this in from organiser Alison Mercer:
3-5 MAY 2012, THE LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM THEATRE, THE PIAZZA, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON WC2E 7BB AND THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL, 24 SHELTON STREET, LONDON WC2H 9UB
The London Archive Film Festival aims to showcase international archive-based documentary and short productions, some of which never get a showing in the UK. Many of the films will be accompanied by a question and answer session with the director.
‘A must-see event for anybody interested in contemporary creative media that relies on archival footage as a narrative vehicle, the Festival is organised in association with archive footage industry organisation, FOCAL International, whose annual award ceremony celebrates the very best in archive-based productions.’
This year’s Festival includes:
CINEMA KOMUNISTO (Mila Turajlic, 2010) a documentary exploring the history of Yugoslav cinema and winner of Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production in 2011. Using rare footage from dozens of forgotten Yugoslav films, plus never-seen-before archive from film sets and Tito’s private screenings, the documentary recreates the narrative of a country, the stories told on screen and the ones hidden behind it.
From the Netherlands, Karel Doing presents LIQUIDATOR, a short film that defies categorization; is it restoration or art? Karel based his project on a nitrate print of a 1922 film about Haarlem by Dutch film pioneer, Willy Mullens, where many of the original images had deteriorated but in the process had revealed stunning visual effects.
THE BOY WHO WAS A KING is a Bulgarian production in which past haunts present, fact meets fiction and myth rivals reality to tell the fascinating story of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Terrific archival footage tells the remarkable life story of the former Bulgarian boy-king-turned-PM, from his exile as a boy-king through his glorious return as a republican politician to his fall from grace in one of the greatest experiments of democracy today.
Paul Bell, Archive Producer on SENNA, leads a workshop at the London Film School on his work on the most successful British documentary ever made. He is joined by Mila Turajilic, director of CINEMA KOMUNISTO and Karel Doing, director of LIQUIDATOR. This will be a rare opportunity to learn the archive film-makers’ art from initial research to picture lock.
Full festival details and to book a ticket visit Facebook page or contact Alison Mercer E: [email protected]