Underwire 2013
19-23 November, The Yard Theatre, Hackney Wick
For more videos shot at Underwire Festival 2013 visit our Vimeo channel.
Festival photos by Howard Melnyczuk:
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
XX Award
Supported by The Film Festival Doctor
Recommended Washing Powder - Chloe White
Morning - Cathy Brady - Winner of the XX Award (pictured above)
Motorbike Midwife - Masumi Higashi
The Farmer’s Wife - Francis Lee
Frank Chickens - The Movie - Ollie Verscho & Rob Makin
In the tab: Opening Night Party
Underwire and Studio Magazine would like to invite you to celebrate the start of this year’s festival and the drinks are on us!
WEDNESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER
Sonic Sirens
Best Sound Designer Award supported by Sound Disposition
Cells Happen - Shelly Nicholls
30% (Women and Politics in Sierra Leone) - Anna Bertmark
Foxtrot - Jennifer Anne Haugan
Red - Simone Smith
Envoi - Poppie Sköld
The Magnificent Lion Boy - Ania Prizgoda (pictured above)
Grosvenor Terrace - Jo Hutton
Robomax - Ting Li Lim - Winner of the Best Sound Designer Award
She Scores
Best Composer Award supported by Imagem
Silent Treatment - Justine Barker
Stay the Same - Fraya Thomsen - Winner of Best Composer
Brighter Borough - Louise Morgan
The Heart Fails Without Warning - Ruth Stavric
Harriet and the Matches - Anna Pheobe
The Outback Motel - Anne Kulonen (pictured above)
Samson & Delilah - VV Brown
Synch - Matching Music to Pictures
Join Underwire and Imagem Creative Services to explore the dynamics, counterpoints and crescendos of the creative partnership between composers and directors in film. From how to access music regardless of the size of your budget, to marrying the right composing talent to the right project, to how the process works in reality between composers and directors, we will be tackling it all in this whistle-stop tour.
The panel will feature Underwire’s first Best Composer winner Victoria Wijeratne alongside Imagem’s Synchronisation Management team, Rosie Hill and Rupert Hollier, plus special guests.
Imagem Creative Services deliver a broad range of services for the film community from free music searches to total soundtrack supervision; their unrivalled level of service takes the hassle out of sourcing and clearing music, no matter what budget you’re working to.
In the tab: Celebration of Sound drinks
Join Underwire, the Musicians’ Union and PCAM for a drink in the bar to discuss the relationship between music and film.
THURSDAY 21ST NOVEMBER
Dream Drafters
Best Writer Award supported by Euroscript
Death of Pet - Clare Macdonald
Arcade - Nida Manzoor
Father - Moira Buffini - Winner of Best Writer Award
Come Clean - Louisa Mayman
Twinkle, Twinkle - Deborah Haywood
Epitaph - Amy Coop
Stovies - Rose Hendry (pictured above)
Fire - Sian Robins-Grace
Leading Ladies
Best Actor Award supported by Daniella Cesarei with the Light Gallery, Hair and make up by Debbie Storey
Ciara - Francesca Fowler
Woodland - Shannon Tarbet - Winner of Best Actor Award
Pretty Bitch - Natasha Sparkes
The Followed - Gina Bramhill
This Way Out - Poppy Roe
Lines in The Sand - Kerensa York (pictured above)
The Eternal Not - Antonia Kinlay
Looking Glass
Best Cinematographer Award supported by Sara Putt Associates
Twitcher - Susanne Willett
Revelation - Shelley Jones
Jonah - Chloe Thomson - Winner of Best Cinematographer Award
Recession - Nanu Segal (pictured above)
The Falls - Florence Creffield & Melissa Fielding
Valuable - Lisa MacGregor
Battles - Phoebe Arnstein
FRIDAY 22ND NOVEMBER
Ring Masters
Best Producer Award supported by Women in Film & Television UK
LOL - Nadia Matthews
The German Who Came to Tea - Kerry Kolbe (pictured above)
Little Ones - Lindsey Dryden
Grace - Emily Blickem - Winner of Best Producer
A Cake for Mabel - Barbara Healy
There’s A Tin Cup Rolling - Oonagh Kearney
In the Cut
Best Editor Award supported by VET Post Production
Katya & The Scarlet Sails - Hoping Chen
Talent Show - Alice Petit
Dog Boy - Esther Gimenez (pictured above)
We Are Not Amused - Vicki Bennett
Spine - Angela Feeney - Winner of Best Editor
Soliloquy - Magda Dragan
All the Glisters - Claire Lamond
Apodemy - Katerina Athanasopoulou
In the tab: Friday night drinks
Kick off Friday night in the bar with Underwire and CBS Outdoors.
LOCO presents LiveWire at The Yard
Join us for our annual night of live and filmed comedy by women, with a selection of the best new funny short films and live sets from Britain’s brightest stand-ups. This year’s live acts include Edinburgh Fringe favourite Lou Sanders; a special appearance by the mysterious Miss L, creator of cult website Casting Call Woe; and the brilliant Sony Award winning stand-up, actor, writer and musician Isy Suttie. It’s also a chance to meet other young comedy writers, performers and film-makers. LiveWire is part of LOCO’s ongoing partnership with Underwire, celebrating women in comedy.
SATURDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
GIRLS ON FILM
71A Gallery, 71A Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4QS
A day of panel discussions focusing on the representation of women in film.
The Bechdel Test: The Ugly Truth?
For a film to pass the Bechdel Test, it has to feature at least two named female characters who have a conversation with each other that doesn’t focus on men. The amount of films that don’t pass this test is alarming. What does this say about the representation of women in film? Are there enough female characters being written? Are the women that are being seen in films well rounded, substantial characters or are they simply there for decoration? The panel will tackle the difficult question about the representation of women in cinema and discuss the lack of real women on our screens.
Act your Age: Is there a place for older women on screen?
Our society’s obsession with youth can be seen everywhere but especially on the silver screen. Leading men are allowed to age but their love interests are not. Why do filmmakers shun older female characters or stay within the boundaries of stereotypes? Should older females not be consider viable heroines? Looking at the issue from behind the camera, from the casting room and from an actress’ own personal experience, we challenge the tradition of older women being kept out of the frame.
Honest Lies: The Representation of Prostitution in Cinema
Prostitution features in hundreds of films from multiple countries since cinema began. Yet how accurate are the depictions, and how do they affect society’s attitudes to those involved? Considering mainstream films from “Breakfast at Tiffanys” to “Monster” this panel will reflect on the power of cinema to influence public perception, and interrogate the links between fiction and real-life experience. Chaired by Silvia Murray Wakefield (Chair, Object) panellists include UnderWire’s Co-founder Gabriella Apicella (Producer, “Honest Lies”), Dr Sophie Nield (Royal Holloway), Heather Harvey (Research & Development Manager, Eaves) and Rachel Moran (author of Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution).
Is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl dead?
We owe Nathan Rabin for the term ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ which describes the two-dimensional female characters in films who are used to teach the brooding male protagonist how to embrace life and live for the moment. After recent films have been saturated with girls like Summer from ‘500 Days of Summer’ & Clementine from ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, the stereotype is now being heralded as meaningless and dead. With a move towards actors writing their own parts, tired of the options available to them, this panel asks are the days of the manic pixie dream girl really behind us?
LOCO presents: Challenging Comedy
Hackney Attic, 270 Mare Street, London, E8 1HE
Comedy is there to entertain. But it’s also there to disrupt, provoke and question the way we see the world. In this packed afternoon of discussions, revelations, trade secrets and live workshops we’ll be looking at the ways in which women writer-performers challenge conventional ways of looking at others, and of presenting ourselves. Guest speakers include costumer designer Claire Finlay (NIGHTY NIGHT, GAVIN & STACEY, HIM & HER), filmmaker Becky Brand (SUPERSTAR ROLE MODEL, THE CAMPAIGNER) and 2013 Fringe First award winner Bryony Kimmings (SUPERSTAR ROLE MODEL, SEX IDIOT, 7 DAY DRUNK).
ASFF Presents: Best of 2013
We will be bringing a selection of the winning films from Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013 to London!
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013 will run from 7–10 November in 15 locations across the enchanting city of York, including boutique cinemas and medieval halls, presenting a unique opportunity to experience outstanding independent film whilst exploring the diverse and historic setting of one of Britain oldest cities. For more information go to www.asff.co.uk
Glasgow Short Film Festival Presents Scoring Time: A conversation between filmmaker Sam Firth and composer Fraya Thomsen
Between June 2011 and June 2012, Sam Firth filmed herself every day at exactly the same time in exactly the same place on a remote Scottish peninsula accessible only by boat. The resulting work, Stay the Same, is a hauntingly beautiful meditation on time, solitude and isolation. Sam found inspiration for the work’s structure in music, and her intense collaboration with composer Fraya Thomsen to create the score helped enormously in transforming sixty hours of footage into a compelling 14 minute film. Join Sam and Fraya as they discuss the creation of a film in which everything changes and everything stays the same.
BEV Presents: Short Films to Features
How hard can it be? That’s the kind of cavalier attitude that can get you places - but probably won’t. The step up is one of the hardest to take which is why you should join feature director Frances Lea (Strawberry Fields) in lively conversation about topics such as finance (getting it), location (finding it) and distribution (securing it). Moderated by Kate Gerova, Creative Director at Birds Eye View Film Festival.
BAFTA Crew Masterclass: Morag Ross on Make Up Design
BAFTA presents a craft masterclass with multiple BAFTA-winning make-up artist Morag Ross, the designer behind Martin Scorcese’s Hugo and The Aviator. After studying at Glasgow School of Art, early collaborators include director and artist Derek Jarman on Caravaggio, Sally Potter on Orlando (for which she won her first BAFTA) and Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game. In her BAFTA Masterclass Morag will discuss her craft and process as a make-up designer and her award-winning collaborations with not only directors and actors, but across the departments.
This event is funded by Creative Skillset’s Craft and Technical Skills Academy and Creative England , as part of BAFTA Crew.
Quarterbacks
Under 25 Award supported by BFI Future Film
Bear Trap - Production Designer, Ceara McEvoy - Winner of Best Under 25 Award
Arcade - Cinematographer, Susanne Willett
Carbooty - Director, Amy McIntyre
Bastion - Producer, Rebecca Webb
Born Positive - Director, Carla Simón
Recommend Washing Powder - Director, Chloe White (pictured above)
Celluloid Sculptors
Best Director Award supported by Directors UK
Woodland - Frances Poletti
Scrubber - Romola Garai
Spin - Natasha Tonkin
The Trip - Prano Bailey-Bond - Winner of Best Director Award
Blue - Amy Wolfe
Physics - Claire Oakley (pictured above)
Dog Boy - Jessica Townsend
Devil in The Room - Carla Mackinnon
The Story and Script Clinic, with Euroscript
Euroscript’s Script Clinic - a regular feature at the BFI and London Screenwriters’ Festival - comes to Underwire to provide an opportunity for female writers to get advice from experienced script doctors about their stories, scripts and ideas.
Sessions must be booked in advance and materials need to be submitted. Visit
www.underwirefestival.com/euroscript_clinic for more details
IMAGE: Euroscript logo
Sara Putt Associates CV Clinic
12:00
A freelancer’s CV is their calling card. It may be the first thing an employer sees, therefore it has to work. Sara Putt Associates run CV clinics in order to advise people on how to present themselves in the best possible way through their CV. During a 15 minute session we analyse their existing CV and advise them on changes they should make.
The Film Festival Doctor Presents: The Short Film Surgery
In this informal workshop, Rebekah Louisa Smith of the The Film Festival Doctor will be giving a one to one surgery to a work in progress short film. She will be joined on the stage with the director/producer of the film and will offer feedback and advise on how to design, implement and manage an effective film festival strategy. Audience participation is encouraged and there will time for Q&As.
She Shark Industries presents: Why Are So Many Film Festival Directors Women?
Hans Hurch sleeps with a pistol under his pillow. Thierry Fremaux sees no gender, only excellence. And Dieter Kosslick is prepping for his 13th year at the helm. While each of these European Film Festival Directors project specific public personas, less is known about the people leading the UK’s flourishing scene of film festivals. With women in charge of the BFI London Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, one half of Glasgow, Encounters, AV Festival, East End, Bird’s Eye View, and many others, this session will consider the leadership styles and artistic visions projected by those in these inspirational roles. Curated by Kate Taylor.
Shooting People Presents: Crowdfunding Masterclass
Shooting People and their panel of crowdfunding aficionados will be dissecting, in public, 2 campaigns which are in their final stages of prep. They’ve got years of experience watching projects crumble due to bad planning, fade into non-existence because of weak marketing and achieve massive success because of attention to detail and dedication.
Directing Actors in partnership with the Central School of Speech and Drama and Euroscript
The relationship between directors and actors is a key part of filmmaking. In this workshop, we will be looking at the process from both sides and discussing the finer points of how to communicate. We will be using the winning script from this year’s Underwire Screenwriters Competition as the basis of a rehearsed read through and using different methods and tools, we will explore the ways to create memorable performances and the importance of building a good relationship.
The Underwire Screenwriters Competition was run in partnership with Euroscript.
In the tab: Closing Night Party
Underwire will be closing this year’s festival in style with music, live visuals and plenty of dancing at The Yard.
The Misogynist Film Club
Monday 14th October, 25th November and 16th December, 8.30PM
The cinema at JW3 – 341-351 Finchley Road, London Nw3 6ET
In partnership with Underwire, JW3 proudly presents the UK’s only Misogynist Film Club – a feminist reclamation and celebration of the terrible portrayal of women in cinema.
Each evening will feature a brilliant film we love despite its poor representation of women, a great woman talking about why she loves it and a specially selected short film curated by Underwire.
25th November
Isy Suttie presents ‘The Three Amigos’
(1987, US: Dir: John Landis, 104mins)
Thanks to:
Laura Cunningham, Emily Diana Ruth, Jamie Lee Miller, Luke Morgan Britton, Cassandra Neal, Philip Ilson, Paige Gresty, Steven Russell, Katie McCullough, Michelle Goode, Rebecca Coley, Jonathan Wakeman, Denise Hicks, Kate Herron, Laurily Adams, Rupert Hollier, Daniella Cesarei, Noel Goodwin, Michelle White, Stuart Wealands, Joan Leese, Jo Spencer, Zarina Geoghegan, Kate Kinninmont, Sarah Sheerman-Chase, Kate Taylor, Sarah Julia Clark, Tricia Tuttle, Katie Chapman, Kate Gerova, Rebekah Smith, Sarah Chorley, Stephanie Walton, Matt Lloyd, Adam Woodward.
Underwire is…
Festival Director: Gemma Mitchell
Festival Producer: Chloe Trayner
Festival Co-Ordinator: Tegan Vevers
Technical Manager: Ollie Wright
Press Manager: Kate Williamson
Filmmaker Liaison: Katie Steed
Marketing Manager: Evan Horan
Box Office Manager: Amelia Osborn
Festival Assistants: Sarah Hagen & Katharine Wener
Venue Addresses:
The Yard Theatre, Unit 2a, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, Queen’s Yard, London E9 5EN
71A Gallery, 71A Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4QS
Hackney Picturehouse, 270 Mare Street, London, E8 1HE