Flatpack Film Festival, Birmingham Jan 19-22 2006. Presented by 7inch Cinema. Some fantastic and interesting works of cinema. I attended an interesting talk by Esther Leslie called ‘Hollywood Flatlands’ about the connection between early cartooning and the avant-garde, which was later replace by Disney Syrup.
A true highlight was VLADMASTER (http://www.valdmaster.com), short films made as 3D stills designed to be viewed on mass through 1980’s viewmasters. There was a narrated soundtrack that included a sound effect that announced time to change to the next slide. This was such a novel approach to filmmaking as the pieces were very cinematic in feel and pacing but delivered in a completely new way. We watched it at Birmingham’s historic Electric Cinema with our viewmasters pointed to the empty white light of the cinema screen. It was an interesting combination of a private shared experience.
The other highlight was the musical group The Destroyers scored and performed accompaniment to the archival films from the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection. The music was in the genre of Jewish Folk and European Gypsy music whose liveliness and pace suited the footage. I always enjoy live scored and performed soundtracks to films. I once saw Phillip Glass conduct the Phillip Glass Ensemble performing Koyanisquasti live.