In April 2011 rioting returned to the streets of Bristol. This time, the trouble was focussed on Stokes Croft, one of Britain’s most colourful urban communities. A new branch of supermarket store Tesco which had been opposed by many local residents found itself at the centre of the disturbance. In the months since the violence, some local campaigners have continued to oppose the presence of this store. Their belief is that giant corporations will destroy the character of Stokes Croft and force small independent businesses to close down. The one-off documentary profiles a group of residents who are trying to offer an alternative to the supermarket, selling locally sourced foods. But can they really compete with the corporate muscle of the supermarket giant?

That’s not to say there weren’t some fabulous films on offer for the discerning viewer and casual film fan alike. Andre Ovredal’s Troll Hunter is the latest in the now familiar run of the found-footage sub-genre. Like Cloverfield, Rec, Paranormal Activity and the groundbreaking The Blair Witch Project, the film starts with the disclaimer that the film is composed of footage that has been mysteriously found and left un-edited. And so begins a rip-roaring account of some Norwegian film students who go to investigate a series of unlawful bear shootings. The mock documentary set up lends itself well to this familiar ride through eerie wooded landscapes which expose the legend of the Norwegian trolls through some fantastic CGI. With a cleverly marketed PR campaign on the back of the film, watch out for Troll Hunter in your multiplex soon. But do be wary of the inevitable Hollywood remake that is already in development…

Ewan McGregor provided some red-carpet glamour to this year’s festival with the premiere of David MacKenzie’s latest film Perfect Sense, a Glasgow-based drama set in a time of apocalypse where emotion are running wild and people are losing their senses. Literally. An interesting premise is undone with some pretentiously over the top voice over and a criminally underused cast. But the film remains an ambitious undertaking. Entertaining, if not matching the director’s previous highs of Asylum and Young Adam.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s solid directorial debut Jack Goes Boating had its UK Premiere at this year’ festival. Playing the lead, Hoffman is Jack, an affable, overweight chauffeur looking for love. The film never escapes from its theatrical background, but features some genuinely funny and poignant set-pieces. Dan Turner’s Stormhouse – a stylish horror set on a UK military base – features an incredibly tense opening half hour where a secret underground bunker is being used to imprison a supernatural entity. The film slips into turgid genre fare by the third act but remains an interesting enough watch.

Other high points of the festival included Liz Garbus’ insightful documentary Bobby Fisher Against the World, chronicling the turbulent life of the titular Chess prodigy from a childhood of isolation and neglect to world chess champion and subsequent madness and disgrace. Jeanie Finlay’s feature documentary Sound it Out profiled the last remaining independent record store in Stockton-on-Tees. This funny and intimate portrait of the north east resonated as more and more independent record stores fall to the evolving digital landscape. Moreover the film remains a runaway success in terms of how it was produced through crowd-funding – essentially asking a series of friends and sponsors to each pay a certain amount of money to get it made.

This year’s festival seemed to favour a number of talks and events in favour of glamorous red-carpet screenings and indeed a number of events championed the independent market and the means by which films are being produced and distributed. Exciting new online avenues like Distrify and VODO are giving power back to the filmmakers in terms of how their work is being distributed and seen by audiences online. Gone is the idea that a filmmaker must now sign away all ancillary rights to one distributor who may or may not sell their film. Producers are waking up to the notion that the rights to their film can be broken up, shared and retained. Using the power of social media, films can be opened up to potentially huge audiences by offering the ability to download or stream material right there and then.

As ever, the festival was a fine celebration of the best British (particularly Scottish) and international talent. But there’s a nagging feeling that this year’s festival suffered badly from funding cuts. Do not be surprised if fundamental changes are made once again and the festival is moved back to August. Something needs to be done…

RN

Hot on the heels of picking up a Bafta Scotland nomination, the film has been nominated for ‘Best Independent Film’ at the prestigious Media Innovation Awards.

This is the second time that Swift Films has been nominated for a Media Innovation Award after being nominated for ‘Best Television Production’ in 2009 for the one-off documentary Race Across America.

Filmed in Central America over the course of 6 weeks, Monsters has rightly been heralded as a masterclass in the execution of low-budget filmmaking. Sticking to what he knows best, director Gareth Edwards – whose striking work as a visual effects artist – completed almost 300 computer generated effects shots himself after editing the film.

Monsters tells the story of a photojournalist working in Central America who is sent to pick up his boss’s daughter from hospital and see that she gets back home to America safely. The pair begin a tense journey (and a blossoming romance) as a series of unfortunate incidents sees them trek through the ‘infected zone’ – an area of land along the US border inhabited by huge extra-terrestrial creatures.

The result is a film which plays beautifully to its strengths. Using found locations ranging from post-apocalyptic building sites to picturesque desert roads damaged by natural disasters, the atmosphere generated by these landscapes is hypnotic. Like Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn, the director has been liberated by using a core cast of just two actors. This enabled the cast and crew to head  into the wild to find suitable locations and shoot on the hoof. The sparing use of visual effects – partly by necessity – is also incredibly effective. Using the Jaws-effect whereby we are rarely treated to shots of the monster, we remain in constant fear of what we sense but cannot see. And when we are treated to the site of the extra-terrestrial creatures – most notably at the end of the film in one of the most magical scenes in recent memory – they are beautifully rendered, equal to, in fact surpassing anything that may be found in a film with a budget 100 times it size.

And indeed it’s the film’s budget which has caused such excitement. Allegedly shot for just £15,000, the director self-shot the film on a Sony PMW EX3 camera using adaptable Nikkon prime lenses. The rich and stunningly detailed photography is complemented beautifully by two subtle but effective lead performances. Real husband and wife team Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able cut a fine line between pathos and humility and their burgeoning romance adds a much needed human heart to this story.

I for one have always been hugely inspired by the low-budget films which really break through into the public consciousness. Having been inspired to become a filmmaker myself by the likes of  Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, Shane Meadows’ TwentyFourSeven, Darren Aronofsky’s Pi and Christopher Nolan’s Following, Monsters is every bit as groundbreaking and worthy of praise as these aforementioned films. The film serves as an essential instruction manual to the DIY ethics of debut feature filmmaking.

Gone are the constraints of shooting on film (stock, development, negative cutting, telecine etc) – high definition video has got to be one of the most exciting innovations in the film industry in the last 50 years. Expect to see a new wave of filmmakers embracing the format and breaking through with exceptional low budget films. The technology is now there to produce truly cinematic images on cameras purchased for less than £5000. Throw a laptop with some editing software into the mix and all the tools are there for anybody to produce their masterpiece for a fraction of what it may have cost to develop and process a handful of 16mm film reels.

But Monsters isn’t just a showcase in technically great filmmaking. At its heart is a thoughtful, intelligent and poignant story touching on themes of loss, power and primeval fear. The story also serves as an allegory of the futility of forced military occupation offering a powerful critique of America’s foreign affairs policies.

Monsters proves that by playing to your strengths, collaborating effectively, with enough drive and determination, anything is possible. It’s the finest low budget debut feature film I’ve seen in the last 10 years. Go check it out!

RN

We are delighted to announce that End of the Road the debut feature documentary from Swift Films’ Director Richard Nicholls has been nominated for a prestigious Bafta Scotland award. The awards will take place in Glasgow at the end of March 2011.

For more information about End of the Road and to keep up to date with the latest news and reviews, check out the official website for the film: www.endoftheroadmovie.co.uk.

For further information about the premiere and to keep up to date with the latest news and reviews, check out the official website for the film: www.endoftheroadmovie.co.uk.

The film was competing in the Feature-length documentary category and won the Award for ‘Best Concept’ as well as an ‘Award of Excellence’.

For all the latest news, reviews and screenings of End of the Road check out the film’s official website here: www.endoftheroadmovie.co.uk.

For more information about the film and to keep up to date with the latest news and reviews, check out the official website for the film: www.endoftheroadmovie.co.uk.