Exclusive: straight 8 - big screen breakthrough!

straight 8 (www.straight8.net) – the film event which offers anyone anywhere the chance to make a three minute film using just one cartridge of Super 8mm film, without re-takes or editing – has announced a niche cinema distribution deal around the UK with City Screen, Picturehouse Cinemas

Two dozen straight 8 mini-masterpieces of raw filmmaking that have wowed packed audiences at Cannes Film Festival and cinemas including London’s Curzon Mayfair and Renoir will now be at a cinema near anyone in the UK:

From Exeter to Aberdeen and everywhere in between – see below for dates and times - straight 8 will be presenting, in person where possible, a total of 24 films as a double bill: their highlights reel since the beginning of straight 8 (1999) and the dozen shown at Cannes this year.

For a taster see the four straight 8 2008 films selected to play after the daily news on Channel 4 at 7.55pm back in May ‘08, and rolled out on the onsuper8 podcast.

Places and times...

Oct 6 2008 - Harbour Lights Picturehouse, Southampton
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_home_date.aspx?venueid=hlsh

Oct 12 2008 - Ritzy Picturehouse, London
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/ritzy/local.htm

Oct 12 2008 - Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/oxford/local.htm

Oct 12 2008 - Picturehouse at FACT, Liverpool
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/liverpool/local.htm

Oct 12 2008 - Greenwich Picturehouse, London
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/greenwich/local.html

Oct 12 2008 - Screen on the Green, London
0870 066 4777, website under construction at: www.everymancinema.com/

Oct 13 2008 - Cameo Picturehouse, Edinburgh
www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_home_date.aspx?venueid=edbg

Oct 13 2008 - The Belmont Picturehouse, Aberdeen
www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_home_date.aspx?venueid=bmnt

Oct 13 2008 - Cinema City, Norwich
www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_home_date.aspx?venueid=nor

Oct 14 2008 - City Screen Picturehouse, York
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema_home_date.aspx?venueid=york

Oct 14 2008 - Exeter Picturehouse
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/exeter/local.htm

Oct 15 2008 - The Dukes Cinema, Lancaster
www.dukes-lancaster.org/

Oct 15 2008 - Little Theatre Cinema, Bath
www.picturehouses.co.uk/site/cinemas/bath/local.htm

Oct 22 2008 - Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
www.tynecine.org

The film list - the straight 8 highlights reel...

‘earth to earth’ — an allotment grower tells the story of how he inherited the plot from his grandfather and the unlkely crop of electrical equipment that grows there. director: nick scott

‘i’ve been single too long, aka all i think about is women’ — an amazing single-take journey through the pad of a lad who wakes up to find himself surrounded by semi-naked women. or does he? director: shane davey

‘sticks and balls’ — a spoof electronica music video. “golf is like sex – it’s sticks and balls”, chants the gold spandex clad sexy narrator. x-rated. director: jacqueline wright and alice lowe

‘class of 2005’ — a beautifully made and very succinct documentary project examining the future from the point of view of a primary school class. director: james owen & chris durban

‘jour de gloires’ — proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best: a man stands at a bar and drinks as much lager as possible in one 3 minutes and 20 second take. director: pascal fillion

‘tequila chamuco’ — shot over three days in the mexican desert, diego’s film about three men, one dream woman and a bottle of tequila is a ‘stop-frame’ master-class. director: diego arredondo

‘intermezzo tacito’ — a man sits down in a café, turns up his ipod and reads the financial times, completely oblivious to the fact that a robbery is taking place behind him. another one-shot wonder. director: daniel rossberg

‘déjà vu’ — when this czech directing duo entered straight 8, they tried to confuse the audience by pretending to make a looped edit. but there is no edit with straight 8 – so they had to trash 7 skodas. director: sandalz

‘stephens cat’ — stephen hawking’s cat, merlin, takes the chair to tell us about his life, his owner and well, the world. director: dave buonaguidi

‘the other half’ — a sideways look at a couple, post-split. although they both talk about how great the split is for both of them, with this incredible in-camera split-screen effect, they are clearly still somehow together. director: nick scott

yet more films, it continues... straight 8 2008, the Cannes reel

‘the last trip’ — a charming tale of how all of a welsh village work together on a home-made space programme to take their friend - wannabe first welshman in space – to space, posthumously. director: malcolm finlay

‘connections’ — hilarious tale played out to a song about a drunken man seeking friendship with a dad-like figure he’s never met. top comedy talent: steve oram and alex kirk feature. director: steve oram & nick lear

‘robot’ — the heartwarming story of how an obsolete robot deals with unemployment and rejection and makes his way in the world. director: matthew keen

‘piece of heaven’ — an epic dark tale from the mexican countryside. a strange eyeglass arrives in the village giving people a troubling snapshot of heaven. director: felix alejandro barbosa vazquez y yuri misael barbosa vazquez

‘springlove’ — set in amsterdam, using a ‘stop-motion’ technique two people are seen to hover above the ground and they meet up for a date. director: herrjaapmans

‘the getaway’ – a high-paced comedy action movie made in a carboard cut-out, comic book cityscape, in a studio. director: david padadac, dermot power & george georgiou

‘about vincent’ – a woman’s dry and uncomfortable monologue about her internet based love affair with american artist/model/filmmaker etc: vincent gallo. and a failed trip to meet him in his home town of buffalo. director: peggy anne berton

‘looking for marilyn’ — an intimate portrait of a marilyn monroe look-a-like. when the whole neighbourhood dresses up the same, the paparazzi get out of hand and it becomes a tragic, resounding story about celebrity
director: anna blandford and anna valdez hanks

‘fish stew showdown’ — a very modern adidas-wearing monk visits a colony of ‘wizards’ in the la hills to join them for fish stew. he leaves with less than he bargained for but is philosophical about the outcome
director: ben dickinson

‘black whispers in an elephant sky’ — a surreal darkly romantic sketch of a film, charting role reversals through a relationship. starring julia (nighty night) davis and rich fulcher (the mighty boosh) director: oliver ralfe

‘scrap paper’ – an ambitiously animated journey through newyork city using a combination of paper cut-out characters, photos, real and imagined landscapes – all to a rocking soundtrack. director: andrew jive

‘graveheart’ — a schlock horror romp. a jealous lover returns from the dead to take his revenge. nobody is safe as he embarks on an indiscriminate rampage laden with clever special effects. director: nick rutter, noah rutter and ben richardson

and finally, two directly from straight 8 themselves...

‘gesundheit’ – our warm up film from cannes this year. a story of the battle between disease and cure set within the human body. some incredible special effects sequences and some not so incredible focus pulling. director: will & george

‘bike film too’ – straight 8 founder’s doc about the ‘fireflies’ charity bike ride over the alps in aid of ‘leuka’. a colourful snapshot of the 60 riders who ‘do it for leuka’ each year, told from the point of view of a man who is benefitting from leuka’s work. director: ed sayers


Amazing, that's 24 films in 14 towns and cities near you! Viva Super 8!

And to celebrate straight 8 have reduced the price of all their compilation DVD's to just £8 - see www.straight8.net for more details.