Harrow Arts Centre hosts first film festival (From Harrow Times)

Harrow Arts Centre hosts first film festival

8:25am Tuesday 2nd February 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

Community interaction has helped to create a lively and varied programme for the first film festival to be held in Harrow, which showcases at Harrow Art Centre (HAC) from Friday, February 5 to Sunday, February 7.

The three-day festival, which has been organised by the centre with the support of Film London and UK Film Council, includes new work by local film makers and young people, a showcase of classic cinema, shorts from a bygone era, and an exploration of world and art-house film.

Participation programmer Reema Rathod says she has been working for more than two years with local groups in Harrow to widen community participation within the arts.

“I’ve worked with a focus group of older people and in consultation with Age Concern Harrow, residential groups and Harrow U3A,” Reema explains. “We’ve hosted afternoon music events, specifically to appeal to older people such as an afternoon operetta exploring Hollywood gems of the silver screen and musicals, which led to the first strand of the festival, looking at archive film.”

The opening afternoon screening will feature British Film Institute footage including Bombs at Teatime, which looks at domestic life during wartime and Housewives Choice, exploring the lives of British housewives from the 1920s to the 1950s. There will also be a local studies documentary by Harrow Cine & Video Society, (formerly Pinner Cine Society) titled Around the Borough, detailing the early days of Harrow through still photography, supplied by the Civic Library.

Reema, who has compiled all the footage for the festival recalls this short local film with enthusiasm.

“It gives a really good snapshot of Harrow over the years using stills and interview footage. It covers memorable occasions from the turn of the last century through to more recent events such as Under One Sky.”

Audiences can also take part in Q&A sessions. Ryan Vernava will be talking to audiences following the screening of his University of Westminster Graduate Film Prick, which focuses on a love triangle pushed to the limits at a wild student party.

The film accompanies Shifty, another contemporary urban movie, directed by Eran Creevy, which charts the life of a dealer in a London suburb.

Other screenings include the epic adventure The Warrior, Lemon Tree about a Palestinian widow’s struggle to defend her lemon tree field from an Israeli neighbour, and Burning An Illusion is about a young British-born black woman who begins to question her attitude to love and life, which will be followed by a Q&A with director, Menelik Shabazz.

For Reema, the festival is just the beginning. She hopes to whet the public appetite for regular film events.

“We want to know what people think of the festival and what would they want to see in the future.”

Film@HAC is at Harrow Arts Centre from February 5 to 7. Tickets: 020 8416 8989 or visit www.harrowarts.com

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)