Mat Lloyd’s ‘BLOKES’ wins BEST FILM at Short Cuts 2009
We are pleased to announce the Mat Lloyd was awarded ‘Best Film’ during the closing ceremony of the Short Cuts Film Festival 2009.
Short Cuts is Buckinghamshire’s very own annual short film festival and this year it featured 4 fantastic days of short film screenings, workshops and networking events across the county.
Darren Cliff, the festival director comments, “I am absolutely delighted with the festival. We (at Cliff Productions) are a small team and managed to give the public and filmmakers a festival that Buckinghamshire can be proud of. Over 500 people took part across four days in Aylesbury, Buckingham, Pinewood Studios and the High Wycombe. The undisputed highlight of the festival was the Competition Screening which was held in Empire Cinema, High Wycombe on Friday. The atmosphere was electric!”
Two films made by Aylesbury-based filmmakers made it into the official selection of shortlisted films and were both screened on Friday night. The festival jury share their thoughts and feedback on a few of the notable finalists.
Pain was Directed and Produced by Chris Morrell, which follows a man coming to terms with the death of his Mother. The jury felt that the direction of the film was very strong. Chris’s film had subtle details in the background of his shots to help convey the story in an interesting way. We liked the pace, the acting was strong and his use of sound design heightened the emotion for the viewer. The transitions between the present day and the character’s childhood were presented in an imaginative and fresh way. The best thing we liked about it is that there is no dialogue in the film at all. This is an incredibly difficult thing for a filmmaker to pull off as they have to use only pictures and sound to convey the story. Chris’s film is a touching, well paced movie.
Touched by a Stranger was written by Aylesbury based Colin Metcalfe. This is a powerful drama that had a dramatic impact on the festival jury. It starts off in the dark underworld of prostitution and just as you get the feeling that something awful is about to happen, the film twists to end with a surprisingly gentle ending. The script was one of the most compelling and well-crafted pieces of storytelling of all the entries this year. The acting was particularly strong and the grim backdrop, cinematography and mood conveyed were elements that the jury recognised as the films strengths. In fact this film was one of three that the jury felt deserved the ‘Best Film’ title.
One finalist was a made by a team of students from Bucks New Uni. Director Chris Dale and Producer Will Pound, both from High Wycombe, proudly collected their certificate at the awards ceremony. They produced the short comedy called Dead Wait. This was an extremely popular film about two workmen who find an unexpected corpse in the back of their van. The jury felt this was a well crafted film that was highly entertaining. The camera shots were well framed and executed. The authenticity of the characters and simple story in an everyday setting were also deemed strong elements of this film.
One of the 10 finalists’ was the youngest ever entrant to the festival. Charlie Masters, from Berkhamsted, is aged just 12 and his film A Wild Western Christmas entertained the packed cinema with its witty black and white comedy about a cowboy who saves Christmas. The enchanting homage to old film (pre-talkies) combined with its ‘Western’ genre wooed the jury.
But the night belonged to renowned performer poet Mat Lloyd, from Hemel Hempstead. Mat’s poignant animation called Blokes romped home as the jury’s official winner of Short Cuts 2009 Best Film. Based on a true story, it’s a funny yet harrowing tale of young male bravado in a time of crisis. The story, Mat’s delivery of the poem and the creativity of the animation blew the jury away. It’s such a meaningful piece of work that is so relevant to our society in Britain today. It’s a fantastic example of how a powerful film can be created from a poem with the right creative talent. Blokes is an outstanding film and a fitting winner of the Short Cuts Film Festival.
We start planning the next festival soon for 2011, we plan to launch the call for entries in April 2010. Follow us on twitter to get the latest news as it happens @shortcutsfest.
