Creativity has always been at the foundation of the Manchester School of Art. How fitting, then, that the institution will launch its first ever film festival at HOME Manchester, the leading centre for contemporary film, art and theatre in the North West. The MSA Film Festival will take place on June 7th, showcasing a diverse range of over 20 student productions. Expect science-fiction, animation, and artist moving images, and more importantly, films ‘that matter’.
The festival has been organised by MSA productions, a recently founded, student-lead company whose productive ethos ‘fosters creative partnerships’. Importantly, MSA functions as a pedagogical project, and has developed connections locally with the Royal Northern College of Music. The artistic industry professionals involved offering their support include MMU filmmaking lecturer Christiane Hitzemann, whose short films have featured on the global festival circuit as well as Delaval film productions’ Loran Dunn.
The event will bring together individual artists and production groups as part of their collaborative approach, providing an important step forward for those venturing into the industry. HOME will harbour such creativity into their state-of-the-art cinema screens. HOME’s film programme has become recognised for encouraging audiences to take a chance on something fresh and innovative, so what better place for MSA’s filmmaking students to find an indigenous organisation to welcome their hard work.
The festival line-up includes I am Flesh, a science-fiction standout about a young woman who must escape the factory she resides in, after a strange vision of her embodying another person. For now, any further details are being kept under wraps, as the film’s cerebral qualities are what makes it so enticing. In keeping with such an engaging concept, My Synthetic Excuse will present an artist’s view of climate change, offering a personal but abstract perspective on a major global issue.
Molly and Lexi’s Multiverse Odyssey will also provide an astute outlook at animation. Molly the cat and Lexi the dog find themselves in different spacial dimensions as they attempt to find their way back home, something more challenging than expected. MSA festival will also screen the dark comedy Let’s Not Cry Over Spilt Milk, a story about a young woman’s attempt to decipher her father’s suicide note, with the help of her ex-boyfriend. Moving away from fictional efforts, the documentary Firehouse will reflect on the thriving community at London Road Firehouse, a beacon for overseas workers to retain their identities in foreign surroundings.
In a post-Brexit Britain, a sense of unanimity in our culture is crucial, and the MSA Film Festival will present the achievements of working together in an open, collective environment.
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