Throughout the 34th Cambridge Film Festival the Bums on Seats team spoke to those who put the event together and the producers and directors whose work was screened. Below is a selection of the features broadcast on 105 Breakfast with Merlin & Linda, 105 Drive with Julian Clover and of course, Bums on Seats.
With thanks to the organisers of the Cambridge Film Festival and Take One.
Bums on Seats: Cambridge Film Festival 1
In the first of two specials for the 34th Cambridge Film Festival Toby Miller and the team review some of the films already screened and look ahead to what’s to come. Featuring Magic in the Moonlight, Night Moves, Atilla, Marcel and Short Fusions.
Bums on Seats: Cambridge Film Festival 2
With the Cambridge Film Festival over for another year, Bums On Seats catches up with some missed mainstream releases:
the supernaturally inclined Lucy, the mysterious The Guest and the much desired A Most Wanted Man. Plus we talk to LGBT historian and activist Colin Clews about the true story behind the feel good drama of Pride and get the lowdown on Bletchley Park’s upcoming Station X science fiction weekend.
Toby Miller hosts, joined this week by reviewers Emma Marchant, Simon West, Dave Riley and Callum Birrell.
Interview: Amir Amirani.
Just before its screening at the Festival Bums on Seats spoke with Amir Amirani, director of We Are Many, a new documentary on the February 13th, 2003 march that tried to stop the Iraq war. The demonstrations, which took place in 789 cities across 72 countries (including Antarctica) was the largest public show of force in history. Bums On Seats ask Mr Amirani why he felt a demonstration that seemed to fail needed a documentary.
Interview: Ramon Lacara:
Once again the Cambridge Film Festival showed the strength of contemporary Catalonia cinema, screening 6 movies that ran from comedy to thriller to Shakespearean adaptation. Bums On Seats spoke to Ramon Lamarca, programmer for the season, to find out the reason for choosing the films screening and the current strengths and weaknesses of Catalonia cinema.
Interview: Mal Coll
One of the most extraordinary of the films screening in the Camera Catalonia season was We All Want What’s Best For Her. A drama with a protagonist who was no longer sure they wanted to remain who they expected to be, the highly accomplished film was only the second feature from director Mal Coll. Bums On Seats regular Mark Liversideg sat down with Mal Coll after the premiere screening to talk over the film’s complex narrative and character, as well discuss the difficulties of casting a film in Catalonia.
Interview: Louise Pankhurst
The Festival played host to a rich seam of archive cinema, including Seven street, 2 Markets and a Wedding a feature comprised of home movies of London from 1930 to 1980. Largely unseen for generations, these snapshots of London life provide a unique insight into the continuities and changes in the capital across the 20th century. Bums On Seats interviewed Louise Pankhurst, a film archivist with the London Screen archive, about the huge amount of work that goes into an archive release, as well as the continued urgency of film archiving, even in this digital age.
Interview: Bryony Dixon
The Festival showed four masterpieces of early German cinema – all directed by Gerhard Lamprecht, a filmmaker whose career spanned the silents all the way up to the post war masterpiece Somewhere in Berlin. Bryony Dixon, author of a recent Sight and Sound article on Lamprecht, spoke with Bums On Seats about his work fitted into German cinema history and how he innovated by shooting on the street rather than the studio.
Interview: Jacob Lass
As always the Cambridge Film Festival offered a chance to catch up with what’s happening in Contemporary German cinema. Among the many film’s screening in the season was Love Steaks, a romantic comedy with an edge. In the lead up to the film’s UK Premiere, Bums On Seats interviewed (over skype) Love Steak’s ridiculously young director Jakob Lass.
Interview: Family Film Festival
Every year the Cambridge Film Festival gives up it’s mornings to the Family Film Festival, an increasingly popular collection of screenings for children of all ages. The Festival is run by Becky Innes, a Trustee of the The Cambridge Film Trust. After welcoming parents and children to a Singalong screening of Frozen she spoke to Bums On Seats about the Family Film Festival, from the genesis of the idea to the rich and varied diversity of the program. Warning: contains children and adults singing along to Let It Go.
Subscribe RSS