No/Gloss Film Festival, Leeds

nogloss

Guest blogger Stanley Denning takes a peek at what’s to come in the first No/Gloss Film Festival this weekend.

This weekend sees the launch of the first No/Gloss film festival, and we were lucky enough to be at the pre-launch down at Dock Street Market last weekend where we caught a glimpse of what’s on show.

In the words of the festival organisers “We want to showcase films that challenge the standards that define good film-making whatever that is, art that is not compromised by big names, big brands or big budgets.” From what we saw last weekend this philosophy really manifests itself well. The purpose of the festival is to move away from the cliquey and pretentious vibes that many other festivals emit, and focus more on independent DIY filmmaking. No/Gloss was set up in order to showcase smaller films that don’t make it into Cannes or Venice, in solidarity with filmmakers and artists who find it hard to secure funding.

The organisers are really running the gamut with their selection of films. In keeping with the festival’s ethos these films span not only a wide range of genres from narrative shorts to animation to experimental, and of countries including the USA and Italy, but also of technical prowess and budget. There are films on offer here shot on the RED camera system right down to Super 8 and mobile phones. We saw a wide selection at the pre-launch and can although there are of course varying levels of quality on offer; not one of the films here isn’t worth seeing.

Particular films that stood out are The Virgin Herod a very Lynchian short with disturbing attention to detail, Mantis which is a clever little film with a gory twist and probably the most interesting film on offer: Line of Sight an hour-long documentary shot mainly on the director’s homemade helmet cam over ten years, in twenty countries and thirty cities that follows a the underground sport of bike messenger racing, it’s a little overlong and under-informative but for the most part tremendous fun, with a lot of cool shots speeding through various cities on bicycle.

No/Gloss may be in its first year but the organisers have pulled out all the stops to bring Leeds an arts festival with a strong philosophy that utilises and supports local business and culture. They’re hoping to bring it back next year bigger and better, with plans for a retro drive-in cinema experience among other things, so get yourselves down there this weekend, have a good time and show some support.

No/Gloss is held this weekend (September 8/9th) at Wharf Chambers near the Leeds Corn Exchange. Day tickets are £6.50 and its £10 for the full weekend; they can be purchased at http://www.noglossfilmfestival.co.uk/ where you will also find trailers, announcements, and info on times for screenings and other events including live painting by local artists.

One comment

Comments are closed.