London screening for Film Unit

The Film Unit (AFU) was invited to screen some of its new work at a special event at the newly christened BFI Southbank (formerly the National Film Theatre) on July 2nd.

The British Film Institute’s Head of Education, Mark Reid, issued the invitation after seeing DVDs of the AFU’s films from previous years and describing them as “stunning”. Also invited were members of our sister Film Unit at the St Marylebone CE School for Girls, a London state school with whom the AFU tutors have been working since the Autumn.

The screening began with two “works in progress” by the Marylebone girls – the first, a portrait of a well-known and much-loved delicatessen shop off the Marylebone High Street called Rothes, and the second, a delightfully surreal piece about a chair that was deliberately placed by the filmmakers in a series of public locations to test the reactions (or lack of them) from passers-by.

Mark Reid invited the students to identify a shot they liked, a transition they liked, and to come up with a “Why did you…?” question for the filmmakers after each film. This provoked lively discussions in which the students displayed a warm appreciation of each other’s work.

The following AFU films were screened: The Underground Village, Dance With Stacey, Re-generation, Clowning Around and Anti-Clockwise.

Once again, Mark Reid declared himself amazed and delighted at the achievements of all the students, and urged them to help create a hundred such Film Units in schools across the country. “If we can do that, we will create a British film revolution”, he declared.

The session closed with a screening of an interesting documentary chosen by Mark Reid called Blight, which chronicled the demolition of Victorian housing to make way for he M11 motorway extension. This was a piece that made effective use of music and sound to create a lyrical piece that revealed its subject gradually.

After the event, the Film Unit members and tutors joined for a celebratory meal before attending a further screening at the BFI Southbank. This time, the films were experimental pieces from the 1960s and 70s. By turns weird and occasionally wonderful, they brought the curtain down on a memorable year for the Film Unit. Plans for the next are already well under way!