Olof’s life is centered around his work but he is about to discover something that will turn his whole existence upside down.

Director: Adam Andersson

Producer: Adam Andersson

Writer: Adam Andersson

Key cast and other credits:

Lead actor: Börje Lundberg

Director’s Statement

“I am a 24 year old male from Sweden who is currently studying filmmaking at Fridhems Folkhögskola. I have always had the need to tell stories even as a child. I have worked with different mediums for example theatre, and music, but filmmaking has always been my favourite outlet. I have worked on several film projects mostly student projects but I have also worked as a trainee on two different professional projects.

The film is based on several different experiences from my own life. The main inspiration was probably from dealing with bureaucracy when seeking financial support for different theatre projects. It’s also about how I feel about some of today’s clerical professions and remedial tasks of office workers. I sometimes think that work has become a purpose in itself instead of a means.”

Online Links

None provided.

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Director: Alexander Hinojosa & Sandra Ekman

Producer: 

Writer: 

Key cast and other credits:

Director’s Bio

None provided.

Online Links

None provided.

The post Pages Of Rage appeared first on Norwich Film Festival.

When the city is asleep, night lights live their own life.

Director: Marina & Tatiana Moshkova

Producer: Marina & Tatiana Moshkova

Writer: Marina & Tatiana Moshkova

Directors’ Bio

Tatiana Moshkova and Marina Moshkova are twin-sisters from St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 2009 they graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television where they specialised in direction of animation.

Now Marina Moshkova is working as a director at Computer Animation Studio “Peterburg” and Tatiana is working as a freelance director and animator.

Directors’ Statement

Whilst making “Night Lights” we were so excited experimenting with the “freeze light” technique that we subconsciously ended up making the light itself into a main character. The beam of light revives the empty streets by taking shapes of men in the café, a smoker sitting alone with his cigarette or a crowd of people enjoying a street concert in the night.  The light imprints the romantic images of the city.

Online Links

None provided.

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A Strange Kind Of Love – Péter Varsics (14m, Hungary)

HBO Europe Production Assistant Péter Varsics has been making films since he was 17 years old. He studied Fine Arts at Eötvös Lóránd University , acting as an independent director for commercials and music videos in the mean time.

A Strange Kind of Love tells the tale of a young painter, who has been forced to live without her sight after a traumatizing event. A romance with an admirer forces her to deal with what happened in her childhood. More and more, remembering her past becomes a requirement for her to continue her life and her love.

Angels And Ghosts – Sara Kenney (10m, UK)

Based on a true story, award-winning short Angels and Ghosts tells the emotive tale of Amber, a young woman on a quest to find her brothers who have disappeared. It’s a gripping animated adventure, narrated by Oscar nominee Samantha Morton.

This film explores what it’s like to have a family member affected by psychosis. The Director Sara Kinney has first-hand experience of people who have had psychotic episodes and wanted to find a way to tell a story, which reflects both the patient and family perspective. ‘I deliberately wanted to use an adventure/ sci-fi narrative to draw a wide audience into the story, which explores quite difficult subject matter,’ Sara told us. ‘My ambition was to create a character driven, narrative animation, with beautiful and unusual visuals.’

Box Of Things – Daniel Williams (8m, UK)

Director Daniel Williams (below) studied at the Future Works School of Media in Manchester and Box of Things is his first project as a Writer and Director.

Box of Things is inspired by a true story and focuses on the main character Yusuf.  Yusef Is a Libyan national seeking asylum in Britain during the unrest in Libya. After receiving his deportation orders he decides on a plan of action to ensure he keeps his daughter as far away from his war torn homeland as possible.

‘I came up with the idea after reading a newspaper article. The story stuck with me and I really wanted to do something striking and different as a first short film’, Williams has stated. ‘I pulled the story apart and introduced new elements such as the cassette message, and setting it against the war in Libya to make it more current and relatable to the audience. I wrote the script on a train journey from Manchester to Wigan, took it to the crew the day after, and the final piece is very much representative of that first draft.’

Filming took just one day, with a month long post production process ‘we poured meticulously over every detail of the film to get it perfect and we couldn’t be happier with the finished project’ Williams told us.

Delivered – Ryan Dean (5m, UK)

Delivered was written, shot and edited in conjunction with the Sci-fi 48 hour Film Challenge.  The film is set in an alternate universe where a new technology called ‘Genechip’ as become part of everyday life. Genechip allows you to do everything from pay for a coffee to match you genetic compatibility with a possible partner. Our protagonist, Trevor, is yet to commit to the trend of ‘thumbing’ until he meets the girl of his dreams.

Ryan Dean runs the production company the Big RD in London and became interested in filmmaking after he completed his university studies. ‘As we had only 48 hours to shoot and cut the film, it was a very quick process!

It was a tough shoot because of the extreme time restraints, but we were very proud of the outcome’ Dean said.

Fire Horse – Matt Bell (17m, UK)

Ada has seen her village alter beyond all recognition. Community spirit is in tatters, people are atomised, local services are long forgotten. Roddy’s village store is the last one standing, but is struggling in the modern world. To save her friend’s livelihood, 80 year old Ada will go to any lengths…

Matt Bell has worked as part of an Assistant Director’s team for the past eleven years. ‘I’ve always wanted to try my hand to directing and though a short film would be a good place to start’. The idea for Fire Horse came about after a run around his home town of Saffron Walden in Essex revealed how little character remained in the town. ‘I started thinking about the modern world and how we are all now online. We’ve now reached a point where we could all live our lives without leaving our homes. But how must that feel to the older generation?’

Fire Horse cost £4000 to make and was filmed in just two days.

Fun City – Justin Olstein (12m, Australia)

Prevented from speaking to his son, a divorced theme park attendant tends to the rides and patrons adrift in a sea of wonder and joy that he can’t relate to. But after an unexpected altercation, Alvy must choose between anger or change.

Writer Andrew Kavanagh and Producer Matt Downey worked with Director  Justin Olstein to create Fun City. Director Justin Olstein said of the film ‘Sometimes we just don’t see things the way they truly are. This sentiment is what ultimately drew me to the character of Alvy and to bringing Fun City to the screen.

‘Distanced from his young son, Alvy sees only the injustice of his situation, not the hand he’s had in its creation. The film’s amusement park setting allowed me to augment Alvy’s journey with a sense of irony and longing – the wonder and joy of the park serving as a constant reminder of all that Alvy wants and does not have.’

Grace – Faye Viviana & Haley Sims (9m, USA)

Viviana and Sims’ submission juxtaposes  the day of a prostitute and a ballet dancer against the poignant sound of “Amazing Grace”, illustrating the way in which we ultimately persevere with grace, finding beauty in the grittiness and struggles of life.

Viviana and Sims have said  of their work, which they produce through their independent production company UB Productions ,‘we do not put just any art into the world; we strive to create beautiful, powerful, moving work that not only inspires others, but even ourselves.‘

Liars – Oscar Nobi (7m, UK)

London based writer/ Director Oscar Nobi has been making films for almost three years and Liars is his second short film. It is based around a personal experience. ‘I remember showing my first film to friends and family; the feedback was positive but I couldn’t help but wonder whether they were just trying to spare my feelings. This led to Liars’.

In Liars a man unwittingly yells the blunt truth from a rooftop while everyone around him would much prefer a flattering lie or two. It was filmed in one shot on one day and took 18 takes to get right.

Nuclear Mysticism – Guy Phenix (1m, UK)

This film is a one of a series of one minute documentaries made during 2013 by Guy Phenix. The film follows a girl on location at Kelvingrove Art Museum, Glasgow as she discusses a nuclear mysticism artist in one minute.

This Is Shanghai – Rob Whitworth (3m, Singapore)

In 1980 Shanghai had no skyscrapers. It now has at least 4,000 — more than twice as many as New York. This is Shanghai explores the diversities and eccentricities of the metropolis that is Shanghai, exploring what lies behind the famous skyline.

Photographer Rob Whitworth and urban identity expert JT Singh joined forces combining deep city exploration and pioneering filmmaking. – This is Shanghai is a roller coaster ride seamlessly weaving between the iconic, sparkling and mismatched buildings of the financial district, travelling by boat and taxi touring Shanghai’s impressive infrastructure whilst glimpsing some of the lesser-known aspects of Shanghai life such as the lower stratum areas  or the stunning graffiti of Moganshan road.

The Undream – Alexander Thomas (18m, UK)

The Undream revolves around insomniac Tom, who is trapped in his incessant inner monologue. He goes on midnight walks through a deserted town, but he can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s being followed…

Alexander Thomas studied Film Directing at the University of Westminster. When not directing or working on screen adaptations he teaches Film, Media and Academic Skills at the University of East London and London Metropolitan University.

Une Aventure d’Escargots – Clara Pougeard (4m, France)

Clara Pougeard, originally came from France but currently lives in Norwich where  she is studying  Film and Moving Image Production at NUA. She has also studied animation for two years at the Sainte-Geneviève Institute in Paris.

Une Aventure d’Escargots (or a A Snail Adventure in English) is Pougeard’s  graduation movie  about two snails, who, hungry, try to cross a deep ravine to  reach a plentiful tree bounty. It is a story freely inspired by a poem from Jacques Prévert (a French poet and scriptwriter) about two snails going to the funeral of a dead leaf.

Whilst the pre-production took nine months, astonishingly the animation took just  two weeks.

Une Balade á la Mer – Damien Stein (4m, France)

Following a tiny man’s ride to the sea from the big city to free his goldfish, facing dangers at every turn, Une Balade à la Mer is a sweet film showing how troublesome the modern world is for smaller creatures.

This is Damien’s first short film, made as an experiment to see how he could edit together images and sounds. Work first started on the project five years ago ‘I couldn’t finish it, I thought I had done something wrong. But six months ago, I decided to put an end to it so I could move on, and fortunately people liked it.’

Une Balade à la Mer will receive its first UK screening at the Norwich Film Festival.

Wake – Nick Fogg (1m, UK)

Lis is determined to live life to the full. She developed an extreme sports habit after turning 70 and is now a self-confessed adrenaline junkie. And she recently decided to hold her own wake – whilst still very much alive – so as not to miss out on the party.

Director Nick Fogg started as a Theatre Director and has gone on to make dramas and documentaries for  BBC Local TV, the Community Channel and Current TV.

‘Wake was shot as part of a longer documentary project about people’s attitudes towards getting older at different ages. Lis’ story just stood out. She’s an inspiring lady. She recently had her 90th birthday and is still living life to the full.’

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1 Out Of 9 – Marcus Carús and Kike Andrés (1m, Spain)

1 out of 9 was filmed with 9 cameras at once and filming took place in just one morning with a  tiny team. The actors had to make sure they used exactly the same movements and in exactly the same way for each take to ensure continuity between the cameras.

‘The Norwich Film Festival is the perfect place to show the film. It is one of the most prestigious places 1 out of 9 has been selected to play at’, the directors told us.

A Day In The Life Of A Bathroom Mirror – Phil Hawkins (8m, UK)

A Day in the Life of a Bathroom Mirror takes an unusual  approach to narrative, with  the mirror itself reflecting its own desires and dislikes in just one day.

Writer  and Producer Dominic Rose originally came up with the idea due to the limits of a competition, which  supplied him with only Super 8 cartridge and a soundtrack to work with.  He wanted a character who couldn’t speak and so a bathroom mirror was the ideal, if somewhat unusual, choice for a main character ‘I realized how much potential there was for comedy if you had our hero not only in love with his owner but incapable of communicating this to her.’

Director Phil Hawkins came on board and figured out that the best way to make the story cinematic was to build the set from scratch, which gave the crew the flexibility to film from many angles.

Best Of Britain – David Anderson (15m, UK)

Inspired by the furore surrounding the Royal Wedding Best of Britain focuses on removals man Dan. After months of unemployment he finally has work; but his van won’t start. Without the money to get it fixed Dan’s fiancée sets out to pawn the only thing they have of any real value ‐ her engagement ring. Dan is determined to stop her, but his pursuit across London is obstructed by huge crowds celebrating a National event.

The route from conception of the idea to the actual shoot on Best of Britain was only three weeks. ‘I was getting exasperated by the huge media attention focusing on the build up to the Royal Wedding, and particularly the huge cost of the day at a time when the coalition’s austerity measures were affecting the lives of millions of people around the country.’

The film was made whilst Anderson was studying for an MA in filmmaking at the London Film School. The entire production cost just £500, which meant the crew had to be creative operating like a documentary unit, shooting extremely quickly  amongst the large crowds. ‘Normally film crews draw a lot of attention from crowds, but no one looked at us on the day as there were so many cameras there!’

Earthshine – Manu Prasad Gopinath (4m, Canada)

Director Manu Prasad Gopinath originally intended to become a comic book artist, but found his calling as a filmmaker whilst at college in Canada.

The central premise of Earthshine , a homesick astronaut who encounters an unusual and mysterious staircase on the Martian landscape, came about thanks to Gopinath’s deep love of Science Fiction ‘I love space. I was obsessed with the idea of setting a dramatic mood piece on Mars because I loved the colour possibilities it allowed, coupled with the sense of isolation and loneliness. What I really wanted to express was the idea of homesickness, a feeling of bitter-sweetness, and the message of ‘getting something that you really want, only to learn that it is not real’.’

The final film took about  17 months to produce, with 10 months dedicated to pre production followed by 7 months of production.

The Gravedigger’s Tale – Min Young Oh (14m, UK)

Min Young Oh is an animation director from South Korea. She studied Graphic Design at Seoul Women’s University, taking a year off to work on a feature project and to learn puppet making skills. Subsequently she came to the UK and graduated from the National Film and Television School as an animation director.

The Gravedigger’s Tale, is about a young gravedigger who lives a sad and lonely existence. She’s ostracised completely by the nearby village she works in service of, so much so that the only meaningful relationship she has is with Death. The film is adapted from a fairy tale Oh wrote and illustrated, about a girl who falls in love with a devil. ‘I drew it in a very traditional Western style environment, all cobbled streets and castles. My dear screen writer, Maurice Caldera, loved it, and it was actually his suggestion to adapt this story to my own cultural background, so we transposed it into a Korean setting. We wanted to make a female driven story and really focused on her situation and her choices.’

The film took approximately a year to complete  from the story development to colour grading.

The Houdini Girl – Kfir Yefet (11m, UK)

Based on a fragment of Martyn Bedford’s award-winning novel, The Houdini Girl stars Jack Whitehall and Laura Donnelly as a quirky magician and the enigmatic young woman he wakes up with one morning, watched over by his beloved vintage Harry Houdini poster. A complex, sexy, funny and unexpectedly moving tale of reaching out and connecting, with a magical twist.”

The Hummingbird – Rafa Pavón (16m, Spain)

Director Rafa Pavon studied MA Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in London and has since directed music videos, commercials and visual experiments at the collective Watergun.

The film started as part of the universe of The Cosmonaut, a crowd funded feature film based on Soviet conspiracy theories about early space shuttle test flight pilots. ‘While I was following the production, I kept asking myself about those legends. What if they were real? Where would that man be? Would he still be alive somewhere? We decided to find the truth behind those rumours and travel to Russia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2011. After that, we built the story by putting together all those pieces and filling the gaps for the missing ones, letting people decide by themselves’ Pavon told us.

Monkey Rag – Joanna Davidovich (4m, USA)

Joanna Davidovich is a freelance animation artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. Monkey Rag is a personal project she started between jobs and finished on nights and weekends. After fours years, she is happy to finally “give you a little bit of what sheʼs got.”

Monkey Rag is a traditionally animated throwback to the musical cartoons of yore. Inspired by the thumping, riotously fun music of the Asylum Street Spankers, Mitzi pursues a disaster of her own making in this richly coloured world where reason is overrated.

‘With traditional drawing becoming less and less a part of my animation work, it became a real pleasure, and sometimes a solace, to sit at my old-school animation disc and sketch out Mitzi skipping and dancing’ Davidovitch said.

The Painter – Nate Townsend (10m, USA)

Obsessed by events that changed his life decades ago, an amateur artist finally returns to the farm where it all began. The Painter is one man’s journey in search of redemption, closure, and peace.

Nate Townsend has worked as an intern at Michael Bay’s company The Institute in Los Angeles and studied film at  Loyola Marymount University. The Painter took eight months to complete. ‘Growing up in Missouri, I’ve always been conscious of racial tension and unfair treatment of African-Americans. I figured that there wasn’t a better platform than the judicial system of the 1970s to place this story of racism, heartache and loss’ Townsend told us.

Reboot – Liam Johnson (15m UK)

A gifted engineer’s world is rocked with the unexpected death of his father. Alone with nothing but his grief, he begins to formulate a plan. …

‘Reboot is my attempt to explore the concept of grief’ Director Liam Johnson stated. The science fiction element, taking inspiration from Frankenstein and old B-movies was added to challenge the filmmakers and to make the story more interesting.

Liam has worked in the media for the last four years, honing his talents on commercials and TV shows. Reboot  was entirely self funded by the crew and took just five days to shoot.

Silent Treatment – Mark Lobatto (10m, UK)

Silent Treatment is set in a bleak, stagnant waiting area, where time stands still and odd characters sink with gloom, two strangers are compelled to connect. An encounter where actions literally speak louder than words.

Director Mark Lobatto wrote the script for Silent Treatment in a flurry of artistic inspiration and the entire film was made within 5 months ‘it’s extremely close to how I imagined it, and the atmosphere on set and chemistry on screen are a testament to the talent of everybody involved.’

Ultramarine – Matthew Earl (11m, Australia)

Jacob McDermott (Mackenzie Fearnley) would be your average 16 year old, were it not for the undiagnosed depression he’s suffered for the last six months. School’s a drag and his absent parents seem to be missing all the warning signs.

For Jacob, escape is the only option – and when he skips school and runs into the extroverted, street-smart Nathalie (Katarina Viva Scholler), that’s exactly what he finds. The two form an unlikely friendship – but it’s not enough to cure Jacob’s depression. When Nathalie encourages Jacob to seek professional help, it backfires almightily and sends Jacob on a suicidal mission.

Writer and Producer Nicki Murray used her family member’s real life experiences of depression to make Ultramarine. ‘I wanted to let them know that their efforts to overcome these private mental hurdles hadn’t gone unnoticed and that there are so many people who would be there for them when they needed help.’

Director Matthew Earl, brought an outsiders perspective and allowed the film to find a wider audience. Ultramarine took 8 months  to bring to life , with an underwater scene proving particularly difficult.

As a British native, Murray is thrilled to be nominated for the Norwich Film Festival ‘Norwich will be our first UK film festival so it feels great to come full circle and bring our work back home!’

Vengeance – Conrad Mess (1m, Spain)

‘Revenge could Kill you’ is the tagline for Vengeance. Luis Mieses, a.k.a. Conrad Mess, was born in Zaragoza, Spain and began making films at the age of 37.

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Ed – Gabriel Garcia (14m, Brazil)

Meet Ed and his extraordinary life. Fifty years of an unforgettable journey. Many loves, adventures and remarkable stories. What nobody knows is why Ed wants to end it.

Gabriel Garcia founded the hype.cg company whilst still at university and in 2010 the company began to specialize in animation graphics, and producing corporate videos.

He wrote Ed with his brother, Leo Garcia. The premise was to create a film without dialogue: ‘I had an idea to begin the short with a suicide and along the film offer some clues about what really happened for him to get to that point’ Gabriel told us. The film took three years to make. 40 people were involved in making the film. The most difficult aspect of making Ed was the fur ‘that is a very difficult CG technique, and it gave us a lot of headaches – we nearly gave up on it!’

Haunted By The Present, She Looks To The Past – Emmaalouise Smith (5m, UK)

Haunted by the Present, She Looks to the Past is the latest experimental short by British filmmaker Emmaalouise Smith. The film tells the story of a woman reflecting her life through memory in an audio-visual platform. Travelling into the past in a sometimes nightmarish state of mind, the narrative blurs and distorts into a new reality – revealing a somewhat colourful, burning new picture of truth.

The narration was written by Emmaalouise to depict an alternative state of mind between awake and asleep, and told in a way that manipulates what the viewer sees and hears on screen.

The short is the third in a trilogy of personalized projects by Emmaalouise.

Hello Sunshine – Dan Nathan (18m, UK)

Kate is the perfect wife with a problem. After twenty-five years her husband, Ralph, has left her for a newer model. She reaches out to a friend from her past, Vanessa, a 40-a-day force of nature with a drink problem. She is everything that Kate isn’t – mouthy, impulsive and chaotic and has a quick fix for Kate’s despair – vodka, grass and a road trip – and persuades Kate to take Ralph’s beloved classic Mercedes convertible.

Dan Nathan trained at the BBC and has previously directed commercials. Looking for a new challenge, worked with the writer Paul McNally for this short film.  Filmed on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, Hello Sunshine was made on a shoestring budget.

Hunting For Hockney – Alice Dunseath (4m, UK)

Alice Dunseath is a film maker and animator based in London. After graduating from Goldsmiths College with a first class honours degree, she worked as a third assistant director on Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox. Since the film’s completion, she has worked as a freelancer in the film and animation industry in London and is currently completing a Masters in animation at the Royal College of Art in London.

Hunting for Hockney was based on a true story which Dunseath made whilst  at the Royal College of Art. It is a digitally hand-drawn, animated short film that tells the story of two friends who go on a search for David Hockney as an escape from the realities of a bereavement. On the journey, we see how grief can toy with the senses, change the way we see the world and heighten the need for adventure.

‘After writing and re-writing the script numerous times, I recorded the sound fairly early on in the making process. I gathered sound effects, got friends to voice some of the parts and used a song by Tom Rosenthal for the film score. It is possibly the most personal piece of work I have ever made.’ Dunseath explained.

The Last Piper – Iain Forbes (20m, Norway)

Half Scottish, Half Norwegian director Iain Forbes studied at Nordland College of Art and Film in Lofoten in the north of Norway and The Last Piper is his graduation film.

The Last Piper is the tale of Ryan MacCrimmon, guardian of the last bagpipe on earth, and those who would see the instrument wiped out for good. We join him for the final part of his journey, at the northernmost edge of the world, where he hopes to secure the future of the bagpipes once and for all. ‘The image of a lone piper, on the run in an icy landscape, has stuck with me for several years. It was with this premise I started writing the film. A Scotsman marooned in a foreign land, his cultural identity tied to a single object.’

The film took six months to produce, with the shoot taking place in just three days. Snow posed a major challenge for the filmmakers, as it completely blocked the route to their shooting location. ‘I wanted to make a film about a subject many found to be humorous, and play with the audience’s expectations,’ Iain told us.

Laundry – Anton Short (3m, UK)

Anton Short started directing whilst studying for his degree at York St. John University in 1997. He has gone on to make several shorts for the UK Film Council and edits feature films and documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery amongst others.

‘The idea for the film is based on my own relationship with the girl who has recently agreed to marry me. We seem to bicker intensely about the smallest of things – in fact many couples do – and I wanted to make fun of this’.

The young couple in Laundry, bizarrely  find themselves bickering about misplaced organs whilst trying to go out for Valentines Day.

Lines In The Sand – Michael Gilroy (17m, UK)

An actor by trade, Michael Gilroy attended the Drama Centre, London in the year above Michael Fassbender and Russell Brand. Lines in the Sand is Gilroy’s second film as a writer/director and tells the story of two young sisters who run away from a children’s home hoping they will never be found. It was filmed over 3 days in Jaywick, Essex which is officially the most deprived place in England. ‘We tried to show the beauty of the area especially it’s unique beach which our two characters came to love as their very own paradise’ Gilroy said of the film. The power of the film hinged on the two leads ‘I will always be indebted to those two girls, they gave the subtlety and emotional truth that I wished for.’

This is Michael’s second screening at the Norwich Film Festival. His first film Dance for Eternity screened here in 2009 and was later sold to Channel 4 where it has screened several times since.

Monotony – Joanne Postlewaite (3m, UK)

In a dystopian future a strange encounter breaks up the monotony of a man’s working day. ..

Director Joanne Postlewaite made Monotony using £2000 of her own money.  The film was shot at Chromacode Studios, a small green-screen studio in East London.

Post production took place during the heatwave of 2013. ‘It was torturous,’ Joanne told us ‘but as James and I were so into what we were doing, we worked for nearly 24 hours one day before crashing on my studio floor for a few hours before starting again!’

Jasmine’s Revolution – Sam Johnson (9, UK)

Set on 8th August 2011, Jasmine’s Revolution depicts an hour in the life of 9-year-old Jasmine, who having watched the London riots on television and radio, goes to some extraordinary and poignant lengths to stand up to the family who ignore and oppress her.

Sam Johnson is  a freelance director and artist based between Oxford and London. He studied film at Kings College London, before spending two years learning the ropes in production on films including X-Men: First Class, and Skyfall, shadowing directors, and location managing gory British horrors.

‘Jasmine’s Revolution was, for all the right reasons, a tiny little production. We had a shooting crew of 6, and our 10-year-old actress Alice. It was Alice’s first film, and she was a marvel. Her interest, confusion and frequent amusement with the process rubbed off on all of us. I’m most proud of her performance’ Sam told us.

Night Lights – Marina & Tatiana Moshkova (1m, Russia)

‘When the city is asleep night lights live their own life.’

Marina and Tatiana Moshkova are twin-sisters from St. Petersburg, Russia. Both attended a drawing course at St. Petersburg Academy of Arts between 2002- 2006, later studying animation and Computer Graphics  at the St. Petersburg State University of Film and TV.

The film Night Lights was shot in 3 days for the weekly competition of the Cinemadamare Film Festival in Italy. The challenge was to make a film for less than a week at the location of the small town Stazzema. They used light itself and its images to represent the life in the town. ‘To make this film we had to stay awake all the nights without a sleep but it was worth it when we won the 1st Prize at the Weekly Competition.’

Pages Of Rage – Alexander Hinojosa & Sandra Ekman (1m, USA)

In this comedic look at the horror genre, a rebel teenager stumbles upon a book containing a mysterious history. What will happen when he reads the forbidden words aloud? Only time will tell.

Alexander Hinojosa is a self taught director and has worked with his directing partner Sandra Ekman on several productions, meeting whilst she was a film student. ‘We strive to make content that connects to audiences emotionally, whether it be through sadness, anger, and especially laughter. This film in particular is making fun of the horror genre, in a very obvious and goofy way’ Alexander told us. Whilst both have worked on large scale projects for television and film alike, this was a very low-budget film, with only  Elkman and Hinojosa working as the crew. The film took one week to produce.

Paperwork – Adam Anderson (1m, Sweden)

Paperwork, a film every office worker in the land will recognise, sees poor little Olaf dedicated to his office job, but he makes a discovery that turns his whole existence upside down.

Swedish director Adam Andersson is currently studying at Fridhems Folkhögskola. and has previously worked in  theatre and music . These experiences inspired him to make Paperwork. ‘The main inspiration was probably from dealing with bureaucracy when seeking financial support for different theatre projects. It’s also about how I feel about some of today’s clerical professions and remedial tasks of office workers. I sometimes think that work has become a purpose in itself instead of a means.’

Rail – Jack Tilley (11m, UK)

Peterborough native Jack Tilley currently works as a storyboard artist on a pre-school animated series for cBeebies. Rail is his graduation film for the National Film and Television school.

The basic idea for Rail came from just one sentence ‘An old man lives with his granddaughter in an abandoned train’. The NFTS gave Jack the opportunity to make a film with a whole production crew, including a writer. ‘I quickly snapped up Rachel Yelding to write Rail, based on our lengthy discussions about tone, atmosphere and my childhood memories living near abandoned train tracks. The film took 14 months to produce, and like any animated film, was in equal parts joyful and hellish to make.’

Around 4000 hand drawn images were produced to make the final film.

Woodwoo – Jonny Phillips (12m, UK)

Director Jonny Phillips trained as an actor at RADA and has been working for nearly thirty years.

Woodwoo is a slice through a working day of two tree surgeons, Jeff (John Kirk) the ground worker and John (Jonny Phillips) the climber. John is resentful and uncommunicative, Jeff attempts to connect with him but after a while gives up and drifts away from the tree they are working on almost leading to a catastrophe.

The idea  for this film came from Phillips’ experience of working as a tree surgeon during a protracted spell of unemployment and was filmed local around the Norfolk area. ‘As with all low budget endeavours the process was very slow and difficult’ Phillips said ‘but we got a little help, and insurance from Rankin Film Production and some great breaks with locations and ultimately the weather.’

The post 2014 Films in Detail: Tuesday 6th May appeared first on Norwich Film Festival.