The 27th Leeds International Film Festival…where do you even begin with something like that?
I moved up to Leeds about 6 years ago to study film; the only interaction I had with the university was an unopened prospectus on my bedroom floor and a hastily written personal statement (Dear Sir or Madam, my passion for the moving image was revealed to me during my first viewing of Thundercats). I knew two things about Leeds, firstly it seemed a decent distance from home (north of London but south of Scotland) and secondly it had its own film festival.
It’s a bit difficult to explain how exciting that notion seemed to me at the time. Perhaps I was the wrong age to appreciate Guildford’s cultural scene or simply (and quite likely) blind to what was actually on offer around me, but there never seemed to be anything really happening where I lived. My friends and I seemed to spend the majority of our free time making excuses to bouncers for why we didn’t have any I.D. and then slinking off to meet the rest of the ‘yoof’ in a park, where we’d drink White Lightening and play spin the bottle with the empties (because when you kiss a stranger you want them to smell/taste of White Lightening).
Once we could produce the required identification and were admitted to the bright lights of the Surrey bar scene the situation didn’t really improve much. For one thing the drinks cost a lot more inside than they did out and to my mind flirting seemed a lot more hit and miss compared to spin the bottle. The random spinning of an empty cider bottle had certainly seemed to provide me with more success in the love life department than my charm and looks did at any rate.
For me LIFF (for hence shall it be known, this isn’t an academic essay where I’m trying to bump up the word count) isn’t just a celebration of cinema from around the world; at a time when I didn’t really know what to do with my life it represented an exciting glimpse of what could be. Assured with the knowledge that any city with a film festival was a place I wanted to be I upped sticks, traveled the 300 or so miles north and haven’t looked back since.
LIFF was just the beginning of my journey into the Leeds film scene. From established venues like the Hyde Park Picture House and Cottage Road Cinema to amateur (the loosest sense of the word I promise you) screenings and festivals like No/Gloss, 5 Reel Film and Minicine, the sense of passion and independence in Leeds makes it the ideal city for anyone with a love of film and has ensured that I’ve never once regretted my decision to move (hey, a website up here even lets me waffle on it).
Of course LIFF will always hold a special place in my heart. The biggest and brightest event in Leeds’ film calendar, each year it pulls together some of the best and most exciting films and filmmakers into one place offering an occasion to rival anything held elsewhere. This year (of course!) is no exception.
It all kicks off on the 6th of November with Alfonso Cuarón’s new film Gravity in 3D, called the greatest space film since 2001: A Space Odyssey (surely worth going just for the inevitable argument in the pub afterwards) and carries on until the 21st of November. The sheer volume of screenings on offer is mind-boggling and I’ll be going into a bit more depth into specific films and special events in future articles but for now it’s easiest if we split the event using the ever-so-handy system that LIFF have provided. The festival can essentially be split into 5 categories:
- The Official Selection – These are the ‘big ones’. Some of the most acclaimed films of the year which are currently doing the festival circuit. Here you’ll find Berlin and Cannes Film Festival winners such as Blue and Child’s Pose as well as new discoveries like The Strange Little Cat and Harmony Lessons.
- Retrospectives – LIFF isn’t just about showcasing the latest in cinema, it’s also a great opportunity to see some rare and perhaps forgotten gems. This year’s offering includes Masaki Kobayashi’s nine-and-a-half hour epic The Human Condition, F.W. Murnau’s Faust (with a live organ accompaniment) and, perhaps my favourite film of all time, Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone, introduced by Sir Christopher Frayling.
- Fanomenon – Now we’re getting somewhere! This is where I spent I lot of my time each year. Fanomenon celebrates the best of cult and fantasy film. From unsettling horror to some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring animation you’re likely to see, the films on offer here are sure to stay with you. This is also home to the horror marathons Day of the Dead (fourth year in a row for me!) and Night of the Dead as well as the always excellent Anime Day – words cannot describe how excited I am to finally get to see the third movie of the Neon Genesis Rebuild.
- Cinema Versa – This is home of documentary film for LIFF. Emphasising low-budget, independent features and covering areas from alternative music scenes to grass-root political movements the films here are a testament not just to their subjects but to the power of film itself.
- Short Film City – Short films are a wonderful art form; slices of narrative that provide a brief glimpse into fascinating worlds they offer some of the funniest and most poignant moments of many film festivals. LIFF is fortunate enough to be a recognised festival for a number of short film competitions including the Academy Awards and BAFTA, ensuring that the films you see here are the greatest the world has to offer. If you’ve not yet become accustomed to the medium this is the time to do so.
So there you have it, the shallowest of surface scratches into what’s on offer at this year’s LIFF. This is my sixth and it feels just as fresh and as exciting as that first one which dragged me up here to the place I now happily call home.
Hopefully I’ll see you there and who knows maybe if we catch others eye afterwards we can grab a bottle of cheap cider and head to a local park, y’know, to discuss the mise en sans and stuff.
The 27th Leeds International Film Festival runs from the 6th to the 21st November, you can find full details for and book your tickets here: www.leedsfilm.com