New Independent Film Festival Set for Swansea’s Cinema & Co next month.
15.06.16 Evening Post article written by Geraint Thomas.
GET your popcorn ready! A new short film festival is coming to Swansea next month showcasing the best of community movie-making.
SwanComm Film Festival will see more than a dozen films, by aspiring local film makers of all ages, ranging from comedy-horror to animation and documentaries which have been created by residents and groups from across the county.
The free day-long festival will take place in the city centre Cinema & Co venue on Saturday, July 9, and is a joint project by Locws International, a Swansea-based artist-led charity, WEA YMCA CC CYMRU, providers of accredited community learning, and Communities First groups.
Photo: Filmmaker Andrea Smith filming for Gaze Upon The Yonder.
A spokeswoman for SwanComm said: “It is hoped that the festival will become an annual event celebrating community film making in Wales.
“Local residents have been attending courses to gain accredited qualifications in film and media and learn skills in using still cameras, video cameras, green screening, animation and editing.
“The film makers also completed a course on planning the festival. Both courses have been a great achievement for the participants, many had no experience of film making or event planning and some had no previous formal qualifications.
“Space is limited so each film will be shown twice during the day to give as many people as possible the opportunity to drop in to see the films.”
Gemma Bevan, learning communities project officer for Communities First, said: ” The film-making workshops went very well. There was a lot of activity packed into four days. Seven children from Townhill Community School participated in character design, animation, creative writing, video recording, sound recording and editing. The group provided positive feedback, they were all pleased with the activities and are looking forward to seeing the final result once the editing has been completed.”
Theo Tennant, a founder member of Cinema & Co, said: “We are hosting the SwanComm Film Festival which is a really great opportunity for film makers in the city to try and get their films on the big screen. It’s not an opportunity a lot of people get.
“They are independent films, made by people in Swansea, and are the product of a load of workshops that the filmmakers have been involved in learning how to develop films from beginning to editing. It’s fantastic to be part of something so localised; all of the films are about Swansea.”
Amongst the films are The Backflat, a comedy horror short made by a group of filmmakers from Bonymaen and Townhill Street Names made by young filmmakers from Townhill Community Primary School.
Photo: Sea View Community Primary School, filming for Football Fever.
Mal Pope, who has enjoyed international success in the world of film making himself with From a Jack to a King and Set Fire to the Stars, gave the festival the thumbs up and praised it for giving others the chance to experience film making.
He said: “The amazing thing is today, if you have an iPad or a smart phone then you can a film. Anyone can do it if you really want to it’s just down to having a good idea. There’s no excuse anymore; if it’s good enough, and you put it on the internet, then people will see it. There’s a whole world out there just an internet click away.”
Read the Evening Post Article online.
