Fantasy in Academia & Lizard in a Woman’s Skin: FFW2010 Day 1

A 60°F June morning was a far from allegorical setting for the launch of the 9th Fantastic Films Weekend on Friday, but nevertheless, here we are on the last day of what has been a great weekend with some fantastic turn-outs for our film selections.

I only managed to make it to a splattering of events, but I had resident horror fan and dedicated FFW attendee Sarah Crowther acting as reconnoiter – more from Sarah later.

The main event on Friday was the Fantasma symposium of speakers discussing everything from Italian Horror to British Sex Films. Mark Goodall from Bradford University introduced the event which he organised in partnership with the National Media Museum, due to the recognition of a growing community interested in and treating the subject seriously.

First up was Ian Hunter, who talked on the subject of British Sex Films – an apt subject as we welcomed veteran director of said genre, Stanley Long, to FFW2010 earlier on today. Despite once being described as having “no redeeming features whatsoever”, Hunter pointed to the genre’s importance, as it was sex films which propped up the British film industry during its collapse in the 1970s.

Ian talked us through the key genres, and showed how, like horror films, they responded to changing social trends, for example, the emerging discourse of a consumerist attitude toward sex, and how they often played out a conflict between an older repressed, and younger permissive generations.

From the carnal to the incorporeal, the next guest was David Robinson talking on his paper The Infected Idyll: The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, a film which is showing tonight.

David spoke about the film in terms of the cultural anxieties of the age, all of which are hinted at in the “crass juxtaposition” of the opening scene, and concluded with a reading of the film which posits an enduring conflict between urban and rural. The film although set in England, is European, and is evidently worth seeing for the confused geography and variety of regional accents alone!

I ducked out just before Russ Hunter took centre stage with his whistle stop tour of Italian horror films, which I’m not sorry I missed since he had apparently chosen some particularly gory clips to entertain us with just before lunch! I also missed Gail-Nina Anderson’s Dracula’s Cape. But not to worry – all the talks will be available as podcasts to listen to or download from our podcasts page on Wednesday.

Last speaker of the day, and star of the event in my book, was Jeremy Dyson. I’m only really familiar with Dyson’s work on The League of Gentlemen, as I’m sure most of you are, but what a sweet-natured and engaging man he is!

In Shadows and Fog, Jeremy considered the feelings evoked by watching horror and fantasy cinema from childhood, and explored the question of how terror sensations are created within cinema and television productions, when they are often so difficult to articulate. What is it that makes I Walked With a Zombie chill-inducing, while LOTR: The Return of the King leaves him cold? Obviously the answer doesn’t lie with special effects and a huge budget, instead “what you need to get this sensation is a space between what’s being shown and what’s being represented.”

Dyson took some questions from the crowd, and the use of CGI came up on more than one occasion. On this subject, Dyson was enthusiastic.

“I think we’re living in amazing times. It has to be looked back on as a golden age…we have incredible resources, but you can be swamped with choice. This is the challenge now, how you navigate that [choice]. It would be foolish to be luddite about it.”

Fantasma concluded with a screening of Secret Rites, and this was only one of a few films on offer on Friday, as the symposium was the focus for Day 1. I asked our resident horror geek, about what she had seen, and Giallo being Sarah’s favourite genre, top of the list was always going to be Lizard in a Woman’s Skin.

“Lizard in a Woman's Skin is the film that nearly caused the incarceration of its director, Lucio Fulci. The notorious director only escaped jail time thanks to the testimony of his special effects artists who produced the mannequins of the film's gore-soaked dead dogs that the court had believed to be real. Ironically, Lizard is one of Fulci's less visceral films, instead a psychadelic trip into giallo as a woman struggles to separate dream and reality following a gruesome murder. A busy house at the Museum certainly enjoyed the Festival's first foray into Fulci - and can look out for more from the horror maestro at future fests.”

More fantastic films in the next post, along with a video clip of the scintillating screentalk from Michael Armstrong.

Don’t forget that podcasts of all the talks will be available on the National Media Museum’s podcasts page from Wednesday, and are yours to download and listen to at your leisure.

Feel the Fear at the 9th Fantastic Films Weekend

The weather has been sunshiny and bright here in Bradford this week, but next weekend at the National Media Museum, things are about to get a little darker…

From Friday 4 June – Sunday 6 June 2010, we open our doors to the world of horror, sci-fi and fantasy cinema in all its gory-ous detail for the ninth year running.

The Fantastic Films Weekend began in 2002 and has evolved into “the cult cinema festival to go to” (The Box of Obfuscation), showcasing a line-up of classic chillers, sci-fi shockers, fantasy epics, vintage TV shows and rarely seen gems from the vaults.

Highlights include a midnight screening of Birdemic, which will be attended by the film’s director, James Nguyen – described as the new Ed Wood – I hear this is a real shocker! We will also be welcoming David Gregory, a familiar name in horror circles who has produced countless documentaries on the genre. Gregory is in town to present his first feature, Plague Town.

Don’t miss an appearance by the multi-talented but elusive Jeremy (The League of Gentlemen) Dyson, who will be joined by other guest speakers at Fantasma, a one-day symposium created in partnership with Timecode – Bradford University’s media seminar series.

We will be taking a look at the horror ‘ones to watch’ in the FFW2010 Shorts selection, alongside rarely seen classics such as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, Lizard in a Woman’s Skin and Screamtime, and perennial favourites Psycho, Horror Express and Videodrome.

We will be blogging and tweeting in the run-up to and throughout FFW2010, and would love to hear from you. Add your comments to this blog or tweet using the hashtag #FFW2010.

You can also check out our FFW2010 Facebook page for updates, watch film clips and footage from the event on the National Media Museum’s YouTube page, and view pictures from this year and festivals past, by visiting the National Media Museum on Flickr.

For further details and to buy tickets, come on in and explore the Fantastic Films Weekend 2010 website. I dare you…

Google Celebrates Pac-Man's 30th Anniversary

If you have performed a search on Google today, you can’t have failed to notice a familiar dot-munching yellow blob and his arch enemies, the coloured ghosties, patiently awaiting your click on the ‘Insert Coin’ button.

One click and you’re hooked. I hope you have some time to spare, or Pac-Man worthy keyboard dexterity, as this is a fully playable 226 level game -- including the kill screen that was included in the original -- 226 levels!

This is the first interactive doodle (their term for anniversary and event-specific logos) that Google have produced since its inception in 1999, and was created by Senior User Experience Designer, Marcin Wichary and professional Google Doodler, Ryan Germick, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game’s Japanese release.

If playing Google’s Pac-Man logo has brought out the retro gamer in you, come along to the new Games Lounge at the National Media Museum, where you can play arcade classics such as Pong, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and of course, Pac-Man to your heart’s content; all on original arcade machines; all at the price you would have paid when they were first released!

Find out more about it on our Games Lounge minisite, or visit the National Media Museum website.

Festival Highlights: Part two - Four Lions

On Day 8 of the 16th Bradford International Film Festival, its Director Tony Earnshaw took the floor for the second time that evening to introduce what was for me the highlight of the festival: the UK premiere of Four Lions, the highly anticipated, inaugural feature length comedy from satirist Chris Morris, best known for TV series Brass Eye which sparked controversy and polarised opinion.

I attended what was supposed to be the UK premiere, after its initial screening at Sundance Festival back in January, but our Film Department managed to add an earlier 'preview' screening in an attempt to meet demand, which itself sold out in less than two days!

It was fitting that the premiere should be held in Bradford, as Morris spent a lot of time here doing research in the preliminary stages of the project, and believes that "coming to Bradford is almost a kind of homecoming for the film". A lot of the cast are from the area, many of whom were in attendance (along with the producers and writing team) for the screening and subsequent Q&A.

I had heard a mixed reaction from film critics after Sundance, but if my expectations as a fan of Morris' work were too high, the man himself delivered a cutting preamble from his wife which served to neutralise my anticipation: "Even if it's really s***; well done, you've made a film," a statement which turned out to be far from the truth. The laughs had already begun.

The 'Four Lions' of the title are a group of would-be jihadis: Omar, Waj, Fessal, Barry and Hassan, technically a fifth lion, but brought in at the last minute before the final showdown. We follow Omar (Riz Ahmed) and Waj (Kayvan Novak) as they flounder through training camp only to be sent home after inadvertently scoring an own goal, watch the band of fools hatch and invariably botch up plans, and their final bungled attempt to strike a blow for Muslims around the world at the London Marathon.

One journalist suggests that Morris has "taken on arguably the most bad-taste subject imaginable", but surely it is one of the most pertinent in today's Britain with its multiculturalism and accompanying divisions. Morris observed that "We are not very good at understanding across a cultural divide." But Four Lions goes further by illustrating the divisions within communities, for example, in the tumultuous relationship between Omar and his devout Muslim brother, both of whom are exposed as having misguided opinions. Challenging our assumptions, the most destructive of the group is in fact white Muslim convert, Barry (Nigel Lindsay).

In typical Morris fashion, no-one is safe, and he questions not only the sense of the protagonists but those who are charged with demobilising the cell, via the police team who are equally incompetent. What comes into play is the judgement brought down upon our own misconceptions, and as the film unfurls, you realise that the film's focus is upon cultural and group identity in general, rather than a commentary on the Islamic religion in particular.

The research Morris spoke of shows throughout the film. Although the characters are ridiculous, they are believable and amiable - testament to this fact was the gasp from the crowd at an unexpected death, which I felt was directly related to the audience's empathy.

After the film, Morris and members of the cast and crew answered questions about the problems of raising money for such a project, and the creative process behind writing collaboratively with Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, the writing team behind Peep Show (also in attendance). Actors Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak and Arsher Ali (Hassan) spoke of the sense of generosity and friendship between cast members.

Not surprisingly, however, the majority of the questions focussed on the potential offence and controversy surrounding the film. Morris decried that nothing he has done he would classify as controversial, and in answer to whether he is mocking Islam, he is "certain in [his] mind that's not what's going on." He thinks that the idea of offending people is just boring, and he would rather delve into a subject to try and understand it from a particular position. Comedy is as good a vehicle as any for doing this, and takes nothing away from the intelligence apparent and important cultural commentary throughout the film.

Morris had a self-confessed 'Richard Attenborough' moment when he took the opportunity to thank the crew and brilliant actors he had the opportunity to work with: "I didn't want this evening to pass without making that rather gushy but sincere remark." Reviews from the audience reported that Morris was warm and personable with anyone who wanted to talk to him.

This was deservedly the most successful premiere in Bradford International Film Festival's history. I'm still not tiring of its endlessly quotable lines. Go and see this film when it is out on general release in May.

The National Media Museum will be screening the film from 7 May, and is the only place in Bradford you’ll be able to see it on release!

Festival highlights: Part one

Bradford International Film Festival is regrettably over for another year, and what an 11 days it's been! We've seen Oscar nominees and BAFTA winners, actors and film industry luminaries, both home grown and international. It feels like it's finished before it's even begun, and as usual I didn't have time to go to half the films or events I planned on attending.

If you missed any of the highlights, not to worry! We recorded audio and video footage during some of the events, and can now give you the opportunity to watch selected clips from the comfort of your own home (or desk, or bus, or train...)



The first Screentalk took place on Friday 19 March, the first full day of the festival, when we welcomed a truly international special guest: Fernando Meirelles, director of City of God and The Constant Gardner (both of which were shown as part of Fernando's first retrospective outside his native Brazil).

Fernando was recently described as "one of the ten greatest directors working in the world today". He joined Professor Lúcia Nagib, director of the Centre for World Cinemas at the University of Leeds, and personal friend of Fernando, to discuss his career and answer questions.

As a special treat before the interview began, the audience were shown clips of Fernando's early work in commercials/documentary-mockumentaries, and heard about his accomplishments in Brazilian television, into which he "injected so much life and dynamism".

Despite his self-confessed shyness, Fernando is shown to be passionate and very funny indeed. During the evening, he told the story behind "the most expensive joke in history". It occurred during the filming of Blindness, when Gael García Bernal's improvised impersonation of Stevie Wonder cost the production thousands of dollars in music rights!



On the 6th day of the festival we were joined by Imelda Staunton, acclaimed actress who has appeared in countless films, most notibly Vera Drake, a performance which earned her a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination.

Imelda sat in conversation with Phil Penfold and discussed her career in theatre, television and films. She has a vast repetoire at her fingertips, so it was an absolute delight for the audience, particularly any burgeoning actors, to hear wisdom imparted directly from the mouth of one of Britain's most beloved character actresses.

In this clip you can watch Imelda discussing necessary adour in the early stages of an acting career, and the prudence she showed once hers had begun, the differences between 'then' and 'now', and the challenge of finding a decent musical!