If you love film then you’re spoilt for choice in Leeds. It seems like every week I discover some new and exciting event based around watching or celebrating movies. Sneaky Experience, 5 Reel Film, Minicine the list goes on but perhaps the jewel in the crown is Leeds’ own International Film Festival which delights and amazes me each year thanks not only to the films it brings into my life but the sheer scale of the thing (it’s bloody huge!).
The big benefit of the International Film Festival is that it allows people to watch films that you’d not usually get the chance to see because Michael Bay and Judd Apatow are hogging all the cinema screens. But what about the films that you wouldn’t get the chance to see at the film festival? We’re talking about the real DIY, independent stuff. This is where the No/Gloss Film Festival enters the fray.
No/Gloss prides itself on being Leeds first-ever DIY indie festival and, as it enters its second year, aims to provide ‘unconventional cinema in unusual spaces’ once again. The festival will be taking place on the 19th and 20th of October at the Canal Mills (so that’s a solid tick in the unusual space box) with the weekend promising over 30 hours of DIY and indie film from the UK and around the world, food, drink, workshops and live art.
If you’re like me then at this point you’re already sold on the idea. This is film at its most vibrant. DIY and Indie filmmakers aren’t working on massive budgets with the backing of huge companies and advertisers, and what pushes these people on is their own passion for the medium and the ideas and stories they want to convey. This is what No/Gloss celebrates and this is why I shall be there (they’ve been promised free tortillas chips and salsa on one of the days but that’s beside the point).
We’re going to be catching up with the organisers and providing more details on the festival and the films in the run up to October. In the meantime you can find out more and book your tickets (£12 for early birds – even my horrendous budgeting allows for this) here http://www.noglossfilmfestival.co.uk/ and join the Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/noglossfilmfestival. Wash the taste of that heartless romantic comedy out of your mouth and take a shot of punk film, on the rocks, No/Gloss style instead.