Damon Cooper checks out the rist Chronovision pop up film event at Sela Bar …
Next door to the North Bar and beneath Wax Bar on New Briggate brings you to Sela Bar which hosted the very first Chronovision pop up cinema event AWE-CINE.
Arriving half an hour early before everyone else, I caught up with Tom Williamson, a good friend of mine and co-founder of this enterprise. He then introduced me to the other person involved, John Slemensek, who provided me with free food: popcorn. Great start!
Soon more cinema fans joined us including former housemates of Tom and John who came to support their first ever event.
First on screen was The Story of Chronovision which chronicled the film making duo’s hostilities that never were, causing them to part ways and then come together again in order to start putting on AWE-CINE.
Then we were treated to a basketball game from hell where one person dribbles a ball towards the hoop whilst trying to avoid Zombies. If you have watched The Walking Dead you know not to mess with these hungry cannibals.
The most inspiring part of the evening came two short films after the Zombie flick. “The Birdman of St Pete” directed by Cheryl Anderson tells the story of one man’s struggle to catch thirty fish a day to feed the pelicans which no longer know how to fend for themselves after decades of being fed by tourists who have now left. In future I shall be taking the ‘don’t feed the animals’ signs a lot more seriously.
Dark comedy was on next in the form of Steve Cutt’s animation “Where are they now?” which imagines what has happened to all our favourite cartoon characters from back in the day. I have not really enjoyed short animation this much since the early work of Joel Vietch from the rathergood.com fame; so give it a watch on Vimeo.
Where Are They Now? from Steve Cutts on Vimeo.
After the intermission Rachel Macclean’s short edit “Over The Rainbow” burst into life on the screen and it was bizarre. Imagine you are having a nightmare where Lady Gaga has taken over The Viaduct Pub in town and puts on the most squeamish cabaret show you will ever see. This visual is certainly one to watch out for.
Overall they was a broad variety of fourteen short films and something there for everyone.
This was one of the best evenings I’ve had in a while because I felt that I was going to watch films in the company of friends instead of just myself and someone else, plus strangers sitting silently in the stuffy setting of a modern cinema. In the bar we were allowed to briefly comment during films making the setting great for forming new friendships.
Jonathon sitting next to me remarked that the whole set up was very professional and I agree with him as everything was spot on – the sound, the screen and the venue.
Chronovision have been offered a monthly residency every second Sunday. To keep up to date with what Chronovision will be doing next, just follow them on twitter @ChronoFilm