glennart posted: " Nigel Evans; Director of the CYFF'22 "You may think you know what you are dealing with, but believe me, you don't.." Nigel Evans. You just don't know what the guy is going to be up to next. Songwriter and performer, scriptwriter and film maker, ex" SMOKINGBRUSH
"You may think you know what you are dealing with, but believe me, you don't.."
Nigel Evans. You just don't know what the guy is going to be up to next. Songwriter and performer, scriptwriter and film maker, exhibition photographer, poet, D.J, writer; probably more. He's done 'em all, and now he can add film festival director to his creative folio.
The Cynon Valley Film Festival, 14th -16th October 2022 was his brainchild; the culmination of a year's hard work; attracting submissions, raising sponsorship, working through the process of selection with a panel of judges. Because he was able to attract funding to the project, Nigel was able to present the whole weekend as a free event. What other entertainment over three evenings have you been to recently which cost you nothing for the admission ticket?
He was aided in the quest for a suitable venue by his partner, Karin Mear who is a tireless promoter of the St Elvan's Community Heritage Project, Aberdare. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/3080357511997143].
And what a venue. St Elvans is the geographical centre of the town; unmistakeable from all approaches -our first view was on the descent of Maerdy Mountain via the A4233. I expected the interior space below that high Victorian steeple to be solemn gloom. Not at all; instead of fussy ornamentation on every available surface, it has an elegant simplicity and brightness which emphasises by contrast the polychromatic beauty of the rood screen.
A modern mezzanine level which usually serves as a gallery space, proved ideal for hosting the festival.
Nigel deployed his social media to publicise the event . Beginning with sporadic forays on Facebook, the campaign accelerated as the film-makers themselves supplemented his bulletins by providing trailers on their own platforms and shared each other's contributions. So by the time I walked in on Friday evening, I was already looking forward to around ten particular movies on the listings.
Programme
The programme was a cineaste's dream; a multiplicity of approaches to filmmaking in a wide range of media from around the world. It was gratifying to see so much impressive work by Welsh makers. How much longer can our London-based cultural commentators ignore art produced in Wales and the provinces? CVFF could not be dismissed as an insular exercise in creative nationalism, however; here was a genuinely international festival. As one might expect, there were films submitted by American and Canadian directors, but they had to share screen-time with movies of Iranian, Peruvian, Argentinian French and Swiss origin. The first evening concluded with works from Ukraine -and from Russia; demonstrating that the creative imperative recognises no geopolitical frontiers.
Contrasts abounded. Dialogue-rich pieces abutted next to silent works; black and white [it still has a special allure for me] with super-saturated colour; handmade animation beside Pixar-quality CGI. The dispassionate locked-off camera style following on from the roving, frenetic movements of the handheld camera with it's sense of complete involvement as part of the action. The poetic competing with the visceral..
Each movie had great merit; there were none which wouldn't hold appeal for some film fan. I find it difficult to select favourites from an event comprising work which had all been so lovingly executed. I suppose as I am painting myself into a corner here, I will simply mention some films I would particularly like to see for a second time someday very soon.
Heavy Petting Brendan Prost [Canada]. One of those pieces which defy categorisation. A journey through alienation and rejection, tracing the limits of verbal communication, with quite spellbinding episodes of magic realism contrasted with bleak everyday existence.
Dad: When a Man loves a Woman Geraint Benney [Wales]. Father-Son , Husband -Wife relationships; The burden of loss and the battle to keep the lid on grief; explored through a glorious slice of mundanity set on a park bench. Watch out for the coat hanger swinging on the back of the door; one of those beautiful little playful visual asides which add nothing to the plot, but reveal so much more about the character played by the actor -and the director.
Morgue Keith Williams [Wales]. A morality play set within the horror genre. The callousness of the worker [dressing the deceased bodies in his charge in party hats and taking selfies with them] is about to be answered. One probably knows what is going to happen fairly early on, but is happily carried along the way by the energetic style of the piece nevertheless.
Home Anthony Bunko [Wales] The tables are turned on a delinquent housebreaker by the occupant determined to reconstruct his shattered family unit. From very early on, it is evident that this is the work of a master scriptwriter. There are some delicious lines of dialogue here and they are not wasted by the actors in this two-hander; who deliver them with measured relish. I couldn't decide whether this should be filed with Hitchcock and his 'wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time' classics, or beside the controlled menace and borderline absurdity of Pinter. Probably between the two. This showing was followed by an illuminating Q&A conducted by Nigel in which Anthony revealed that the source material was based on an actual incident several years ago; an event so shocking that he couldn't possibly not adapt it. Merthyr-based, he has attuned himself to the rhythms and language of his locale, lending a gritty naturalism and an honesty to his writing and direction. He is also possessed of a generosity of spirit; he made mention of the vital contribution made by the set dresser and props buyer to the authenticity and atmosphere of the film; an issue particularly close to my heart as a former scenic artist [another of those largely neglected spear carrier occupations of the set...].
What Comes Next? John Crerar [Wales] Footage reclaimed and re-edited to plot a course of public celebration and festivity shot around wales from VE Day to the Festival of Britain period. A strange and captivating film. Captivating because the footage shows ordinary people experiencing times of communal pleasure; children watching a Punch and Judy show; adolescents and adults parading through the streets in exotic costume and decorated floats. Delightful. Yet strange, because as L.P.Hartley observed, "the past is another country; they do things differently there". They make up with 'blackface' to portray Native Americans, Indians under the Raj and chained Negro slaves being driven under the whip by their colonial master. These episodes now make a culturally aware audience acutely uncomfortable; perhaps some of us wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all; we didn't. We might have preferred not to see it at all, but this kind of newsreel footage does need to be viewed . We cannot and should not cherrypick those episodes of our history which we feel worthy of presentation. That way leads to misinformation, misinterpretation of history and leaves only propaganda. Does the innocence of children still extend to laughing uncontrollably at Mr.Punch beating to death Judy's child laughter; leading only to distress and tears once the crocodile makes his appearance and begins to menace the protagonists, I wonder? What I found particularly interesting was the thread running through the work tracing foodstuff packaging. Early in the piece, the hold of a ship is being filled by carcasses; wrapped in muslin, but still recognisably an animal, which once had a limb at each corner -and a head. By the film's end, the development of department stores has been established, and with them, the sanitisation of our food; that is food which comes in geometric, stackable blocks, with no connection to any species of origin. A rather telling indicator of our separation from, and desensitisation to our environment. a marvellous piece of research and editing, accompanied by a fine musical soundtrack
Awards
The full list of Awards.
Best Welsh Film – Frank (dir. Jesse Briton & Buddug Jones) Wales
Best Cynon Valley Film – Dad: When A Man Loves A Woman (dir. Geraint Benney) Wales
Best International Narrative Short – Heavy Petting (dir. Brendan Prost) Canada
Best Experimental Film – Transmission (dir. Paul Williams) Wales
Best Director – Luke Walters (Wheels) Wales
Best Soundtrack – The Lights Of Dawn (dir. Sadie Duarte, composer Daniel Angelus) Spain
Best Documentary – Don't Fence Me In (dir. Mary Elaine Evans) USA
Best Student Film – Midas (dir. Ben Meyer, Mav Vitale, Lisa Qingyi Liu) USA
Best Narrative Feature – What's The Craic? (dir Lauren Hakulinen) France
Best Screenplay – Mersey Boys: A Letter From Al Moran (Dir. Paddy Murphy & Steven Gerard Farrell) Ireland
Festival Director's Award – thoughtpolice 4891 (dir. Glenn Ibbitson & Melanie Davies)
Best Music Video – Elusive Dreams (dir. Rhys Davies (Furball Films))
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Nigel has forced me to consign my well-worn "NON- award-winning Artist" T-shirt to the waste bin, as thoughtpolice4891 garnered the 'Festival Director's Award'. Peter Mount [camera] Glenn Ibbitson [director/editor] and Melanie Davies [writer/performer] accept their 'Nigel' on behalf of the Attic Theatre, Newcastle Emlyn.
Thank you to Nigel Evans, Karin Mear and all the staff and volunteers of St Elvan's, Aberdare for ensuring that this event was free to the public. Thanks to official event photographer, James Woodward. I look forward to a follow-up festival sometime.
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