Looking forward to the 2022 festival

Stroud based writer Nikki Owen looks forward to the festival

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg said, "Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about." Films have not only the ability to make us think, but they can also take us to another world.

And so to the 2022 Stroud Film Festival. In its 8th year, stretching from 4th-27th March, Stroud Film Festival is a phenomenon. Established by film experts and enthusiasts abound and run by volunteers with a love of all things movie, the festival is bohemian, progressive and boundary-pushing. Climate change, survivor's guilt, what it means to be Black and British at a time of perpetual change, the rise of female film directors, Nelson Mandela and the education system in South Africa. The themes and questions this year's festival poses are vital and illuminating.

"Films often raise questions in a uniquely accessible way," say the festival's organisers, Andy Freedman and Jo Bousfield. Director and Stroud Film Festival aficionado David Yates agrees. "Filmmakers set out to explore and convey the human experience in all its richness and complexity. There's nothing quite like watching films with an audience. Moments of human insight and emotion are more meaningful when we witness and share them with others."

So how does a director arrive at that insight? And what was the thinking behind making the movie? It’s questions like these that we often have after going to the cinema. The good news is that many of the incredible films being shown this year have a director Q&A at the end. So I caught up with a few to ask what inspired them to make their films.

Take That's What She Said. Happening at the SVA on 11th March, this is an evening of short films by female directors working across the South West. Curated to celebrate female talent, these short films explore reality, hidden worlds and identity. They are fresh, bold - and vital. Hatty Francis Bell's searching film, Bubbled is part of the lineup. "I was inspired by a frustration of being locked away with my parents during the Covid-19 pandemic," says Hatty of why she made the film. "I was curious about the feeling and compelled to explore personal relations, our inside and outside worlds and where they meet."

That sense of curiosity stretches to director Chloe Fairweather. Her film, Dying to Divorce, is showing at Lansdown Hall on 13th March, with a Q&A  after. The documentary film takes place at the heart of Turkey's gender-based violence crisis. I asked Chloe what led her to make this essential piece. "I happened to be in Turkey working with a journalist," Chloe tells me, "and met a woman who had been badly assaulted by her husband." This led to Chloe meeting female activists who were determined to get justice for women in a country where domestic violence is not recognised as a crime. "I had an urgent story in my hands," Chloe said. "I had to do something with it. I got to know these courageous women."

This theme of courage is prolific at the festival this year, and rightly so. Take the film Chasing Mandela's Rainbow. With a Q&A by its (first-time) director, Gary Janks, Chasing Mandela's Rainbow explores today's education system in South Africa and asks if it's a system Mandela would have wanted. It's an award-winning film that is as thought-provoking as it is moving. "I wanted to document not just the inequality in South African education," Janks says of the film, "but the inequality in people's lives, the socio-economic home backgrounds. I made this film to show how different children's lives are in South Africa and how it affects their futures." For Janks, the film has a link to his own parents, particularly his father, who went to Durban High School, the film's setting. Told through the lives of three courageous and determined children, this is a story of the struggle to achieve Mandela's dreams in an all too painful reality.

That idea of a painful reality is the central aspect of the film Beyond Solastalgia. Showing at Stroud Brewery on 16th March, this climate change piece directed by Peter Mosely looks at solastalgia - a form of mental distress caused by real environmental pain. "I wanted to highlight how irresponsible our society has been over so many years to have left such a legacy for our children," Peter tells me, "as well as show that we can find solutions by not being fearful." It was also important for Peter to pay tribute to Polly Higgins's work with this film. A barrister, author, and environmental lobbyist, Polly was described by Jonathan Watts in her obituary in The Guardian as "one of the most inspiring figures in the green movement." Having lived in Stroud for most of his life, for Mosley, showing his film at the festival means giving a voice to many. 

The concept of voice and, subsequently, sound takes me to two more Q&A-led films. Stroud-based filmmakers Joe Magee and Tom Jacob's event The Art of Sound in Film takes place at Lansdown Hall on 20th March. The two movie makers (Tom is also a composer and sound designer) will be talking about all things post-production, from sound design to foley and more. There will be a screening of their film/sound collaborations, Jackpot and No Sherbert, starring Keith Allen and Sean Gleeson. "Sound can make or break a scene," Joe tells me. "It can create an atmosphere and can generate feelings in the audience that sometimes visuals alone cannot."

Creating atmosphere is something Sisters With Transistors presented by Hidden Notes on 5th March at Lansdown Hall will undoubtedly achieve. With a Q&A with director Lisa Rovner in an event chaired by radio DJ and TV presenter Edith Bowman, Sisters With Transistors is the untold story of electronics' music's female pioneers. "When I first became aware of this film, I wanted to put it on in Stroud in front of a live audience," Hidden Notes co-founder Alex Hobbis tells me. "As Good on Paper, we've worked with Stroud film festival right from the start, so to bring this film here, one that highlights all this music by pioneering female composers who were often sidelined, means an immense amount to us. I deliberately haven't seen it yet because I wanted to experience the film, watching it with friends."

Friends, I think, is the word here. Friends help give us courage. They help create a connection that offers human strength in a world that often feels broken. Because friends - and films - can glue it all back together. The Last Cuckoo Night at the Subscription Rooms on 26th March is one example. Centring around director Mark Chaudoir's touching film The Last Cuckoo about much-loved Stroud poet and activist Dennis Gould, the evening is filled with appearances by legends of the spoken word, all of them friends, all of them loved. And this, to me, sums up not just what film is about, but what Stroud is about. The beauty of friendship, the joy of connection, of courage and of creativity. Stephen Spielberg was right - movies really are magic.

Nikki’s  piece first appeared in the March 2022 edition of Good on Paper

The Language of Grief

The Language of Grief –  Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds

The Stroud Film Festival is delighted to present an exploration of the way we talk about love, life, death and bereavement.  Stroud film makers, charity founders and bereaved parents, Jimmy Edmonds and Jane Harris have curated a diverse selection of documentaries for this unique festival event on Saturday 7th March at Open House, 7.30pm. ‘The Language of Grief’ evening will include a discussion of each film with its film makers who will each present their work on the night.

‘Almost Heaven’ (75mins) is directed and presented by Carol Salter, winner of Best Documentary, British Independent Film Awards 2017. Carol is an award-winning documentary director who specialises in telling intimate stories from around the world.

The film follows Ying Ling, a 17-year-old girl far from home, as she trains to become a mortician in one of China’s largest funeral homes. An intimate, tender and life-affirming portrait of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood. The film is a poignant reflection on death and the fragility of life, but also a reminder of what it is to be young and alive. It’s a tender elegy to first love, friendship and the importance of caring for the dead. It has screened right across the globe and we are thrilled to be able to share it with you as part of the festival.

https://almost-heaven-film.com/   www.carolsalterfilm.com

‘Laid Bare’ (8 mins) directed by Adam Hale. In this short film, bereaved mother Anne-Marie Cockburn offers an exquisite and moving video portrait following her daughter’s death.

In July 2013 Anne-Marie Cockburn’s 15-year-old daughter, Martha, spent the afternoon in an Oxford park with friends. There she took a half gram of pure crystallised MDMA (ecstasy) which killed her.

‘In the very moment I watched the life slip away from my beautiful girl, the words “I have a future and I have a life” came into my head - they were loud and they were clear. I was confused in that moment as to why those words would appear, but they stuck and in time became my mantra.’

Anne-Marie met Jimmy and Jane during one of The Active Grief Retreats organised by their charity The Good Grief Project. The project exists to provide bereaved parents with an understanding of their grief through the positive actions of activity and creativity.

https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk/about/

Anne-Marie continues, ‘Creativity has played a key part in my healing. I had an idea to project photos onto a white t-shirt I was wearing as I wanted to show the world what bereavement feels like. I made a short film about Martha (with my friend Adam Hale), it is a real labour of love. The end result astounded me - Adam’s interpretation is both beautiful and powerful.’

‘Lessons in Grief’ (18 mins) directed by Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds.  Here at the Stroud premiere, they share an insider’s view of two bereaved parents at they negotiate their way through the Mexican festival, Day of the Dead.  This short film highlights what they learned from visiting Oaxaca during this festival of death. It raised all sorts of questions for them about the alternatives to a ‘stiff upper lip’ cultural approach to death.

Jimmy and Jane founded the ‘Good Grief Project’ charity to support parents experiencing grief. Their own journey of loss followed the tragic death of their son Joshua in 2011. In response to their joint grief and using their filmmaking skills, they embarked on a road trip to the USA to meet other grieving parents. The result of this extraordinary journey can be viewed in their documentary ‘A Love that Never Dies’. Since its world premiere in London in 2018, the film has been screened in over 50 cinemas all over world to huge acclaim. ‘A Love that Never Dies’ has now been released online and can be viewed via Amazon and Vimeo. https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk/our-films/

‘Neither a depressing film nor a sentimental one. The smorgasbord of grief laid out here, in all its variety — wit and humour, shame and defiance — is a testament to life.’ FLIC EVERETT in THRIVE GLOBAL

Jimmy and Jane have always enjoyed being present at their screenings -  to share their journey, to answer questions and to hear the many and varied stories of grief that the film provokes for its audiences.

Here at the Stroud Screening of ‘Lessons in Grief’, Jimmy and Jane would like to share thoughts of their work and personal experiences of grief during an audience Q & A shared with their fellow filmmakers.

If you would like to know more about their films, retreats and work with bereaved parents, or make a donation, please do not hesitate to contact them via:

www.thegoodgriefproject.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/thegoodgriefproject/

https://www.instagram.com/thegoodgriefproject/

https://twitter.com/GoodGriefProj

This Is Stroud

This Is Stroud - the community we are when we’re being our best. Dmytro Bojaniwskyj rounds up SFF’s climactic weekend at Lansdown Hall.

So that was Stroud. A very packed Lansdown Hall (we broke out more chairs, all the chairs, there were still people standing) watched BBC Gloucestershire’s brilliant Faye Hatcher introduce 25 films with a Stroud connection, interviewing many of the people who made or inspired the films along the way.

Faye Hatcher at the podium

We had the most eclectic mix.

A 13-second fan-film to doughnuts by a girl in Year 5 at Brimscombe primary school; a 19-minute behind the scenes of the creation and installation of local artist Jack Everett’s Ecocide. Rush Skatepark gave us their thoughts on the creation of communities, soundtracked by local punk band Bones Like That; Hannah Reynolds provided her meditation on the same.

Boss Morris were profoundly, wonderfully, beautifully strange in their film Rites.

This Is Stroud was a tribute to Stroud’s communities, but also to its young people. Many young film-makers and musicians were involved: behind the camera, in front of the camera, in presenting the films on the night.

The audience watches Skateparks

Lydia Wakefield filmed Martha James performing her music; Aimie Radford and Laura Clapham presented films; Bethany Barr projected them.

Sam Judd made 7 Days to Save the Planet, Transition Stroud’s first ever film. A call to people to reflect on their lives and how they might change them, it encompassed interviews with fans at Forest Green Rovers, drone footage of the Heavens, and trying on vintage hats at Duffle.

Many of the films moved the audience deeply. Ryan’s story from Gloucestershire Young Carers; Rubie’s story from Meningitis Now. Others simply made the audience see through new eyes: A Station For Everyone.

There was even a show within a show: Morag, a 60-Second Challenge highlight from last year, introduced 8 of this year’s. Some odd, some poetic, some funny, all excellent!

And Faye held the evening together excellently. A night that truly reflected the diversity and people of the Stroud Valleys.

This Is Stroud was a Stroud Community TV film festival event

22 March 2019, Lansdown Hall, Stroud

Backstage with Strictly Cinema

Strictly Cinema returns to Stroud Film Festival with Hitchcock’s Vertigo on Saturday 23rd March, set in the eerie shadows of St Laurence Church. Producers Louisa Birkin and Claire Levy tell the story of their immersive pop-up cinema, now in its 4th edition.

Hello both. What is Strictly Cinema?

Louisa: Strictly Cinema is the name of a series of immersive film events. The name is tongue in cheek, because it is in fact more than just ‘cinema’, it is a whole evening of experiences. It came about with our first event, Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom and the name just stuck.

Claire: We encourage our guests to dress up & get in the mood. It’s a lot of fun.

Romeo+Juliet, The Lansdown 2017

How did you two meet and how did you become involved with SFF? 

Louisa: I first got in touch with SFF in 2016. I had an idea for a film event but knew I would need a bit more help and so Andy Freedman introduced me to Claire and we got chatting about ideas.

And what do you both do?

Claire: I’m a filmmaker, my background is in documentary and I lecture in filmmaking at Bath Spa Uni & at Goldsmiths, Uni of London. You can say I’m a big fan of film in all its guises!

Louisa: I work as a graphic designer and art director. I currently work for Giffords Circus and previously freelanced in London.

Strictly Ballroom’s Pan-Pacific Dance Championship, Lansdown Hall 2017

What are the biggest challenges when putting on an event like yours?

Louisa: For me the challenge is transforming the space and creating a unique setting for the film, on a minimal budget. I have previously borrowed costumes from a theatre directors’ personal collection in the Forest of Dean so our volunteers could be dressed in ball gowns; scoured eBay for boiler suits and Nostromo patches for our Alien ship uniforms. It’s all in the detail.

Claire: At our first event, we realised we didn’t have anywhere to hang people’s coats! Some quick thinking saved the day and we’ve learned each time we’ve put on an event. I’m an experienced producer, so used to thinking through logistics, but the thrill is seeing it all happen on the night. My main rule is feed your crew. They will love you and the event all the more.

Tell us about some of the previous events, what and where were they?

Sourcing costumes in the Forest of Dean

Louisa: We have put on a couple of events at the Lansdown Hall - Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet. For Strictly Ballroom we teamed up with some local dance instructors and gave over 90 people a spontaneous lesson in ballroom dancing. For SFF 2018 I was keen to find a more unusual location, so we ventured to the basement level of The Malthouse at Salmon Springs. It provided an eerie and dark setting for our screening of Alien.

What's been the highlight of Strictly Cinema so far?

Claire: The atmosphere and all the great experiences we create wouldn’t be possible without our fabulous volunteers - they really make the night special. We are very grateful for all their hard work.  

Louisa: Seeing the outlandish costumes that walk through our doors. The people of Stroud love to dress up – be that glammed up with glitter and sequins for a dance around the ballroom – or a Commando ready for action against the Predator stalking across the dusty basement. I’m looking forward to seeing how people react to our 1950’s film noir theme this year!

Alien, the Malthouse basement 2018

So what's in store for Vertigo? What was it about the film that made you choose it?

Louisa: We wanted to choose a classic film noir – but perhaps one that not everyone would have seen. The film is over 60 years old but stands the test of time. It has a fantastic score and we thought would be perfect for the atmospheric setting of St Laurence Church.

Claire: The venue  is such a privilege to be able to use this year - we’re grateful to  Mike and St Laurence to welcoming us into their genuinely cinematic space. We have a few little surprises and prizes up our sharp suited sleeves which we think our audience, as ever, will enjoy. We are also very lucky this year to have Derrick from Jamaica Inn Kitchen to cater our event. We’re also grateful for the support from Stroud Wine Company and Wotton Cinema for our evening.

Louisa: I’m expecting sharp suits and ties, fedora hats, glamorous dresses – private detectives, villains and femme fatales – anything goes!

Strictly Cinema presents Vertigo - St Laurence Church - Saturday 23 March 7.30pm

Anna Cady - animation and dance

For her second year at Stroud Film Festival, visual artist Anna Cady presents two unique responses to trauma in Mexico and Sierra Leone.

Anna Cady has screened and installed films both nationally and internationally, including Tate Modern and Sundance Film Festival. 2019 is Anna’s second year at SFF where she presents 30% and Bitter Pineapples, both creative collaborations in response to very different human struggles. Anna tells us more about each film’s methods and inspirations…

30% - Women & Politics in Sierra Leone

“30% combines Em Cooper’s oil painted animation with documentary footage to tell the stories of three women working to change gender inequities in post-conflict Sierra Leone.

“The technique is rotoscope - like the recent film Vincent - but rather more creatively! Every frame is a new oil painting, painted onto glass where there is a projected image. Em has gone on to make feature films and this year was nominated for an Emmy.

“It is still - sadly - all too relevant to the political situation in Sierra Leone. It was selected for the Sundance Film Festival 2013 and many of the major international film festivals. It has been used in the parliaments of the UK, the EU and Sierra Leone and in universities.

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Bitter Pineapples

Gabriel Galvez-Prado

“My father was involved in drugs. He was very violent. When I was dancing with my mum, she said I was bringing something into a new life” - Gabriel Galvez-Prado

“This is my most recent project made over two years with Mexican dancer Gabriel Galvez-Prado. I endeavored to convey the role dance has played for Gabriel in coming to terms with trauma. I commissioned Gabriel to dance in relation to my film installations. The narration wanders through memories, which are at times of a normal happy childhood but increasingly reveal a world of violence and death.

“This year Gabriel’s mother, Anita, spent three months with him in the UK where the second part of this film - Anita’s Dance - was shot. It is about silence. The silence which protects them from facing up to discussing the violence and abuse they have experienced and the freedom dance gives them to overcome fear.

“Gabriel lives and works in Southampton, where, as well as performing and teaching he holds movement classes for older people and those with Parkinson's disease.”

Anna Cady and Gabriel Galves-Prado: Animation and Dance - The Museum in the Park - Wednesday 20 March 8pm

Pip Heywood: filming without a fuss

Local filmmaker Pip Heywood on a life in TV documentaries, and the virtues of small cameras.

On Friday 15 March Pip Heywood presents Frame By Frame, a selection of very personal Stroud stories on film. For thirty-five years Pip has been a renowned television documentary editor, working with Alan Bennett, David Attenborough, Paul Merton and Ben Okri to name a few.

Pip Heywood

“These were really interesting times, but to me equally significant were those whose names you won’t know, but who found the courage to tell heartfelt stories in front of a camera: about living with anorexia into later life; about the firemen who came out alive from the Twin Towers in New York.”

Pip’s break into filmmaking was incidental, as befits his style.

After finishing film school at Guildford in 1976 Pip offered his editing skills to a college friend who’d been working in India as an assistant cameraman. “Having only ever edited a 15-minute film at Guildford we had made Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy, three films about Tibetan culture and Buddhism which were screened around the world, and continue to be so to this day.

“As a television film editor the increasing emphasis has been to quicken and condense material through the edit, yet this more contemplative stillness has sat somewhere on my shoulder.”

“Small cameras are unobtrusive and unthreatening. This can make a difference if you are filming people with difficult stories to tell”

Sculptor Andrew Wood

In Frame By Frame Pip presents his recent work about Stroud residents, their lives, homes and landscapes, and all in his warm and naturalistic style.

It includes Pip’s first foray into handheld filmmaking - The Car Show - a theatre in a car with an audience of three in the backseat.

“I’ll also be showing films about my close friend the ceramic sculptor, Andrew Wood; about Stroud Station where the footbridge can be a massive challenge for people with mobility issues…

“…about Robert Race who makes humorous and intricate automatons; and of the commitment of carers whose nearest and dearest are living with dementia.

Robert Race’s automatons

“I’ll also show two ‘landscape’ films – greatly inspired by my dad, Oliver, who was a local landscape painter.

My main concern with a documentary is to be true to the story – the tools I use are simply there to make that happen, without a fuss.

What I like about really small cameras is that they are unobtrusive and unthreatening. This can make a difference if you are filming people with difficult stories to tell.”

PIP HEYWOOD: FRAME BY FRAME - Friday 15 March, 8pm - Lansdown Hall

Film School - become a filmmaker in a day

Ever fancied having a go at making your own film but didn’t know where to start? Film School is for you.

On Saturday 9 March Stroud Film Festival invites you to our very own Film School. Tutors Andy Freedman and Amanda Whittington will help you develop your skills and show you how to devise, shoot and edit a short video. Explore ways of telling stories through camera angles, sound and editing techniques. No experience required and equipment provided.

And then after the workshop why not take part in the 60 Second Film Challenge? We ask the people of Stroud to devise, shoot, edit and upload a short film in one day. This year's theme will be announced at 8am on Saturday 16 March, and completed films will need to be uploaded by midnight on Sunday. Selected films will be screened at This Is Stroud at Lansdown Hall, Friday 22 March.

Sue McKillop made her debut film It’s A Hard Life after taking part in 2018 on the theme “cold water”.

My first film ever, made for Stroud 60 Second Film Challenge on the theme of "Cold Water". Sue Mckillop

“Really enjoyed the Film School last year… lots of help and encouragement for a novice film maker like myself. We each shot and edited our own mini film in a just a few hours which gave me the confidence to enter the 60 Sec Film Challenge. A very valuable and enjoyable day!”

SFF FILM SCHOOL - Saturday 9 March, 10am–4pm - Atelier

Minimum age: 14.

Life as a humanitarian aid worker

Stroud GP, aid worker and Refugees On Film curator Dr Richard Dean has worked in refugee camps in Calais and Greece intensively over the last 3 years. Richard shares his story of life on the ground and what led him there.

My first involvement in refugee work began in 2015 in Stroud when some locals began collecting clothes and food to the notorious jungle camp in Calais. As I was filling boxes to go into a van-load of aid I began to wonder – what was going on in Calais – and decided to head off there to see for myself.

Lesbos 2015

I quickly recruited a fellow GP to go with me , a female Muslim GP from Bradford, as I was keen to start working with as wide a population of refugees as possible… and we arrived in Calais in November 2015. Calais was in turmoil… thousands of refugees from all around the world making a temporary life for themselves under constant scrutiny and harassment by the French police, under harsh conditions without any basic sanitation.

Disease was rife, infections, diarrhea, coughs and colds. Families with small children were living in abandoned spaces unsuitable for people to live.

“Calais was in turmoil… thousands of refugees from all around the world making a temporary life for themselves under constant scrutiny and harassment, without any basic sanitation”

Lesbos 2017

We set up a clinic in a tent in Dunkirk in an old football field, with mud swelling around the makeshift tents and sewage running into the living areas, with huge colonies of rats feeding off any left over garbage they could find.

Most of my time there was spent ferrying food and clothing from a huge warehouse set up in Calais to collect donations. The van I used was given to me by a Bristol charity group I worked with - ABC - who I continued to work with over the years. I quickly learned that hungry and cold people get ill - and the best medicine is often good food and shelter!

From France I began trips to Greece in 2015 - the gateway for many refugees from the Middle East as they made their way from Turkey. Initially in Lesbos, where 6000 people a day were arriving in inflatable boats, I set up clinics to provide healthcare.

“I quickly learned that hungry and cold people get ill - and the best medicine is often good food and shelter”

Lesbos 2017

Eventually as more doctors arrived I realised what was needed most was someone to take on the monumental task of coordinating aid donations arriving in the Greek islands and making sure it got to the right places. So I did this as well as the medical work.

Since 2015 I have made many visits back to Greece, throughout 2016-2019, establishing medical clinics in Athens , Thessalonika and Ioannina. In 2018 I headed up an international team of doctors, nurses and therapists from the US, UK and Australia covering medical provision from the Greek islands to the mainland, using my knowledge from previous trips to get people to where they were needed most.

Lesbos 2015

During these years I have met refugees from every conflict on the planet. Mostly Middle Easterners – from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. In the last year or so I have increasingly met people fleeing African conflicts, from the DRC, Cameroon etc but also from Sudan, and Eritrea. For the most part, these people faced a stark choice between staying in their countries and facing death, or leaving with the hope of starting a new life in Europe.

Their journey is one which, under the same circumstances, I too would make… as would anyone courageous enough to face the uncertainties of the smuggler routes with their own potentially fatal complications.

A Pakistani cafe in the Jungle camp, Calais

I have made many friends along the way, some of whom are contributing short videos for Refugees On Film. I hope to provide plenty of time for questions during the night, that can answer any queries about this crisis that has fallen on Europe the last 4 years.

REFUGEES ON FILM - Saturday 16 February, 7.30pm - Lansdown Hall

A Night at the Oscats

Orange cats, street parties and asparagasms... SFF signs off with the 6th annual Stroud Community TV Awards

It was the sixth year of our Stroud Community TV Awards - the iconic orange cat of our logo lends it’s name to the awards - Stroud’s Oscats evening. And once again we were part of the wonderful Stroud Film Festival.

It was an evening of inspiring, thought-provoking, laughter-making, tear-jerking films with more than a dash of Stroud quirkiness. The films reached into parts that bigger movies might not - a community recorded and represented in it’s own way!  A truly wonderful celebration of our Five Valleys. The audience of over 120 people got to see 40 short films or clips of films all with links to Stroud. The films included the winning films in seven categories, an opportunity to hear from local filmmakers and some of the films from the 60 Second Film Challenge. 

Philip Booth, who compered the evening, commented: "In order to build community resilience and a low carbon future we need to build stronger communities. Stroud Community TV tries to support this by telling stories of our community, inspiring others to get involved and celebrating many of the wonderful things that are going on in our amazing town. I doubt anyone would have been disappointed by the many inspiring films that were about people coming together and making a difference."

Among the winners were a great film with Bishop Rachel about how social media impacts on young people (i), a film promoting Stroud District (ii), the Paganhill Street Party that won Best Community Event film (iii) and an animation urging us all to become Earth Trustees (iv).

See more about the evening including the full list of winners and nominations at: http://stroudcommunity.tv/awards-2018/

THE WINNERS

(i) Best Campaign Film - Does social media affect how we feel about ourselves?

Bishop Rachel joins different year groups from Stroud High School to discuss the impacts of social media on their lives, and how it has affected their self-esteem.

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(ii) Best Local film - Discover Stroud District

Commissioned by the tourism department at Stroud District Council to promote local enterprises, activities, our landscape, art, music and the creativity in the Five Valleys. Produced by award-winning local filmmaker Nick Turner and edited by Five Films. 

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(iii) Best Community Event film - Paganhill Community Street Party 2017

Paganhill Community Street Party, Saturday 17th June 2017 at Archway Gardens. A community party organised by and for local residents who are hoping this will lead to more conversations about what can happen in the neighborhood. Special thanks to Jacqueline Smith who was one of the key organisers.

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(iv) Best Green film - Mission LifeForce – Law Is Upside Down

Started by folk in Stroud and growing rapidly. Right now dangerous industrial activity is legally permitted, while resisting it is criminalised.  #MissionLifeForce campaigns to fund a law to protect our planet, our communities and all those who take action as conscientious protectors.

Stroud Community TV Awards took place Saturday March 17 at Lansdown Hall, Stroud

60 years of the Stroud Film Society

Now in its 61st year, Stroud Film Society continues to champion new films from around the world that you won’t see in the local multiplex. Who else would bring a Nepalese circus documentary to the Slad valleys?

On Thursday 15 March Stroud Film Society presents Even When I Fall, a true story of human trafficking within Indian circuses, preceded by a Q&A with members of the production team. Tim Mugford and Claire Carpenter tell us more about the society's origins and how they brought Even When I Fall to SFF.

"The Stroud and District Film Society was formed in 1958 by the inspiration and enthusiasm of Jack and Grace Allington and Natalie Savage. Films were shown at St Matthews Church Hall in Cainscross. We could seat 200 people and frequently did. In 1996 we changed to the British School Hall, where we still meet. 

"Over these many years we have shown more than 800 main features, together with many short films. Seeing all the titles now, it is difficult to separate those which one considered excellent at the time from others. 

Joy Batchelor at her studio in Cainscross, Stroud c. 1954

"Certainly noteworthy was our 25th anniversary show when [Get Carter] director Mike Hodges came and presented excerpts of his films. In 1990 there was the visit of a number of Polish Film Society members after the election of Lech Walesa to Polish government. And our showing of Mugabe and the White African presented by the local producers in 2009.

"Then at last year’s festival Vivien Halas, daughter of John Halas and Joy Batchelor, came and introduced Animal Farm and told us of their several  studios in Stroud, and the local animators Harold Whitaker and Tony Guy.

"That this Society has been so successful over the years is undoubtedly due to all the work put in by the volunteers, from choosing the programmes to booking the films to projecting."

Which brings us to Even When I Fall, which Claire discovered in Manchester at a weekend screening put on by the BFI's Independent Cinema Office.

"It’s always a strange feeling going into a cinema at 9am in the morning... but the weekend was excellent, all really high quality and there was a very diverse selection. Even When I Fall was an unusual and thought-provoking film. I was delighted to hear that it was available for regional previews and with the possibility of a Q&A from the directors! So I was delighted to be able to include it as our film for the Stroud Film Festival."

Even When I Fall - British School, Slad Road, GL5 1QG - Thursday 15 March, 8pm

Stroud's Cold Water Swimmers

When you think 'movies' and 'wild swimming' what comes to mind? Stand By Me? Think again.

Cold Water Swimming comes to the Marshall Rooms Wednesday 7 March. Curator Sara Tibbetts and filmmaker Jimmy Edmonds tell us of the personal stories presented in these unique films, and the appeal of plunging into a freezing lake. Sara explains how this niche genre came to Stroud Film Festival:

The films we have selected all tell deeply personal stories and each film is stylistically very different. The subject lends itself to some exquisite cinematography and the motivation of these swimmers is really absorbing. Whether you are a swimmer or not these films offer some fascinating insights into what makes us tick.

The films connect challenge, risk, therapy and a quest for purpose, as well as a practice which has a very long tradition, here and around the world.

Johanna Under The Ice

Johanna Under The Ice is visually stunning, hard to believe how they made it in such challenging conditions. 

Afterglow is another beautiful short film in which the protagonist talks of the 'abyss of nothingness that gives her clarity of thought'.

Hannah Maia in My Big White Thighs & Me

My Big White Thighs & Me is wonderfully quirky and tells a moving and unfolding story.

There will be short talks from a couple of experienced cold water swimmers and an update on the progress of plans for Stroud’s very own Lido, which was built for cold water swimming in the 1930s.

And award-winning local film maker Jimmy Edmonds presents a new film and shares his passion for wild swimming. Since the loss of his son Josh, swimming is where he feels most at peace.

"Swimming has become an essential part of the way I grieve for Josh. It connects me to him in ways that I have found to be both surprising and rewarding.

When I get into the rhythm of my swim I can achieve a kind of serenity – there’s a peace here, where alone in this watery world I feel I am as close to death as I dare go and as close to Josh as I’ll ever be while I still do breathe."

Cold Water Swimming - The Marshall Rooms - Wednesday 7 March 7.30pm

INTRODUCING.... GEORGE PLATTS

George Platts kicks off SFF 2018 with his Synchronous Sound Multi-Screen Experience on Sunday 4 March. We caught up with George for a taster of the night ahead and an insight into the man himself

What in a nutshell is the Synchronous Sound Multi-Screen Experience?

The synchronous bit is in your brain. There will be 3 screens showing different, but related, moving images.  The three loudspeakers, one next to each screen will occasionally separately project related (to the images) brief sounds BUT the composition of the 6 elements (3 visual + 3 audio) are random so your brain goes to work to synchronise the occasional brief sounds with the moving images in a 3 dimensional space. Coincidences do happen.

How long have you been doing this?

Since 1965, when I ran a music club for fellow teenagers in a smallish Yorkshire town, Bingley.

How did you get into it?

My mother was an artist and writer. My best friend from 1955, Steve, and I liked to listen to the ‘latest’ music. I combined the two at The Turret Club, Bingley, West Yorkshire from 15th January 1965. The club closed in 1972.

I remember last year's launch night featured lots of obscure sci-fi and B-movies. Have you really watched all those films?

I mainly respond to the visual aspect of cinema. Many of the films I repeatedly watch, I watch sections of (sometimes looping them), in no particular order, playing a different sound track each time (usually the latest CD I have bought). Sometimes I become intrigued as to what the original narrative is and re-watch the film ‘properly’.  I am always disappointed as the multifarious narratives I had concocted for the film surpass the original B-movie / obscure sci-fi narrative.

What's your favourite film of the last year?

Frantz. I also screened Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at a conference in Germany in July and marveled at the fact that it was a mainstream film of 1969. It was beautiful.

And of all time?

Decasia. Bill Morrison (2002) 

...and Der Lauf Der Dinge. Peter Fischl & David Weiss (1987)

What else are you looking forward to at SFF? 

Dressing up as an alien.

What's your favourite thing in Stroud? 

Springhill Co-housing ... I live there. And Stroud Brewery pizzas.

You walk into the Prince Albert on a cold February evening. What's your first drink?

Makers Mark bourbon (no ice) and a Brewdog IPA. Cheers!

 

George Platts' Synchronous Sound Multi-Screen Experience is at the Prince Albert, Sunday 4 March, 4pm