Events 2018
LANSDOWN FILM CLUB PRESENTS: QUEENS OF SYRIA + Q&A
Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, GL5 1BN
UPDATE: We are thrilled to announce that the executive producers of Queens of Syria will be joining us for a Q&A after the film screening.
Documentary about fifty women from Syria, all forced into exile in Jordan. In 2013 they came together to create and perform their own version of 'The Trojan Women', the timeless ancient Greek Tragedy about the plight of women in war. This was an extraordinary project of cross-cultural contact across millennia, in which women born in the 20th century in Syria found a vivid mirror of their own experiences in the stories of a queen, princesses and ordinary women like them; uprooted, enslaved and bereaved by Trojan War.
7:30pm | £6 adults/£5 concessions
DRAWING BREATH
SVA, 4 John’s Street, GL5 2HA
In collaboration with Pauline Thomas and other artists, Anna Cady completed a series of short abstract films about the elements. International sound artists and poets were then invited to create interpretations of the films – each of which radically alters how the film is read. The work has been installed in venues around the UK, incorporating further collaborations and interpretations by dancers, and live improvised music. Anna Cady and Pauline Thomas are award-winning artist-filmmakers who have screened at Tate Modern and Sundance Film Festival. Local musician and composer Andrew Heath will perform an improvised interpretation of the film especially for the evening and following the screening will be a conversation with Anna and Andrew led by installation artist Ann-Margreth Bohl.
4PM | £3adv / £5 on door
ANIMATION WEEKEND AT THE MUSEUM IN THE PARK: THE HALAS AND BATCHELOR CARTOON CAFE
The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, GL5 4AF
If you’ve yet to discover the innovative, humorous and subversively entertaining work of ‘the British Disney’ you are in for a treat! Visit the Museum’s pop-up cartoon café and enjoy some beautifully crafted, technically brilliant and wonderfully inventive short animated films from the award-winning Stroud studio.
11AM – 3:30PM | Free entry
STROUD COMMUNITY TV AWARDS
Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, GL5 1BN
Stroud’s ‘Oscats' evening! A fun awards evening of the best short films made in and around the Five Valleys. The evening focuses around a screening of outstanding films in seven categories which have appeared on Stroud Community TV (stroudcommunity.tv), a not-for-profit independent channel for videos recording and celebrating the Five Valleys. The evening also offers an opportunity to hear from local filmmakers and will feature the winning films from the Stroud 60 Second Film Challenge. You can expect films that are inspiring, thought-provoking, tear-jerking and have more than a dash of Stroud quirkiness. These films will indeed reach parts that bigger movies might not - a community recorded and represented in its own way! Expect a truly wonderful celebration of our Five Valleys.
7:30PM | Free
MEET THE ANIMATOR
The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stroud GL5 4AF
Not many people realise that by the mid-twentieth century, Stroud was home to Britain’s biggest and most influential animation company, Halas and Batchelor. Discover more about the work of this famous studio with The Animator, presented by Spaniel in the Works Theatre Company.
3PM | Free - to book your places call the Museum on 01453 763394
ANIMATION WEEKEND AT THE MUSEUM IN THE PARK: AARDMAN ANIMATIONS CLAY MODELLING WORKSHOPS
The Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stroud GL5 4AF
Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, and the brand new feature film Early Man, are giving you the chance to make your very own clay character at these fun, hands-on modelling workshops. Lead by one of their expert models makers, you’ll get the opportunity to create a model of either Shaun, Gromit or Hognob, plus you’ll be able to ask about the animation processes involved in making Aardman’s award-winning titles. And the fun doesn’t have to stop there – you can take your models home and have a go at animating them using Aardman’s easy to use Animate It! app, which they’ll show you how to access and use.
10.30am – 11.30am Hognob (7 – 11 year olds) | 12noon – 1pm Shaun the Sheep (7-11year olds) | 2pm – 3pm Gromit (12 – 16 year olds)
£5 per workshop (max. 20 students per workshop) via 01453 763394
JAZZ STROUD PRESENTS: WATTSTAX
SVA, The Goods Shed, GL5 3AP
Jazz Stroud presents the legendary “black Woodstock” Wattstax, Mel Stuart's documentary of the epochal 1972 concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Featuring incendiary performances by Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers, the Emotions, the Bar-Kays, and other greats of soul, R&B, and gospel — plus biting humor from a then little-known Richard Pryor — Wattstax is more than a concert film. It also captures a heady moment in mid-1970s, "black-is-beautiful" African-American culture, when Los Angeles's black community came together just seven years after the Watts riots to celebrate its survival and a renewed hope in its future. There will be also be live music from Funk in Sessions house band after the film screening.
8PM | £5 Tickets available at www.sva.org.uk/booking
INTO FILM **CANCELLED**
WE REGRET TO INFORM THAT THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. EXISTING TICKET HOLDERS PLEASE EMAIL INFO@STROUDFILMFESTIVAL.ORG FOR FURTHER INFO
ELECTRIC PICTURE HOUSE CINEMA, WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE, GL12 7AE
Stroud Film Festival are excited to be joining forces with film education charity, Into Film, to deliver a workshop on film programming for young people aged 16-19. The session will take place during the afternoon of Friday 16th March at the Electric Picture House in Wotton-Under-Edge. If you are aged between 16 and 19 and would like to attend this free event, please email jane.coulter@intofilm.org by Friday 9th March.
Into Film is a BFI funded initiative that aims to put film at the heart of young people's learning. For further information visit their intofilm.org
STROUD FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS: EVEN WHEN I FALL + Q&A
The British School, Slad Road, GL5 1QG
A special preview of this intimate and beautiful documentary from filmmakers Kate McLarnon and Sky Neal, produced by Elhum Shakerifar (A Syrian Love Story) preceded by a Q&A session with members of the production team. Sheetal and Saraswoti met as teenagers in a Kathmandu refuge, survivors of child trafficking to corrupt Indian circuses and brought back across the border to a Nepal they can hardly remember. Even When I Fall follows them as they begin to build a future utilising their secret weapons ironically gifted to them by their former captors: their breath-taking skills as circus artists. Shot over the course of six years, this film follows the creation of Circus Kathmandu, Nepal’s first and only circus. With a rich backdrop of the beautiful Kathmandu Valley, this special film harnesses the visual power of circus to give a unique perspective into the complex world of human trafficking.
8PM | £6/£5 concessions (students and unwaged)
FILMMAKER FOCUS: JOE MAGEE
The Marshall Rooms, Nelson Street, GL5 2HE
Award-winning Stroud-based filmmaker and artist Joe Magee will discuss his work in a Q&A with Lotte Lyster. As well as showing some selected shorts Joe will discuss how he got into film making and talk about his approach to his work, including his long collaborative period with performer Bill Bailey. He will also talk about the making of his latest short film, No Sherbet, a crowdfunded project starring Keith Allen and Seán Gleeson set in Stroud and made with actors and crew almost entirely living in the Stroud district…
8PM | £5 Tickets available from themarshallrooms.co.uk
THE RIVER: DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE + Q&A
Hawkwood College, Painswick Old Road, GL6 7QW
Using the flow of a river as a metaphor reflecting the movement of time, The River tells the story of the communities and people connected to the River Severn from Tewkesbury to the Severn Bridge. Filming through the seasons, capturing the beauty of the river from different viewpoints and its constantly moving shape over a year, the film combines these images with the tales of the country folk, the seafarers, fishermen, farmers, artists and many other people that have stories to tell. The screening takes place at Hawkwood College (which has expansive views over the Severn Vale) and includes a Q&A with Peter Moseley who has over 20 years’ experience as director of photography (DOP) on feature films, drama, commercials and documentaries for BBC, ITV and Channel 4 including Horizon, Arena and Panorama.
8PM | £12/£9 concessions. Click here or call 01453 759034 to book tickets
WAAS PRESENTS: MOTHER'S DAY FILM SCREENING
Atelier, 1st Floor 19A Lower Street, GL5 2HT
A unique evening curated by the Women’s Art Activation System (thewaas.org), a recently formed Stroud based artist collective set up to design processes and host events to support and facilitate arts generated by women. The films will be screened alongside live performances inspired by mother’s day and International Women’s day.
3PM | £6/£5 concessions (students and unwaged)
LANSDOWN FILM CLUB PRESENTS: CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, GL5 1BN
German drama directed by Doris Dörrie. After Rudi's wife Trudi dies he travels to Japan to fulfil her dream of being a Butoh dancer. He arrives in Japan at the time of the cherry blossom festival which embodies beauty, impermanence, and new beginnings. Rudi finds ultimate fulfilment and peace.
7:30pm | £6 adults/£5 concessions
STRICTLY CINEMA PRESENTS: A SCI-FI 'ALIEN' DISCO-TOPIA
The Makespace, Malthouse, Salmon Springs, GL6 6NU
Strictly Cinema returns to Stroud Film Festival for its second year, promising a night of epic proportions, with a screening of Ridley Scott's classic 1979 'Alien'. One of the greatest sci-fi films of all time, relive Ripley's encounters on the Nostromo in an eerie atmospheric setting. Collaborating with the renowned Stroud DJ's Disco Sucks, the sci-fi themed night will take place at a brand new venue and include the usual favourites, dressing up, games and challenges, food, drink, the screening of Alien, as well as a 'space disco' after party into the early hours. Food and drink provided by The Malthouse Bar and Kitchen. Dress up as your favourite sci-fi character!
7:30pm | £15 (Includes film screening, welcome cocktail, cinema snacks and Disco Sucks after party.)/ £6 (for Disco Sucks after-party only)
LANSDOWN FILM CLUB PRESENTS: THE RED TURTLE
Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, GL5 1BN
Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit’s hypnotizing and entrancing fable of a man who becomes shipwrecked on a deserted island and meets a giant red female turtle who changes his life. Produced by Toshio Suzuki from Japan, the film is a co-production between Wild Bunch and Studio Ghibli. Suitable for all ages. No dialogue.
3pm | £6 adults/£3 children
STROUD’S 60 SECOND FILM CHALLENGE
The 60 Second Film Challenge is asking the people of Stroud to devise, shoot, edit and upload a short film in one day! The challenge takes place on just this one day, Sunday 11th March. Registration closes at 10pm on Saturday 10th March.
The films will be made around a theme which will be announced online at midnight on 10th March, to those people who have registered. (this will give everyone 24 hours)
Completed films will need to be uploaded by midnight on Sunday 11th. When you register on this website you will be sent the (quite simple) instructions.
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The challenge has three categories: existing filmmakers, under 18s, new filmmakers. Selected films from each category were screened at the Stroud Community TV Awards on Sat 17th March at Lansdown Hall.
And here are links to some of the films submitted for the challenge. This year's theme was 'Cold Water'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP2JcDZMUj0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrHevoV4RaM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDGOHmQSMYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Kwhs7ZIro&feature=youtu.be
FILM SCHOOL
Atelier, 19A Lower Street, GL5 2HT
As part of the festival, an opportunity to make, as well as watch, film…Develop your skills while you devise, shoot and edit a short video. Explore ways of telling stories through camera angles, sound and editing techniques. Age 14 and above. No experience required. Equipment provided!
Following the workshop participants are invited to take part in the 60 Second Film Challenge which takes place on Sunday 11th March (see page 8)
10am-4pm | £50 (limited number of bursaries for people aged 18 or younger at £15) Booking deadline 3rd March
GOOD ON PAPER PRESENTS: CONTROL + Q&A
Stroud Valleys Artspace, Brunel Goods Shed, GL5 3AP
Stroud’s independent arts magazine Good On Paper presents a screening of Anton Corbijn’s biographical film about Ian Curtis the lead singer of iconic post-punk pioneers Joy Division. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with actor Craig Parkinson who appears in the film as the band’s manager Tony Wilson led by film maker and illustrator Joe Magee (a previous Factory Records employee). After the Q&A head on over to SVA John Street for a DJ set by Sean Roe from JunKroom Records who will be playing songs from the Factory Records archive from 10:30pm till 12:30am.
7:30pm | £7adv
GOOD ON PAPER PRESENTS: FILM POSTERS - REINTERPRETED
SVA, John Street, GL5 2HA
An exhibition curated by Good On Paper of prints by Stroud based artists and illustrators reinterpreting iconic film posters from classic and cult films in their own unique style. Featuring works by Joe Magee, Marcus Walters, Hannah Dyson, Mark Levy, Andy Lovell, Ash Dawn Clarke, Adam Hinks, Rosalie Darien Jones, Tom Percival and Imogen Harvey Lewis. All prints will be available to order!
Open Fridays and Saturdays 10am-5pm, Private view: Thurs 8th 6-9pm | Free
UNREST
Electric Picture House Cinema, Wotton-under-Edge, GL12 7AE
Jennifer Brea's documentary, co-produced by Stroud based award winning director and producer Lindsey Dryden, follows her own experiences of living with ME.
Twenty-eight year-old Jennifer Brea is working on her PhD at Harvard and months away from marrying the love of her life when she gets a mysterious fever that leaves her so ill she becomes bedbound, often in excruciating pain, and looking for answers. Disbelieved by doctors and determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and her community, a hidden world of millions confined to their homes and bedrooms by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Unrest is, at its core, a love story. How Jen and her new husband forge their relationship while dealing with her mysterious illness is at once heart-breaking, inspiring and funny. Cert 12A
7:30pm | £7.50 adults/£6.40 seniors and students, Click here for tickets or call 01453 844601
COLD WATER SWIMMING
The Marshall Rooms, Nelson Street, GL5 2HE
Why are more and more people swimming in cold water, and enjoying it? Why would anyone want to plunge into a freezing lake in the middle of winter? Some amazing films explore the mind-set of cold water swimmers, as well as the beauty and simplicity of jumping into an outdoor stretch of water. An evening of fascinating films including the award winning ‘Afterglow’ and ‘Johanna: Ice Swimmer’. Hear too from passionate cold water swimmers about why they do it and find out more about why so many people are keen to make more use of Stroud’s very own Lido…
7:30pm | £6/£5 concessions (students and unwaged). Tickets available from The Marshall Rooms website.
FESTIVAL LAUNCH: GEORGE PLATTS
The Prince Albert, Rodborough Hill, GL5 3SS
George Platts presents a Synchronous Sound Multi-Screen Experience. This unique combination of music and images provides the setting for a chance to find out more about the festival and what’s happening over the next two weeks. Meet people who make films, people who enjoy film and some people who are in the films!
4pm | Free