We Took Shambala Around the World in 30 Films
Shambala Festival / Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire / 23-26 August 2012
Last month we returned from the ever-marvelous Shambala Festival. We had an amazing time in our third year at this pitch-perfect, magical fest. We had a brilliant staff of costumed ushers and usherettes serving decadent cocktails while we screened a programme of the choicest cuts of world cinema from morning until the wee small hours of the morning to more than 4,000 glorious Shambalans.
Families poured in each morning for light-hearted favourites and workshops in 16mm film and foley sound effects, relaxed to afternoons of stunning world cinema and came to see the weird and wild with our late night features until 5am. Truly lovely was to see a huge crowd of 200 people stay for the duration of Bollywood epic Lagaan – cheering, booing, dancing and clapping all the way.
Our festival highlights of the weekend:
- Being treated to life-affirming nosh by our festival neighbors The Barn Bacon Company and the Tea Stop Bus
- Relaxing in the buff in The Shambala Springs saunas and hot tubs overlooking the lake
- Having beat box champions crash our crew party on the last night and put a whole new spin on Fantastic Mr. Fox. Any time!
FULL PROGRAMME:
THURSDAY
- Lost Picture Shorts (16:00)
Pushing the boundaries of cinema from rare early experiments to the latest mind-bending work:
Chaplin’s Easy Street
London Short Film Festival films:
Golden Tree / Dir. Ninian Doff
Staring Out of the Window / Ninian Doff
Gentlemen in Squalor/ Dir. Alex Sufit
Girls and Boys / Dir. Clive Shaw
Young Souls / Dir. Dean Chalkley
I Don’t Have A Lot to Say / Dir. Tony Johnson
Early Cinema:
Ladies’ Skirts Nailed to a Fence / Bamforth
The Countryman and the Cinematograph / RW Paul
The Big Swallow / Williamson
Voyage à travers l’impossible / Melies
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas / USA (22:30)
Shambala’s Facebook followers chose Johnny Depp’s psychedelic odyssey as film they’d most like to see this year. Impeccable taste, Shambalistas!
- Man-Eater Mountain / Japan (00:45)
The most tripped-out Japanese legend we’ve ever seen put to animation. A frightened village, a demon orgy, a final twist. Thanks to Jasper at Zipangu Fest.
- Tropical Malady /Thailand (01:15)
Shape-shifting shamans, a fractured love story, a hypnotic journey deep into Thailand’s jungle. A singular, visionary film unlike anything else. Courtesy of Second Run DVD.
FRIDAY
- My Neighbour Totoro / Japan (10:30)
A captivating and fantastical adventure – two girls discover magical creatures in the forests of Japan. Animation master Miyazaki’s finest.
- Around the World in 80 Days (12:00)
Phileas Fogg in the original wondrous race around the globe – by land, sea, air… and any means necessary!
- Gigi / France (15:30)
Vincente Minnelli’s love story musical set in turn-of-the-century Paris bursts with lush vitality, winning 9 Oscars.
- Together / Sweden (17:45)
A 70s hippy commune is plunged into disarray by not-so-free free love and a children’s revolt, in this bittersweet comedy
- Cinema Paradiso / Italy (19:45)
A captivating, romantic story about the love of cinema, this Italian masterpiece won Cannes, BAFTAs and Oscars galore
- The Cabinet of Living Cinema present: Strike! / Russia (22:45)
Eisenstein’s masterpiece is brought bang up to date with a brand-new soundtrack performed live by The Cabinet of Living Cinema, originally commissioned for the Bread and Roses Film Festival.
- Apocalypse Now / Vietnam (03:30)
Journeying through the swirling madness of ‘Nam to mankind’s heart of darkness, this gargantuan cinematic classic remains an unforgettable experience
- The Thing / Antarctica (03:15)
Isolated in the snowy Antarctic wastelands, a group of research scientists come face-to-face with… The Thing! The ultimate paranoia movie.
SATURDAY
- Up (10:30)
Never too late to travel the world, with a little help from a thousand helium balloons. Up, up and away!
- Curzon CineKids present: 16mm animation workshop (12:00)
Ever wanted to make a film? Get inspired by artist filmmaker Len Lye and draw, scratch and doodle directly onto celluloid and make a masterpiece! All ages welcome.
- Curzon CineKids present: Photo-sensitive images workshop (14:00, outside)
Create “cameraless” pictures, or photograms, inspired by the work of the Dada and Surrealist artists. Drop in, all ages.
- The White Balloon (14:00)
A heartfelt childrens’ tale of innocence and goldfish from Iran’s masterful filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
- A Voyage Through Animation : Live Score by The Cabinet of Living Cinema (16:00)
The colourful history of Man Ray, Lotte Reiniger and Jan Svankmajer, orchestrated live by The Cabinet of Living Cinema.
- Fitzcarraldo / Peru (07:30)
Werner Herzog follows a lunatic visionary’s quest, constructing an opera house in the Amazonian jungle. Quite mad, and totally stunning.
- Like Water for Chocolate / Mexico (20:30)
A mouth-watering Mexican epic of love, revolution and the transformative power of food
- Metropolis / Germany (22:30)
The iconic film of German expressionism, Fritz Lang’s masterpiece is a stunningly-stylised vision of a dystopian future in a glorious new reconstructed and restored version courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch / East Germany (00:30)
The definitive transgender, glam rock, follow-the-bouncing-wig sing-a-long.
- The Killer / Hong Kong (03:00)
110 minutes of non-stop chop-socky, automatic weapons abuse, slow-motion shootouts and explosions. Makes The Raid look like a childrens’ picnic.
SUNDAY
- E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial / USA (10:30)
Bicycles at the ready! Re-discover Spielberg’s family classic of friendship, courage, adventure and phoning home.
- Curzon CineKids present: Make Some Noise! (12:30)
Learn the secrets of movie sound effects with Adam Mendez, foley-master of Fantastic Mr Fox and Slumdog Millionaire. Ages 6+
- Lagaan / India (14:00)
A Bollywood musical epic of love, colonialism and cricket. One of only three Indian films ever nominated for an Oscar.
- Shambala Workshops Red Carpet Premiere (18:15)
World premiere of the 16mm films, sounds and images you made. Come see your masterpiece on the big screen!
- Whirlygig Cinema presents: Making Tracks Open Mic (16:45)
Shambalians perform live soundtracks to new short films.
- Frankenstein (Hungary) (18:45)
It’s alive! Boris Karloff is the iconic re-animated monster in this classic horror of scientific obsession.
- Audience Choice: Americana (22:00)
Tie between Chaplin’s Modern Times and Singin’ In The Rain… so we showed both!
- Delicatessen / France (01:15)
Cannibalism never looked so good.