On the 16th of September I was invited to make a film of the opening night private viewing of her 81 paces from Korean artist Anna Jung Seo at the A&D Gallery in London. The fourth in my web series focussing on artists (installations, performances, exhibitions etc.). Anna's intimate and spectacular work was ergonomically arranged and satisfyingly presented by the gallery, which made the digestion and observation of her personal imagery enjoyable and rewarding. The drawings and paintings explored a range of emotions, with distinctly colourful pictures mixing with moodier darker pieces. The combination of which, showed the variation in Anna's feelings whilst in the process of creating these new works and the breadth of her skills as an artist. One of the great aspects I find in her work, is the variety of style. Videos For Artists #1 - Memories Through Line & Colour, Anna's last solo show, screened as a feature (see picture left) in the gallery surrounded by the exhibition of these excellent new works. her 81 paces runs until Saturday 20th of September and you can read more about on Gallery Guide.

Branches & Bones is soon to be released online! The editing is now complete and I aim to be officially releasing the film via social media, Youtube and Vimeo in the coming weeks. Check out the gallery of production stills below for a taste. The film is my interpretation of Julie Schmidt Andreasen's dance and movement workshops that took place in the rarely captured mysterious but beautiful grounds of Vallo Castle in Denmark. When I first started developing this project, I really wasn't sure what my end result would look like. I am now very pleased with the film and having sent a preview of my cut to Julie... she is too! I look forward to people seeing our work in this unique video which showcases the interesting and environmentally interactive choreography/games that Julie has created.

I went to Denmark with two films I intended to create, though I now have SIX to put together! You may as well make the most of your time somewhere! From looking at the material when I returned home to England I found more within what I'd shot and others were concieved on the spur of the moment when there. This includes a film of photography observing a Copenhagen beach where you can see over the sea an impressive massive bridge to Sweden and a dance film of new choreography from Julie that premiered a few months ago in a Danish museum, on the same beach. With the latter we also filmed a scene in a dance studio that was converted from a chapel - Dansekapellet.

One of these extra shorts is made-up of two scenes which I thought didn't fit within the overall Branches & Bones film. I felt they needed more breathing space than I could allow and so they're getting their own video. The scenes are of a game in which one person must guide another using only sound; the person with their eyes closed trusting and relying on their partner. It's a very basic idea but yielded images that expressed a genuine intertwine between the people and the nature around them. Three of the production stills are below.

If you've read this far about my work, then sincerely thank you and I hope you get to see my finished films when they come online! I'll mention briefly that there's exciting development of a potential workshop with the central theme being my short documentary A Film By Abigail that would take place in D-NM--K... you guessed it: Denmark again!

Anyone looking at this / sharing / liking the blog - I really appreciate the support and exposure. Follow me on Twitter @PaulEVernon and say hello. Until next time...

Thank you for reading and if you're feeling generous and enjoyed the blog - please hit the share/like buttons to help support/expose my work! If you want, say hello and connect with me on Twitter @PaulEVernon. Until next time...

UPDATE: 'A Film By Abigail' will screen on May 10th in Emden at 2:15pm. The screening will be accompanied by English assortments of Earl Grey Tea, Scones, Clotted Cream, & Strawberry Jam for the German audience! Nice touch! According to the LSFF newsletter here is also a second screening on the 12th of May.

I've kept it under wraps for a little while now, but just after A FILM BY ABIGAIL screened at the London Short Film Festival 2014, I recieved an invite to submit to German film festival INTERNATIONALES FILMFEST EMDEN|NORDERNEY. One of the perks of being in the LSFF fold, is that they're very active and connected with other short film platforms for continual potential exposure. The short documentary was spotted by the German festival's short film programmer when it screened at the ICA. When I was officially told it was in (not always a done deal...) I was informed that it was going to be a part of the 'London Short Film Special' program - which is a curated screening of highlights from LSFF 2014 and presented by the festival director Philip Ilson. Not only that, but Abigail would also be the opening film for it!!!

The festival is larger, but seems to have a similar intentions to the THIS IS ENGLAND film festival in France that the film was an award nominee at, with it seeking culturally informative or insightful work from Britain for German audiences. This will be the film's German Premiere and the first time I've ever had any film screening in the country. It's a place that gave us and cinema Fritz Lang, Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog. It marks the third time that the short documentary has opened something, the previous being its World Premiere at BAFTA London and The Short Cinema film festival in Leicester.

Please SHARE/LIKE this blog if you're feeling generous and helpful - THANK YOU for reading!

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After awhile since my announcement at the beginning of March, the schedule for the ANAHEIM WONDERCON INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL is finally online and A FILM BY ABIGAIL will screen on Saturday April 19th TOMORROW within Program 5. It joins a selection of work that is literally from all over the world. WonderCon is ran by Comic-Con International and it's humbling my film is a part of this huge event. As it stands, there are THREE more film festival selections I'm holding back on announcing. There's much more to come for the short documentary in the coming months with some very high profile venues and programs to talk about! I feel pretty humbled how well the film is still doing and how it continues to progress. Of course I had faith in my work, but this has far surpassed my expectations. I can't wait to share what's next and I am grateful to all the events that have promoted and screened the film.

Now, onto BIFF...

Bradford International Film Festival is genuinely a fantastic event for cinema and filmmakers. It was an honour to be a guest speaker at their Filmmakers Weekend, discussing my personal experiences of film festivals in a deliberately honest and open format. Hopefully, it helped the attending filmmakers develop. I must admit, I was nervous and tentative. Though those nerves seemed to disappear after plucking up the courage to chat to the vibrant and much respected Mark Cousins the night before, who was at the event with his new work: 'A Story of Children and Film'. Mark was incredibly genuine and pleasant to talk to, giving up time for a long informal Q&A following his screening and then we chatted on our own briefly too. I praised his magnificent love letter to innovative cinema 'The Story of Film: An Odyssey' (you don't get many chances to tell someone face-to-face how brilliant something they created is! But it's important to) and I let him know his narration was at an all-time-high Werner Herzog level of greatness - which thankfully he heartily chuckled at! I also talked to him about A FILM BY ABIGAIL, which I screened at BIFF at the beginning of my talk, and its thematical connections to his new film in terms of children, film and family.

Importantly, I saw some of the great films on offer at BIFF too. 'Brother' (1997, Dir. Alexei Balabanov) was a calculated, unsettling and impressive gangster film, which was preceded by the short film 'The Green Serpent: Of Vodka, Men and Distilled Dreams' (2013, Dir. Benny Jaberg). The short documentary is blackly funny but hammering in its account of alcohol abuse and Vodka's mysterious creative qualities. For me, it demonstrated how expressive imagery can accurately convey a message within a documentary, very interesting. Have I worded that correctly?! It's hard to articulate... you should seek out this award-winning film. 

The second feature I caught (instead of going to see Sally Potter - sorry Sally!!) was the UK Premiere of feature documentary 'The Coal Miner's Day' (2013, Dir. Gael Mocaer). This was largely a claustrophobic film underground and though at points, a very funny piece. The arduous shooting, crawling deep underground with the camera is breathtaking in a rare way, the filmmaker going through a Fitzcarraldo-sized test. I don't know if I'd have the mental stamina to withstand such dangerous conditions. Another aspect to the film, are the miners, the subjects, who repeatedly discuss the documentary occurring and take advantage (or so they think) of the language barrier, as we observe aurally/visually the French director and Ukrainian coal miners. 'Love, Love, Love' (2013, Dir. Sandhya Daisy Sundaram) was the short that preceded it. An accomplished film, winning the 'Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction' at Sundance. I remember little about the film, only that I felt mesmerised by the poetry of it. It was the curation of the Russian short and Ukrainian-set feature though, that seemed to slightly overshadow the content, feeling darkly but unintentionally apt for a double bill.

Thanks for reading about Anaheim and my time at Bradford! I forgot to mention however, some of the more odd occurrences. I danced to Queen with Mark Cousins at a dillapitated empty disco (it might have been a wedding reception, it was difficult to tell) and (attempted) to help police get a criminal off a building roof opposite my top-storey hotel window... but I think they're tales for another day. Follow me on Twitter to keep in touch and check out others I've mentioned in the blog below. Keep up the good work in whatever you're doing! Until next time...

TWITTER:
Me  >  @PaulEVernon
WonderCon  >  @WonderCon
Bradford International Film Festival  >  @BradFilmFest
Mark Cousins  >  @markcousinsfilm
Sundance Film Festival  >  @SundanceFest

My short documentary A FILM BY ABIGAIL screened on the 10th of January 2014 in the official selection for the 11th London Short FIlm Festival as a part of LO-BUDGET MAYHEM at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA, London). According to LSFF it was: "a programme that was specially selected by the LSFF team showcasing 29 out-there gems in just over 100 minutes" and it was a pleasure for me to be a part of. Being selected for a festival of this calibre was my goal throughout 2013, so this is a very satisfying start to the year and I thank the festival for screening the film. The idea to have five minute max, low-budget works entered for free through an alternative submission, with an aim to find hidden obscure shorts that may otherwise not receive exposure; was inspired and welcome. I'm infinitely grateful they had the foresight to try this for their sough-after festival and grateful for the help it will give me as a filmmaker and a director.

Fresh screenings could be on the horizon too. The BAFTA-recognised festival, priding itself on helping filmmakers and their work, asked to have a video link to the film for potential forwarding to other events/festivals/institutions for future programming. This is an incredibly exciting added bonus to an already excellent film festival that holds networking opportunities and workshops, as well as it's individually curated selections of solely British short films.

A FILM BY ABIGAIL is a short documentary about a child discussing an idea for a film she wishes to create. Recently it was a part of the official selection at the 9th LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL (screening at the prolific Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and was award nominated in the RNC Special Selection at the THIS IS ENGLAND - ENGLISH SHORT FILM FESTIVAL OF ROUEN. Read more about the film and myself in the interview/article FUTURE FILMMAKERS conducted by Leeds-List.

I can also partially announce that another screening is likely taking place overseas in Denmark! Watch this space for more info on this soon... Follow the progress of the rest of the London Short Film Festival (on until the 19th across the capital) on Twitter @LSFF and to keep up-to-date or chat, follow me @PaulEVernon

Three years ago I made a film that was a major risk. I stood on a set thinking to myself that I had created a screenplay but written no words and I had structured a story carefully but was allowing it to have a life of it's own when shooting. The film was 'The Ice Cream Men' and it has haunted me ever since I finished it.

The film is about an ice cream man who is trying to make it through the winter. He's eccentric and the film is comic, but laced in tragedy as Neville (performed impeccably by Neville Hutton) moves through the story and as the documentary filmmaker (playing myself) I delve deeper into his world. It's a "mockumentary" but I like to think it's actually a documentary, but with a fictional subject. It is now the product of hard work and perseverance - keeping the belief that you'll find a suitable home for a piece of work - however much it doesn't fit into a normal mould. It's medium length made it very risky and near impossible to enter as a short or a feature at many festivals.

'The Ice Cream Men' was a strange but rewarding world to work in and I am so damn happy that I can finally show it to people with an official screening. After a long period of time, which included a few moments when I thought the film might gain distribution, it finally has a platform and is being shown at the 4th DocFilm Fest 2013 in Leicester! The screening will take place at 6pm on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9TH at the PHOENIX as one of only four feature films to be presented. One of them is Ken Loach's 'Spirit of 45'! Lets not forget the important things though; the first TWENTY tickets sold get a free ice cream with them and I'll also be doing a drunken unplanned informal Q&A in the bar afterwards too.

UPDATE - - TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://phoenix.org.uk/index.php?cms_id=592

[ My short documentary A Film By Abigail will also screen at DocFilm 2013 within the 11:30am-12pm time slot on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9th also at the PHOENIX. ]

Follow me >  @PaulEVernon
DocFilm 2013 >  @DocFilmFestival
Phoenix Leicester >  @PhoenixLeic

Hello! Unavoidably, it's been a busy & rough few weeks due to family commitments that have set me back on aspects of my work. Due to this, I've been behind on keeping the blog up-to-date for all five people that read it & I can inform in retrospect that A FILM BY ABIGAIL was screened during the BRADFORD FESTIVAL. I don't have the exact details of when or where it showed during the event, but it was most likely shown as part of the entertainment on a screen between musical performances/changes on the main stage of the festival. The opportunity came from the RATMA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL in which the documentary was a 2nd Place Runner-Up, being asked to provide blocks of shorts to represent them.

I'm heading up North tomorrow to Keighley for the weekend festivities of the RATMA International Film Festival in support of my documentary A FILM BY ABIGAIL. It's in the Official Selection, screening & competing within the Documentary Category. All film genres/categories of Animation, Comedy, Drama etc. can be seen online HERE. 

The core of the event is on the Saturday where there will be films shown to/voted on by the audiences, live music & other film related stuff. Then on the Sunday, there is a red carpet event being dubbed the "Gala Awards Evening" at the Keighley Picture House. The films that recieved the most votes from the day before will win their categories & there will be an overall winner of the RATMA Film Festival announced there too. RATMA's goal is to champion filmmakers at the start of their career & creative path; low budgets with big ideas. I'm very excited to attend, as despite A FILM BY ABIGAIL's continued run of screening/festival success, I've yet to make it to almost any of the events. So... scarily for me... being at a festival as a filmmaker in competition... is actually a first this weekend.

Check out the festivals promo below.

I'll be tweeting throughout the two days about the fest - so keep a look out for updates, frivolities & news!

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Follow RATMA Film Festival...  @RATMAFF