A couple of weeks ago, Jackie and I took a flight to Poland, for the annual UNICA Festival.. It took place in the ancient city of Poznan, to the West of the country.
Altogether, nine people went from the UK, making up over 100 delegates altogether. Our hotel was just a few minutes walk from the Cultural Centre, where the film were shown. It included a very pleasant cinema, with nice comfortable seats - something that's important when spending several days watching videos. As you can see from the picture, we were joined by a rather special guest from the UK.
OK, it was just a carboard cut-out but, as with his Mum last year, he proved to be quite an attraction. We should have charged people for having their photo taken with him! The visit started with a guided walking tour of the Old City of Poznan. Some buildings go back well over 500 years but, following WW2 damage, many were re-built as exact replicas of the originals. There are pictures of a few, but I can't claim to remember details of them all.
A feature of Poznan is the articulated trams which are everywhere, rattling past every few minutes. Programmes were submitted from 24 countries, each with a maximum of four films and a 45 minute total running time. There were three judges (including our own Jan Watterson) and, each evening, we gathered to hear their views about the films shown that day. The UK entered three films aiming, as always, for a selection of drama, comedy and documentary.
Our first film, "Forgotten", was by Robin Slater / Sutton Coldfield Moviemakers'; a surreal story about a dying WW1 soldier, abandoned in the woods. It was awarded a 'Diploma of Honour'.
This was followed by Larry Hall's "In the Land of Submarines", a documentary about the making of the Beatles’, "Yellow Submarine". As a rather nice touch, the band played this tune during in the closing dinner. This, too, won a 'Diploma of Honour'.
The UK's third entry was "Hollywood Nights", by Liam Sanderson, from Wales High School in Yorkshire. It was made with the children form the school, and told of an over-ambitious, and overimaginative, young entrepreneur. Many of you will remember Liam's earlier films, made along with his students, and it was very well received. "Hollywood Nights" won a well-deserved Silver Medal. Another of Liam's films won the 'Best Film of the Festival’ in last year's UNICA. One afternoon, things were enlivened by the sound of the fire alarm. After a little uncertainty and hesitations, we all filed back out into the sunshine for a few minutes. False alarm – just a very thorough exercise.
A regular feature of UNICA is the "World Minute Movie Cup" which, as you might imagine, is for 60 second films. Sixteen of the submitted films are selected for the 'Knock-out' stage, with audience judging, and both of ours got through;
"Stop", by Brendan Gillian, and "One Minute", by Jill Bunting.
Jill's movie got third-equal place in the final. (By an amazing coincidence, two of the films – shown one after the other – had identical plots. I won’t say what, in case you get to see them sometime.) So, not a bad result for the UK. After all the films had been shown, we went on a day-long rail trip to the nearby city of Gniezno (don't ask me to pronounce it). This is one of the oldest cities in Poland, with a rich history. We spent a few very-pleasant hours exploring and being treated to lunch.
Next year, UNICA will be hosted by Great Britain, using the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham (the one used for BIAFF), from 17th to 22nd August. It’s hard to say how many people will come from overseas, but we hope that Birmingham will prove attractive. We need everyone from Nuneaton Moviemakers to attend, and perhaps help with the event, as guides / stewards, etc. Please try to join us.
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