Devon and Cornwall Film

Have you checked out the Neaptide website yet? They’ve got their fingers in all sortsa pies, including publishing pies, script pies, screenplay pies and management pies. And what they’re cooking looks pretty tasty (that’s quite enough of that - Metaphor Ed).

The Neaptide johnnies are based in Salcombe and seem plenty ambitious, flagging up stories about assassinations, the Mau Mau uprising and, erm, endangered butterflies. There’s no mention of our IRA zombies idea but, hey, give it time.

They even took the trouble to pen a rather lovely email wishing us luck with our endeavours. Aw, cheers for that, ‘Tiders. Blush!

Posted by Thin White Duke

Our chums at the People’s Republic of South Devon are getting ready for the first of their Melting Pot Studio Sessions. The shindig will see top local musical turns playing live and being interviewed at Newton Abbot’s prestigious Music
Mill studio.

The kicker is, the whole shebang will be filmed and brought to you via the medium of internet telly. Blimey, no wonder Melting Pot’s been shortlisted for an innovation award. Welcome to the chuffing future, eh?

So viewers, make haste and flip over to the PRSD to ‘read all about it’.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Never mind Bethemoviestar’s Street Voodoo - The Midnight Drives is a much better name for a film, ain’t it? Helmed by Cornish writer/director Mark Jenkin and produced by Truro-based production-types o-region, the flick’ll be shooting on location in Cornwall in March.

The film tells the tale of a divorced dad, whose fiery determination to enjoy the limited time he has with his brats leads to a strained week of damp accommodation, dodging the rain and ‘enjoying’ some rigidly-scheduled fun. That’d be where Cornwall comes in then.

As part of the project, o-region has set up a beezer new website, where D+Cineastes can keep up with all the machinations of the movie’s production. And pretty sexy it all looks too, with blogs, photos, downloads, podcasts - yes, the whole enchilada.

In fact, the Midnight Drives team seem to be doing everything right - the polar opposite to bethemoviestar.com’s wrongheaded shenanigans.

We’re proper excited about the flick, so stay tuned to D+CFilm for more Midnight Drives news.

Posted by Thin White Duke

More news from the Bethemoviestar website, which claims to be the world’s biggest open casting call. If you missed the original stories on D+CFilm, why not try out our search engine-type thingy? After all, that’s what it’s there for.

Anyway, we’ve been checking out the online audition tapes and it gives us no pleasure to announce they’re all unswervingly awful. God, we hate always being right.

So, we can’t say we’re surprised that sad-eyed Street Voodoo director Steve Nesbit has extended the closing date. In fact, the whole sorry tale is beginning to depress the hell out of us. Sigh.

Tune in to D+CFilm tomorrow to find out about a local film production doing everything right. Hooray!

Posted by Thin White Duke

Kids today, eh? They don’t know they’re bally-well born, do they? Whereas we had to make do with a dowdy media studies teacher wittering on about The chuffing Piano for weeks, a buncha young promoters, filmmakers and news gatherers have been schmoozing with their local MP.

The OneFourSeven Group was visited by Plymouth Sutton MP Linda Gilroy at Plymouth’s Prince Rock Primary School. She was shown a movie charting the combo’s progress towards making an exhibition of art and sound, called
Sonic Postcards.

What the hell is the OneFourSeven Group though? Well, the collective was formed by 14 pupils from seven Plymouth primary schools (all part of the Excellence in Cities Satellite Cluster) and a little help from arts and education group Creative Partnerships.

The seven schools involved are Prince Rock, West Park, Woodfield, Ford, Plym View, Highfield and South Trelawny.

Gilroy told The Herald: “The group has had an abundance of ideas to-date, and I am sure that the skills they have learned while working on the project will prove really useful to them in the future.”

Yeah, fanks for that Gillo. Bet your boundless enthusiasm was proper inspiring to ver kids. Puh!

Posted by Thin White Duke

Follow the main cinema links for dates, times and matinee screenings.
Follow the title links for movie details, friendship and maybe more.

PLYMOUTH ARTS CENTRE 

Candy (15) Click here to watch trailer
Gabrielle (15) Click here to watch trailer

TAVISTOCK WHARF

Children Of Men (15) Click here to watch trailer

DARTINGTON ARTS/THE BARN

Stranger Than Fiction (12A) Click here to watch trailer
Hollywoodland (15) Click here to watch trailer
Odd Man Out (PG) Click here for details

EXETER PICTUREHOUSE

A Prairie Home Companion (PG) Click here to watch trailer
Apocalypto (18) Click here to watch trailer
Children Of Men (15) Click here to watch trailer
Pan’s Labyrinth (15) Click here to watch trailer
KZ (12A) Click here to watch trailer
Deep Water (PG) Click here to watch trailer
The Prestige (12A) Click here to watch trailer
Brewster McCloud (15) Click here for Roger Ebert review
Notes On A Scandal (15) Click here to watch trailer

FALMOUTH ARTS CENTRE

Hollywoodland (15) Click here to watch trailer
Requiem (12A) Click here to watch trailer
The Dead (U) Click here for Roger Ebert review

If you want your local arthouse or cinema club featured in the Arthouse Roundup, send some details to info@dandcfilm.co.uk

Those beezer folks at the Exeter Picturehouse are offering D+Cineastes another chance to see a coupla excellent recent releases with a strong Devon connection as part of their South West Connections thingy.

One of the best documentaries of the last few years, Deep Water proved a hit when first screened in December. It tells the story of amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst and his ill-fated (ie, chuffing bonkers) attempt to win the first solo round the world non-stop yacht race in his purpose-built boat.

Crowhurst set sail from Teignmouth in October 1968 and was quickly beset by problems - to say the least! Deep Water will be showing at the Picturehouse from January 29 until February 1.

Screening the following week, on February 7 and 8, is the award-winning Brothers Of The Head, a haunting fictional rockumentary, about two exploited brothers, conjoined twins, who shake things up with their fierce, visceral live performances. Y’know, a bit like Right Said Fred.

In the film, the brothers are from East Anglia, but the two lead actors, Harry and Luke Treadaway, real-life twins (but not conjoined), actually hail from Crediton. That’s interesting, ain’t it?

See tomorrow’s Arthouse Roundup for booking details and screening times.

Posted by Thin White Duke

The achingly hip South by Southwest Film Festival (yeah, that’s the other South West - y’know, the one in America) wants filmmakers to come up with a ‘grindhouse trailer’ inspired by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s new flick called, surprisingly, Grindhouse.

It should be a trailer for a fictional feature, like the ones Eli Roth and Rob Zombie came up with for the real Grindhouse movie. Basically, you want something like our IRA zombies idea (but a lot better).

Rodriguez will determine the best of the bunch and show it during a special presentation called Grindhouse 101 on Sunday, March 11. During the event,
ol’ Rodders will also have a bit of a yap and show some making-of footage from Grindhouse, which is nice of him, ain’t it?

Send your ‘bit’, before February 12, to SXSW Grindhouse Trailers, P.O. Box 4999, Austin, TX 78765. There is no application fee, but the trailers must be under two minutes in length, and made within the last 12 months.

The 2007 SXSW Film Festival take place in Austin, Texas, from March 9-17. Good luck, D+Cineastes - and remember, don’t nick our IRA zombies idea or we’ll sue the pants off ya.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Great news for the hard of thinking. After the success of series one, ITV2’s band of ghost botherers are back for the much anticipated (it says here) second series of Haunted Homes.

Psychic Mia Dolan is once again accompanied by Dr Chris French, a London University academic and sceptic, and one of the programme’s regular paranormal investigators, either Mark Webb or Andy Matthews.  Can the team of ‘experts’ find a solution to the phenomena occurring in these properties? 

Episode one should be a doozy. Antonia, Donna and Leanne have recently moved into a converted pub in Plymouth. The girls froth that child-sized fingerprints have appeared on a beam too high to reach and strange distorted pictures of Antonia’s four-year-old daughter have appeared on her mobile. Not exactly The Exorcist, is it?

Catch Haunted Homes (if you really must) at 10.30pm on Friday on ITV2.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Blimey, did you know Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto was shot in Cornwall?! And there we were thinking it was filmed in Mexico. Who knew?! South West Screen apparently.

They’ve been blathering on about new figures from the UK Film Council which reveal inward investment of £40 million was brought to D+C through film and telly projects last year. That’s pretty much double the amount in 2005.

Apparently, Apocalypto was filmed in Cornwall (we’re still not convinced), Hot Fuzz was shot in Wells (not in the Jack and Jill sense) and Golden Age (the sequel to Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett) was shot in Somerset. Oh, and Moses Barrington was filmed in Torquay. Snort!

As well as that, hundreds of TV shows and commercials have lensed in the region, including Jam And Jerusalem and Doc Martin in Cornwall. Ah, so it’s not all good then.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Those lovely folks at South West Screen are looking for unusual properties to add to their database of filming locations in D+C.

If your home is pretty special and you’d like to see it appear on screen, you can register on the database for precisely nought pence. Details of your property will then be made available to the hundreds of location managers who apparently approach South West Screen every year, literally begging for help and advice on shooting in the region.

If your property is used for filming, you will be entitled to charge a fee, and, depending on the scale and type of production, it could be hundreds of pounds per day. Hooray! You probably won’t be able to demand sexual favours from the star though. Boo!

If you’re interested in registering your home as a filming location, visit South West Screen’s website and click on the link to ‘Locations and Crew’ for more information.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Remember we told you about North Devon’s new youth-run cinema set up in to support and show local films, while rousing some political rabble in the process? If you don’t, click here. If you do, feel free to read on.

Reel Indi launched their 2007 programme on January 5 at Tapeley Park, with a screening of the 9/11 doco Short Change and an appearance by ex-MI5 whistleblower David Shayler.

How did the launch go? It’s funny you should ask, cos Reel Indi got in touch with D+CFilm to tell us all about it. Here’s what ‘they’ said:

‘Over 50 people of all ages came from all over North Devon to the opening night of Reel Indi, ready to witness Project 1, a film by local photographer Iain Holder, and David Shayler’s Short Change.

‘Between films, people were entertained by music from Powerpop!, DJ Seb Wheeler and projections by local photographers Indi Hicks, Will Newitt and Seb Wheeler.

‘Food and drink from Marshford Organic Farm stocked the bar, which was colourfully decked out with work from Matt Walkerdine, Seb Wheeler, Tom Harris, Indi Hicks and the arts and craft girl duo Artisan. All the artists involved were young people from North Devon.

‘Iain Holder’s film Project 1 presented his account of the horrors of modern warfare, with still images recounting the historical and political links between the war on terror and other conflicts of the 20th century.

‘Contextualised with moving footage and a thought-provoking soundtrack, the short film reflected his abhorrence at the injustices of war.

‘Short Change tore into the American government’s accounts of what really happened on September 11, 2001. The large turn-out showed that people are not satisfied with what they have been told. Narrated by David Shayler, the film made people gasp and laugh at the hypocrisy and untruths told by the government.

‘After the film Anne and David Shayler gave a brilliant but harrowing talk about their experience working within MI5. This extraordinary insight into the inner workings of the secret service exposed incompetence at fighting terrorism and in some cases actually assisting the terrorists.

‘These two brave whistleblowers have since been on the run with numerous attempts on their life. They talked long into the night answering the many questions from the audience.

‘Instead of the usual feeling of apathy and powerlessness, people went away from Reel Indi feeling inspired and empowered.  Afterwards the bar was buzzing until gone midnight.’

Sounds fab, don’t it? If you wanna get involved with the next Reel Indi event (they’re showing Uncovered: Iraq War Conspiracy on February 7) send a righteous email to northdevonactiveyouth@hotmail.co.uk

In the meantime, see below to get a flavour of what Shayler had to say to the folks at Reel Indi. Alternatively, click here for a more detailed look at the 9/11 conspiracy.

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Posted by Thin White Duke

In 1995, BBC2 screened a five-part series presented by Simon Schama based on his highly-acclaimed book Landscape and Memory. It’s a work that is, like D+CFilm, both scholarly and poetic.

Tomorrow, at 7.30pm, the Centre For Contemporary Art And The Natural World (that’s CCANW to you, buddy), is presenting two parts, Forests (40mins) and Arcadia (40mins), directed by Geoff Dunlop.

They’ll be followed by two short videos, Hermetica and Smoke (total 13mins) by Susan Derges and A Doll’s House (5mins) by Heidi C. Morstang, artists whose work is included in the Forest Dreaming exhibition series. Both artists will be attending the screening.

Admission is £3 (£2 conc.) and booking is advisable on info@ccanw.co.uk. CCANW mailing list subscribers get three tickets for the price of two. Hey, it’s a bit like have a Blue Peter badge.

Posted by Thin White Duke

Last survivor alive out of the World Trade Center and 9/11 truth campaigner William Rodriquez is set to visit the region next month.

Rodriguez was a janitor in the North Tower on 9/11. A hero on the day who saved many lives, he has been honoured five times at the White House and has become leader of several Twin Towers’ victim’s support groups. He’s also a leading 9/11 truth campaigner, having appeared in Dylan Avery’s Loose Change (click here to find out more), the online documentary questioning the events
of 9/11.

D+Cineastes can catch Rodriguez at Exeter Cathedral (tbc) on February 3, Totnes Civic Hall on February 4 and Plymouth Uni on February 18. All proceeds from ticket sales are being given to William to support his campaign.

Click below to get a taste of what William Rodriguez will be talking about, and see D+CFilm tomorrow for a review of the recent Reel Indi event which featured ex-MI5 whistleblower David Shayler talking about the 9/11 conspiracy.

Posted by Thin White Duke

More news from the Bethemoviestar website, which claims to be the world’s biggest open casting call. If you missed the original stories on D+CFilm, click here and here and here to have a look.

Last week we discovered the movie was to be saddled with the godawful title Street Voodoo (which sounds like a name of a David Blaine’s ’special’) and that the filmmakers were planning to make the script up as they went along.

In the site’s latest update, director Steve Nesbit tells us that two entries
have stood out from the more than 400 submitted. Yes, that’s right. Two clips. Out of 400.

Given that one clip is of a man doing a wee and the other is a guy pretending to be mentally ill, we can only keep our fingers crossed for poor Steve.

‘We still want as many clips as possible,’ he insists, looking like he’s about to cry. ‘It’s now or never’.

Indeed. Stay tuned to D+CFilm for more on the bethemoviestar horrorshow.

Posted by Thin White Duke