The Cornwall Film Festival is ready to go. The full details are up on the website, and tickets go on sale on Wednesday, October 21. We caught up with new director of the festival Donna Anton to find out what’s in store
What’s been your ‘journey’ to become director of the Cornwall Film Festival and what do you bring to the role?
I’ve been a film enthusiast since my parents took me to see Mary Poppins on the big screen in downtown Chicago in 1964. (I’m guessing this makes me a tad older than some of your readers.) Not that there was any other choice than the big screen back then. It took years for major films to show up on television. I’ve remained a keen filmgoer all my life, and I’ve always supported art-house cinemas in particular.
When I moved to Cornwall five years ago, I joined the Penwith Film Society, soon became secretary, then last year was elected chair of the British Federation of Film Societies. I suppose having a few film connections on the national level made me a reasonable candidate for the Cornwall Film Festival appointment, though there were a lot of other strong contenders, including local filmmakers. My business background is in the incentive travel industry, planning multimillion-dollar motivational programmes for Fortune 500 companies. Since like most arts organisations the Festival is a struggling charity, I’ve had to learn to work with fewer zeroes in my budget.
What’s in store for this year’s festival?
Something for everyone. Feature films, some based on award-winning books, including UK, South West and Cornwall premieres. Also Andrea Arnold’s recently released Fish Tank, which has got rave reviews.
Lots of made-in-Cornwall flavour. Cornish archival films from the BFI. Lots of great shorts by Cornish filmmakers and students, including our first-ever juried competitions. A Cornish documentary on an Iraq war veteran and a Cornish feature about obsession. And the world premiere of Paul Farmer’s Cornish-languge documentary, Skath, about a novice gig rower who works his way up to the championships on Scilly.
In anticipation of the UN climate-change summit in Copenhagen in December, we’re screening the climate-change blockbuster The Age of Stupid, followed by a panel discussion on the environment. Wind farm developer Piers Guy, who played himself in TAOS, will be on hand, as well as reps from Transition Falmouth, Low Carbon Cornwall and Plan-It Earth. It will be moderated by Mark Paterson from the Eden Project. There will be a counterpoint argument by a local filmmaker who made a short called A Convenient Deception.
Plus dance films, talks, workshops and just plain networking. Oh, and journalist Jon Ronson will be down to talk about his book The Men Who Stare at Goats. He’ll also introduce the film adaptation on the Saturday night and do a Q&A afterwards. Very cool, we think. Cooler yet if we’d been able to convince George Clooney to pop in.
There’s a visiting delegation and programme of short films from this year’s Budapest BuSho Short Film Festival. How did that come about?
Very exciting stuff, as both events point to the Festival becoming ever more international while simultaneously focusing on a deeper sense of culture and heritage.
This year delegations from rural regions of Poland and Finland will be received by Cornish artist ‘practitioners’ during the festival, as part of the European Region of Culture (EROC) campaign to celebrate rural culture and improve the profile and investment of cultural sectors like Cornwall. In other words, the campaign is aimed at raising Cornwall’s economic health via the arts. The delegates will take part in a private screening of short films themed around ‘What It Means to Be Cornish.’
Late in the summer Denzil Monk and our Festival intern, Marion Monnier, were invited as guests to the Budapest Short Film Festival. Denzil took a place on their jury. We’ve returned the favour, and the BuSho director will sit on our first-ever jury. We’re also screening two hours of BuSho’s award-winning international shorts during our Festival. Since ‘Gool’ is Cornish for festival, we’re calling this screening Hungarian ‘GOOL-ash.’
What can the festival offer the viewing public as well as filmmakers?
Great feature films (see above), some of which won’t be in cinemas until next year, like the Swedish crime thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Lectures that would appeal to the public as well as filmmakers, like a talk on American film noir, and another on ‘The Art of Sound’ -you’ll never listen to a film the same way again. The Cornish archive films are sure to bring in folks who’ve never been to a film festival.
We’re also screening an inspiring documentary about three American humanitarians who’ve faced middle-age crisis head-on by self-financing a programme to deliver equipment and money to dangerous areas of the developing world. It’s called Beyond the Call and is being sponsored by a number of Rotary clubs in Cornwall.
Are you happy with the visibility of the festival in the eyes of the national media?
I don’t honestly know the true up-country media reach of last year’s festival -I’ve been too busy to investigate -though it’s safe to say there’s room for improvement. We’re just starting to ramp up this year’s marketing now that our programme is finalised. We have a dedicated team member who’s making sure press releases and updates are making the rounds of the usual suspects as well as the social networking sites.
Through your involvement in the festival how vibrant do you see the Cornwall film scene?
More vibrant than even I imagined. There are filmmakers everywhere, most operating on micro-budgets. It’s a reflection of the arts scene down here in general, which has historically been strong and mutually supportive. One goal since the Festival’s inception has been to encourage and inspire new and experienced filmmakers to the best of our ability.
What would be your definition of a successful festival? What are the long-term aims of the Cornwall Film Festival?
A huge turnout with an enthusiastic response. Not everything will appeal to everyone, of course, but we do hope to fulfill the multiple aims of putting on a great film event, showcasing the work of local filmmakers, perpetuating the appreciation for and work in Cornish culture and heritage, and giving everyone an opportunity to learn, debate and network.
What’s your favourite film / director?
Naming a favourite film/director makes my brain hurt. How about a stream-of-consciousness list? The Godfather I & II, Fargo, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, This is Spinal Tap, Goodfellas, Rebecca, To Live, Chariots of Fire, The Big Lebowski, Kieslowski’s Red/White/Blue trilogy, The English Patient, Gosford Park, Brief Encounter, North by Northwest, All That Jazz, The Deer Hunter, Kill Bill I & II, Best in Show, Farewell My Concubine, Rosemary’s Baby, Muriel’s Wedding, The Garden of the Fitzi-Continis, Hilary & Jackie, Annie Hall, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Orphanage, Raise the Red Lantern.
I saw Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop three times before I took on the Festival appointment (I haven’t watched a film since) – I laughed myself silly. Ask me again next week and I’ll name another 20 or 30 favourites!
And finally, is there anything you’d like to ask D+CFilm or its readers?
Can anyone possibly have anything better to do during 13-15 November than attend the Cornwall Film Festival?
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