binger Filmlab. I would really like to apply to next years Directors Lab, once I have got my films out to festivals, so I was interested to see an open session. I was also interested to meet Marten Rabarts, as I would also like to apply to the Binger Filmlab. The session was very interesting. We watched the film ‘Elephant’ and discussed how a sense of each character is created in the film. I find it really useful to do this type of exercise and I found Gus Van Sant's directorial decisions very inspiring and thought provoking.

Wednesday 24th June

I went to the Short Filmmakers' Breakfast, which was incredibly useful. There were several experts present whom we could network with over muesli. I met Christine Bardsley from the British Council and I talked to her about sending my graduation film to them and she gave me advice on film festivals. I then met Philip Ilson, who programmes for the BFI London Film Festival. I grabbed some tea and then spoke to Jude Goldrei at Lifesize Pictures about the film council funded schemes and to Chris Collins, the Development Producer at the Film Council.

After the festival

It was really a great experience attending the festival. I made so many new valuable contacts and I am currently following up all of them. Once my graduation film is completed, which should be in the next few weeks, I am going to send a copy to all the people that I met. I have already had emails from a couple producers and programmers asking when I might be able to send them the film. One of the most valuable things for me was to make a personal contact with the Film Council and with South West Screen, my regional agency, as this period after graduation is really key to getting my career off the ground.

Tagged:Edinburgh International Film Festival

carogm - said on Sat July 18, 2009, 00:11:01:

Edinbutgh

Wow, i was there too. Never seen so much rain. I was at the premiere of Boogie woogie, a film I was Production Designer on. Lots of cast turned up and Sean connery was in the audience. Must collide next time we take in a festival!

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