Kino London

Posted by Jamie Kennerley on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 10:11 am.

We took over Vibe Live again last Thursday for our monthly open mic film night. Anyone who has been to Kino before will know that every month is a massive shot in the dark; we take pride in programming absolutely nothing, instead erecting a screen and throwing it open to you. And so far – and we’re up to our 18th event now – our screen has been full of shorts every night.

Because films often come to us hot from the edit suite, the time of year is sometimes reflected in the offerings that are screened – horror shorts around Halloween time; films shot in parks with everyone in t-shirts (and slightly beer-induced) in the summer – and then sometimes it’s a complete mishmash of unplanned delight. Kino #17 was one of those screenings that you’d defy even the most subversive festival programmer to put together.

So, what did we have? A few comedy shorts, a couple of very different docs, a really varied mix of dramas, a Vertov-esque celebration of London and a couple of shorts from far flung corners of the globe – one from Melbourne and another from the Far East.

My own favourite was The Pink Ladder, Polis Loizou’s chilling short about teenagers playing with witchcraft. Ambitiously shot in just a day, with a decent script and some talented young actresses. One of those films that it is so much better than the self-deprecating intro suggests it’s going to be.

We’ll post separately about some of these films in the coming days, but here’s a full list of what was screened.

The Year of the Cat – Eddie Saint-Jean
The First Time I Went to the Cinema – Tania Martins
Hide — Seek – Jack Ayers
The Pink Ladder – Polis Loizou – Watch in the Videodrome »
Money Can’t Buy – Nusrat Howard-Moore
Coming Up – Nick Ravenscroft
How to make a Ghost Hunting Show – Ben Slotover
(as yet untitled) – James Janson
A Wake – Johnny Blank
Toilet Humour – Rebecca Brand
21st Century Symphony – Andre Amaral

Awarding challenges to rules breakers is always kind-of fun. Scratch that – really fun. A challenge for not putting the Kino logo on the end is probably the most common handed out. It was therefore pretty annoying to see that every filmmaker had very diligently abided by our simple screening rules and no-one qualified for an audience-imposed film challenge – boo!!

Step forward Tania Martins and Jack Ayers, who both volunteered to have the decision on their next film made for them, and a very democratic shout-and-scream voting process decided that the following should happen:

Tania must make a film that consists of two parallel stories, one told forwards and one told backwards, beginning and ending in the same location.
Jack must make a short about disappointment in discovering that it was sugar instead of salt.
Both should make and screen these films at Kino before they’re freed up to show another of their regular shorts.

Not only did we show a multitude of shorts, but we had a pretty special performance for ANGRYDAN and all his techno sampling wizardy. It’s pretty cool stuff, and he played at Kino last year to loud applause – almost as loud as his guitar. This time he seemed more melodic, I think. Not that I think he’s any less angry, perhaps just more mature.

Another night in the bag then. June screening to be announced shortly…