Festival Update

With only ten days to go, I think you’re due an update on the Short Sharp Film Festival.

Not much has been happening, frankly, because when we reviewed the entries the day before the closing date, we were confronted with a bunch of sausages talking about road safety and a guy with a hangover vomiting over a priest. While the latter was heavy with symbolism (possibly the former too, but it escaped me), and we did have a couple of potential winners, we didn’t feel we had enough to justify making a night of it.

In true media tradition, though, there was a flood on the last day and we seem to be in business. After viewing all the entries, two things occur.

Technology, in the form of relatively cheap cameras and editing packages, is a great enabler for people of all ages. It’s hard to see how you could have mounted a festival like this ten years ago. However, to return to an old theme, just because you can use the technology, doesn’t mean you should, unless you’ve got something to say or show. The fact that you clearly need traditional elements like inspiration and an ability to tell a story is reassuring, I think.

The exercise has afforded a fascinating and sometimes chilling insight into people’s minds, which is exactly what a creative endeavour is supposed to do. If you want to know any more, you’ll have to turn up at the screening the weekend after next.