Oska Bright 2007
Marina Norris (ACE - left) with the Oska Bright commitee with Elisabeth GIbson of Projectability
Colin Hambrook reviews the latest Oska Bright at the Old Market Arts Centre and talks to some of the steering committee.
It seems the Oska Bright Film Festival gets bigger and better as time moves on. This October saw the festival's third outing at the Old Market Arts Centre in Brighton. Due to popular demand, the festival was screened over two days. 113 entries came from as far afield as Australia and were whittled down to the screening of 38 films - all between one and ten minutes long. The quality was better than ever, with a marked increase in the number of films featuring drama, dance for film and animation. There were also less docu-drama films. Not that I've anything against docu-drama, but it seems that learning disabled film-makers have grown in confidence to become more creative with their storylines. It would seem that Oska Bright has encouraged them to try out different things. And so the subject matter of the films relies more on imagination and less on personal stories about day-to-day experience.
Judging the seven award winners must have been a truly difficult task, with production values higher than ever. Some of my personal favourites coincided with the judges' choice, but by no means all. Project Ability from Glasgow won the best animation slot with their film Country Road Take Me Home. But it was another film from the same group called Why I Hate Art that made me laugh out loud. The animation is about a RoboCop remake called Robobart, who is programmed to destroy Art Galleries. The film would complement Doris Salcedo's recently installed crack in the fabric of London's Tate Modern as a statement questioning what is shown in Art Galleries. Perhaps it illustrates why art galleries should be made to be more relevant to wider sections of the community.
Shysters: Liz Aggiss (left), Joanne Finney and Healey Moyes.
Although there was the usual emphasis on humour to get a message across, there were some significant attempts at serious drama. Kids Today by Year 11 at the Cedar Centre in Brighton, was an especially convincing story of relentless bullying at school and at home. I thought Celebrity Shotgun submitted by the one and only Heart n' Soul was a better and funnier take-off of Eastenders than even French and Saunders have managed in the past. The story is an old one. A businessman fancies his secretary and tries to muster the courage to carry out his cheating desires. He follows her to a club, but is too drunk to do anything. The embarrassed secretary takes him home where he gets his come-uppance. In the middle of the film is a hilarious dream sequence in which the boss gets taken to a fantasy island by comedian Frank Carson, no less.
However the winner for best acting was well deserved. The Raven's Tale by The Shystershadows (who won Best Drama in 2005 with My Bloody Valentine), is a beautifully done gothic horror romance I could watch over and again. The characters were well-developed to make it believable. Again, it isn't a particularly new story (how many are there under the sun), but has a modern twist. The jilted bride is sent a message from her lover by the raven, which tells her that the groom is in fact gay.
It was great to see a real media presence this year with Guardian Unlimited who came to interview the cast from The Raven's Tale. I believe that both Meridian and the BBC ran features on the festival. As I said two years ago, the festival is more than deserving of some air time in one of Channel 4's late night short film slots.
Award Winners 2007
The following films won the seven awards given out at the ceremony on 16 October:
Oska Bright 2007 Bursary Training Award: Park Life by Dance Delight (Lincoln) and Amarillo by Phoenix Centre (Newbury)
Best Animation 2007: Country Road Take Me Home by Project Ability (Glasgow)
Best Documentary 2007: In Our Shoes - Serena by Serena Nordon (Kenilworth)
Best Special Effects and Camera Work 2007: Germ Academy by Work Power (Taunton)
Best Overall Film: I Saw A Girl by Arty Party (Telford)
Best Acting 2007: The Raven's Tale by The Shystershadows (Coventry)
This festival is clearly set for big things. On The Road is already planned to hit Penzance, Dublin, London, Halesworth, Shropshire, Glasgow, Inverness, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool, and Bristol (to name a few) over the coming year. To see more details please go to www.oskabright.co.uk.
To see an interview with Andy Kee and The Shystershadows go to GuardianOnline
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last updated: 2007-10-30 11:36:08
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