I'm really looking forward to hosting writer/screenwriter Mike Carey at a screening of The Girl With All The Gifts at the Mockingbird Theatre, Birmingham on Saturday 8th October. Mike is in town for the Birmingham Literature Festival the next day and has kindly agreed to do a Q & A. The film is getting rave reviews including one from the highly respected Mark Kermode on the BBC.
The film is getting some fantastic press - not least for its young lead actress Sennia Nanua on her feature debut. Better still most of the film was shot in Birmingham, Dudley and Cannock Chase.
I expect this screening to sell out so buy your tickets here if you dont want to miss out. #
I've been asked to programme the cinema strand of Brum Spirit 2016 at
the old Moseley School of Art in Balsall Heath, Birmingham. Its where
various members of UB40 went to art college.
Its billed as
"A weekend of music, film, visual arts and feasting, exploring the thrills and challenges of sharing space in a changing world. Family friendly, free and affordable events, with headline performance
from Panorama do Choro (Brazil), arts interventions curated by Darryl
Georgiou, and film screenings by Stickleback Cinema"
I'll be screening 5 great films. My programme includes Court - India's Official Entry for the 88th Academy
Awards and Mustang - a fantastic Turkish debut film which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the
88th Academy Awards.
First screening is Mustang at Ort Cafe on 22nd July at
19.30. All other screenings are next door at Moseley School of Art. The other films are Tina Gharavi's I Am Nasrine, Sean McAllister's A Syrian Love Story and a new Brazilian documentary O Outro Lado do Cartão-Postal(The
Other Side of the Post Card).
It was great to have Slow West writer/director John Maclean come up to Birmingham to do a Q & A for me. It was my first big Stickleback Cinema event though soon to be followed by my Cathy Come Home screening on April 9th with legendary Kes producer Tony Garnett.
John is a great guy and a really talented director. I think I appreciated the film more second time round and the feedback from the audience was very positive. John spoke at length about his filmmaking career and the move from shorts to a debut feature. All in all it was a great night. Here's some pics from the evening.
I'm going to be doing some screenings under my new Stickleback Cinema pop up label. These will be mostly at The Mockingbird Theatre Bar at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. They're letting me do some off peak programming for them.
I want to try and bring directors, producers, actors etc to Birmingham to talk about their films in order to educate and entertain the local filmmaking community and wider cinephile public. I'll also be doing themed and issue related event both at the Mockingbird and other venues.
The next event is Slow West starring Michael Fassbender. This is on April 1st with a Q & A by writer/director John Maclean who has very kindly agreed to come up from London to do it. John has had an interesting career as he was in both The Beta Band and The Aliens before crossing over into film.
John won a BAFTA for an excellent BAFTA winning short called Pitch Black Heist which I'll be screening prior to Slow West. There's more information here on the Eventbrite page.
Shortly after that I'll be putting on a 50th aniversary screening of Cathy Come Home with a Q & A by veteran producer Tony Garnett who also produced the fabulous Kes. Thats on April 9th and will be a fundraiser for local homeless charity SIFA Fireside and Shelter. A 1998 Radio Times readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama.Tickets here
Cathy Come Home caused a public outcry on the issue of homelessness when it first came out so its going to be an interesting discussion with local producer and professor Roger Shannon asking the question alongside SIFA Fireside's CEO Cath Gilliver who will also be on the panel.
I'm told that part of Cathy Come Home was filmed in nearby Highgate which is just a stone's throw from the Mockingbird. It'll be interesting to find out more about the local connection.
I'll also be showing Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg - a micro budget children's film made by two writer friends of mine Tim Clague and Danny Stack. They run the popular and informative UK Scriptwriters podcast. The film was selected for the BFI London Film Festival which is a massive achievement in my opinion.
