Film again last night, and top of the list was a short film called Beverley. Showing as one of the Rebel Girl shorts at the East End Film Festival. Well, it was a long, but easy, trip across town, and although the programme started late, I'd still be back in time to go to bed (just!) and the late start did give me time to eat at home. And top up the meters. All that kind of stuff.
So I headed out in decent time. The District Line might have taken me all the way, except that all the trains leaving at the same time I was were headed to Edgware Road, on the other branch. So I ended up changing at Earl's Court. Then it was a long, long run to Stepney Green - I made sure to bring the paper, which I'd finished by the time I got there.
Turn right upon exiting the station, walk for five minutes or so, and the Genesis cinema is on your right. There's a bar on your left as you come in - the box office is on the right, and I had a short queue to buy my ticket - good value at £8. I was just in time, and went straight in - they were handing out feedback forms, and I groaned - as usual, I didn't have a pen! but these were very handy; the film names were written in a list at the side, and you just tore off the name of your favourite film. The cinema was mostly, but not completely, full, and I got a side section to myself and kicked off my shoes.
The programme comprised seven films, five of whose directors gave a short speech beforehand, as well as one of the festival organisers, who had compiled the list. He mentioned what a privilege it was to choose the films - and I must say, they were excellent!
First up was One Thousand & One Teardrops, whose director explained that this was her graduation project. A charming animated film, it tells the story of a little Iranian girl who's starting her first day at school, and trying to decide what to wear. Then her mother comes in and breaks the news that she can't wear that! she has to wear the uniform - which, of course, is grey and drab. A talking glass vase appears, who explains that she's a tearcatcher, and tells how over the ages she has caught many, many tears of Iranian women with the same problem. And she takes us through a potted history of Iranian women's clothing. Excellent film!
A Small Dot on the Western Front tells the true story of a female war correspondent during the First World War, who buys an army uniform at a flea market, cycles to the front and walks right into a barracks and reports for duty, pretending to be a man.
7.2 is a laugh - a schoolgirl loses her memory and has to piece together why these girls are bullying her! Very entertaining. The title, BTW, refers to the rating the boys have given her.
Trato Preferente is a 4-minute Spanish film involving a female pensioner, a banker, and a food mixer. I'll leave the rest to your imagination! Laugh-out-loud funny.
Jaya tells the story of a street urchin in India - a girl dressed as a boy, for her own protection. Based on a real person, apparently.
La Guerre des Bleuets is a Québecois film telling the story of an elderly woman who sells products made with local blueberries - until a young hippy buys the farm and she can't pick there any more! What's a woman to do..?
Finally, Beverley tells the tale of a teenage mixed-race girl in Leicester in 1980. Really excellent in its description of her problems with a good-for-nothing father, a mentally retarded brother, and the constant menace of the local branch of the National Front. The young star was sitting in the front row, and much cheering greeted the film's start and end.
Indeed, we clapped after every film, which is a nice feature of film festivals. I had considerable trouble choosing which I liked best, but in the end I went for Beverley - appropriately, the reason I was there.
As I say, I was back too late to blog - just in time for bed. Tonight, I'm back with the London For Less! group - I sorted my Meetup page display problem by widening my search radius. You forget how widespread London is - I'm keeping it at 10 miles now, to be safe. They're headed to Southwark Playhouse, with discounted tickets for a production of the play Orson's Shadow, which tells the story of how Orson Welles and Sir Laurence Olivier worked together on a play, with Olivier's wife, the volatile Vivien Leigh, and his mistress, with whom he's starring in this production, thrown into the mix. It's all about massive theatrical egos.
And the fun part is, there's a Tube Strike this evening! Well, I made it around during the last one.. better leave straight from work, to avail of the services while they're still running! And research the bus routes..
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