Our first day on the Lido began with a level of apprehension; it was to be the first time in Cannes in a Van history that we’d attempt to screen films publicly on the street for those at the 70th annual Venice Film Festival. Armed with the Official Selection from the 2012 Van d’Or Independent Film Awards and some newly submitted Italian films – our intention was to sit on the fringe of one of the worlds oldest and most [...]
Over a thousand miles, traveling through six different countries, three blokes embark on a long and arduous journey, the destination? The 70th annual Venice Film Festival. Setting off on Wednesday 28th August from London, UK, we travelled to Folkestone to catch the Eurotunnel before speeding through France into Belgium. Onwards then to Germany, where we organized a film screening at a film academy in Ludwigsburg, close to Stuttgart. The sun was battling our plasma in the late afternoon so time came to [...]
Should an established name use crowd-funding websites? You only need to glance over most movie blogs to notice a hell of a lot of fuss surrounding Kickstarter. Since it began in 2009, Kickstarter has brought a democratised funding platform to audiences who can now scroll through page after page, picking and donating the projects that take their interest. From video games, to publishing, to technology, Kickstarter has successfully been helping the business-minded little guy satisfy their audience with treats dependent on the amount they [...]
Our man on the ground, Janus Avivson, once again reviews films in the only way he knows how – honestly… this time, from Sheffield Doc Fest. Sheffield Doc/Fest June 12-16 2013 Some brief and very personal reviews by your favourite grumpy old semi-retired reporter Janus Avivson of Hampstead ITALY: LOVE OR LEAVE IT – 2011 Italy/Germany, 78 min, directors: Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, producer Gustav Hofer. Two smart and handsome gay guys travel the length of Italy’s boot for [...]
The carpet had been rolled out, the chairs in position. The final challenge was to flick our speakers up to an appropriate level so we could be heard over the sounds of turntable remixes across the road. The speakers didn’t let us down. Midnight was soon upon us and as the club switched to stealth volume, we knew who had won the battle of the sound systems. CIAV has come a long way since 2007.
For any fresh-faced filmmakers it can be hard to discover vital tips and tricks of the trade when looking to turn heads in the always-intimidating film industry. You could very well waltz into your local Waterstones, grab the first ‘How To-‘ book on the shelf with the glowing review from people you haven’t even heard off, but it can be frustrating not knowing the right direction to go in.
Day 8 Soon after we awoke, our Israeli neighbour, filmmaker Yanai Lein popped round for coffee to discuss some of the key themes around his mesmerising debut The Hidden Spring. He spoke at length about his intriguing background and the origins of his movie. As the day moved on, and Yanai left to meet in Cannes with producers, we heard a crash from the heavens, shortly followed by (unsurprisingly) more torrential rain. Sitting in the campsite ‘media hub’ the core [...]
Now the weather was on our side and we were raring to go. We headed down and grabbed a tight little spot outside the Grand Hotel and proudly displayed our recently installed sexy velvet inertia.
The roads around the Palais de Festival were closed to traffic so us mere mortals could get close only to grab some generic touristy-style snaps of the red carpet. We could only begin to imagine how much better it would have looked as Ryan Gosling hovered over like some sort of deity.
The early morning was filled with the crashing boom of thunder leaving a pessimistic feeling in our stomachs. But for the first time since we arrived, the weather actually highlighted the south of Frances’ beautiful climate.
Insidious black clouds began to crawl over the hills of Mandeleiu and the rain grew fiercer. Instead of hiding away with our tails between our legs in the safety of our prefab home, we decided to brave the Croisette with True Brit spirit.
Day 1: “And so the journey has begun.” It’s that time of year again, Cannes in a Van has made its annual trip down to the south of France to screen the finest selection of independent shorts from around Europe on the Croisette. Leaving London around 8PM on Tuesday evening, we hot-footed it down to Folkestone to catch the tunnel to Calais and begin our 13 hours drive down to the French Riviera. The journey began well, stopping off at [...]
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