Film festival groupie

Most people who already read my blog will already be aware of this but in case you don't, my boyfriend and I quite like going to cultural events be it theatre or music or film and of course the art gallery's that I go to with a certain amount of reluctance and trepidation. We have in the year since we met been to four different film festivals and it's been a great experience, seeing the kind of movies you're not going to catch at your local odeon. 

 So when we saw Garter Lane was doing a short film festival, we headed straight down to get our tickets. I didn't really know what to expect as the previous festivals I had been to included Japanese cinema, world cinema and I am not quite sure how to describe the twisted celluloid festival we went to but I suppose it would be closest to horror.
I have limited experience with shorter films but I am always eager to broaden my horizons and do something a little different.

 Garter lane is a lovely venue, a short walk from the city centre and I have greatly enjoyed everything we've been to there so far from unusual music to plays and film. Much as I was looking forward to our night out, by the time I got out of work on Saturday feeling frazzled and like the remnants of  coffee in my system weren't enough to prop me up and all I wanted was my bed. I couldn't face a dinner so I made a quick trip to Tescos to get me some snacky food and then decided that I should watch a show and relax a bit before heading out. I didn't really take into account the fact that I didn't really have time for all that and ended leaving myself about two minutes to change before running to the arts centre. I had thrown on woolly tights with a dress and a cosy jumper over it but I wasn't far out the door when I realised I had made a poor fashion choice. My tights did not seem to want to stay up of their own accord but I was late so I could only stop two or three times to winch them up in an unattractive fashion.  I did make it to Garter Lane with mere seconds to spare which is good considering I had the tickets. 

 We got comfortable in our seats and it wasn't long before the movies began. The first was one of the longer ones and was a crime film. It centred around a dangerous criminal being interrogated by a detective. It wasn't great really. The dialogue was a bit forced and the accents weren't quite believable, it was an entertaining story all the same.
The next film was a silent one showing the day to day life of an elderly man who lived alone and while it was simple, it was also somewhat heartbreaking. It captured his essence without a single word being spoken. The next film was a comedy which surprised me because for some reason I don't picture comedy when someone mentions short films. It was very good, a story about an incompetent magician and his assistant and we both laughed a lot watching it. 
That was followed by a documentary that I have to admit I thought was scripted until I reread the programme. Not that it didn't seem real but just some of the stuff people in it were saying was so funny I assumed their lines had been written. It was filmed in a pub in some small Irish town and they were talking to a group of mildly intoxicated older men about the switch from analogue to digital. It was filmed the day Ireland switched over to digital tv signal and it was taking in the reactions of these men to it. I actually hurt from laughing at them.
next up was a music video with quite a powerful story being told in it. It was about a girl whose mum died of an overdose and it was looking at the different paths she might end up taking as a result. It was really well put together. Last of all was a great film about an ex convict who forms a friendship with an elderly railway worker. I found myself wanting to see more of that one, to see how the story developed.

 It was a great experience and a fantastic collection of films, I only wish we had gone to more but we had other plans the Friday night. I think we'll chalk that one up as a success and start making plans for our next cultural night out. 

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