July 6-8 2007
Gnien il-Gardjola (Valletta)
The Westside Short Film Festival is to be held from the 6th to the 8th July at Gnien il-Gardjola in Valletta. Started through the initiative of a few Valletta inhabitants seeking to shake up the sleepy streets, this quasi-spontaneous effort to bring short film to the streets of the capital city has led to the establishment of the NGO, Kinemastik, and a highly successful annual cinematic event – a three-day short film festival held within the Valletta bastions, supported by the British Council. The festival brings together filmmakers, film festival organisers and works of renowned directors and animators from the distant landscapes of Argentina and Korea, as well as from the more familiar territories of UK and Tunisia. Westside Film Festival is also a unique opportunity for local filmmakers to screen their films for a public audience.
The works of eight British artists will be shown at this year’s festival, four of whom- Martin Clark, David Mullett, Adam Lieber and Walter Newton will be attending the event. The following British films will be shown at the Festival:
My Media, Mouth to Anus and (s)laughter by Adam Lieber
Infinite Screen Test, The Wanderer and Ladies and Gentlemen by Martin Clark
Escaping Ornsay and Darkness at the Break of Noon by David Mullett
Danger Panda, Smoking Fruit and Chess Bots by Walter Newton
Dreams and Desires by Joanna Quinn
The Rabbit by Run Wrake
Silence is golden by Chris Shepherd
Soft and A Storm and Some Snow by Simon Ellis
This year's festival will see special emphasis on Nordic cinema in collaboration with Danish film festival Cosmic Zoom. The organisers of the Danish festival will be present at the event to introduce Scandinavian cinema and the rare works from one of Denmark’s most prolific and artistically successful animators Lejf Marcussen who in 1991 received the Norman McLaren Heritage Award for his body of work.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Kinemastik and the British Council will also be holding an exhibition of Neil Fox’s works at The Pub in Valletta to run concurrently to the festival. Mr Fox will be present at the opening of this exhibition dedicated to Oliver Reed, the oft-soused remarkable British actor who spent his last hours in this very pub. Illustrator Neil Fox is a strange romantic whose work has featured a smattering of Soho’s hell-raisers, geniuses and fools, some living, some long dead. The exhibition opens on Friday 6th July at 17:00.
Screenings commence at 20.30.
Tickets available from St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity or at the door.
Ticket prices: Lm4 (one night), Lm7 (two nights), Lm10 (three nights).
seeks to stimulate and encourage the peripheral and avant-garde in film, theatre, art and writing. the organisation also strives to create environments where young people can experiment freely and encounter other people within the world of non-commercial artistic activities.
www.kinemastik.org
Joanna Quinn on animation
| 
