Life's better with HD: Premiere Week

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of attending a number of premiere’s.

On Saturday the 14^th I trained and tubed it to Charing Cross Station to get to the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) to attend The Rushes Soho Shorts Festival 2012.

Back in November 2011, I was asked by Ian Barnes (the Oscar nominated director of short film, Wish 143) to run for a new short he was going to film, called Match Head. Obviously, I jumped at the chance and was excited to see the script come alive after I read it. Meg, a 10 year old arsonist who burns down her care home, is sent to counselling to try and cure her of her fire starting ways. However, she is introduced to George, a ‘reformed’ arsonist with bad burns. And lets just say, instead rehabilitating one another, their relationship ignites.

It was a brilliant few days of filming, and I particularly enjoyed being entrusted as location scout for an outdoor scene, which turned out to be particularly hilarious with Ian chasing his daughter, and actress Eve Barnes around a field dressed as a police officer.

The screening on Saturday was the first time I had seen the finished product and honestly, it was fantastic! The opening scene of Eve Barnes attempting to light a match gripped the audience from the off set, and the suspense kept building as you didn’t know what this little girl would do next. Match Head, for sure, got the best reaction from the audience and most laughs, with Eve Barnes and Zahra Browne nailing the brilliantly written script by Jason Sutton.

And subsequently it got into the top three of the short film category, which was a huge achievement by Ian and everyone else involved as there were over 1200 entries into The Rushes Soho Shorts Festival this year.

So do keep an eye out for Match Head because I’m sure it going to be entered into a few more festivals this year. And fingers crossed it will end up on top like it deserves!

And just a quick mention to some of the other short’s I watched that Saturday evening that I really enjoyed.

PVT. Craine – An intense opening sees a soldier under fire in the

Iraq

war. He finds his sergeant badly injured and it is implied that something crosses the soldiers mind. It then cuts to a magician’s stage, where he had obviously been hypnotised, and we see his friend in the audience, who had been the sergeant in the hypnosis. Both looking confused and slightly traumatised the ‘soldier’ tries to play it down by asking whether he was dancing. A brilliant short with a strong beginning, dark middle and very funny ending.

Painkiller – Robbery gone wrong. Armed shoplifter, meets dopey cashier, meets suicidal customer. A dark comedy, like the two already mentioned, which had me laughing out loud. The casting was brilliant.

Taking Life – A business women returns home to find her cleaner smoking in her London flat. The situation turns nasty when the cleaner spits in the business women’s face, when she confronts her over a bottle of champagne in her bag. An intense short which left me wanting more.

Also, well done to the winner of the Short Film Category. Long Distance Information.

Now onto the second Premiere of the week (ohh.. look at me!!) Something from nothing: The Art of Rap.

After getting to know Paul Toogood (producer) and Andy Baybutt (co-director) really well in the edit, I was invited to the Premiere at Hammersmith Apollo. And Jees was I excited! I had seen snippets of the docu-film through-out the months of hard work and it left me desperate to see the final product, so much so, towards the end of their time at The Farm whenever I saw them I would ask, “When’s it out in the cinema?” I’m sure they got sick of me asking and that’s probably why I got an invite to the Premiere (hehe!) However, I am privileged to say that Paul and Andy are now friends of mine and are truly an inspiration to documentary makers everywhere.

Director, Ice-T takes the audience on a journey through the history of rap music. From the street, to world domination and the people that made it happen. Ice-T interviews many huge stars on how they came to where they are now and what influenced them and pushed them to rap. Stars such as Eminem, Chuck D, KRS-One, Common, Nas, Grandmaster Caz, Dr. Dre, Kanye West and many, many more spoke and rapped about their experiences from the bottom to the top. With some grippingly awesome shots of New York and LA thrown in too.

I can’t sit here and pretend I am a die hard hip hop and rap fan, but I sure am interested and appreciate the art of rap, and definitely enjoy listening to hip hop tracks, which my IPod is full of, by the way. So, if you are a hip hop fan, this is one film you CAN NOT miss out on! And even if you’re not, it is an inspirational documentary film that will educate you, not just in ‘The Art of Rap’ but, in drive and determination which I believe will relate to any human being that watches this film.

Love Holly xx

P.s just to make you jealous there was an after party where the likes of Melle Mel, Raekwon, Chuck D and the man himself, Ice-T performed J Here's some blurry pics off the crappy camera on my Iphone.