“Do well with nothing, do better with a little…” But try the same with less than nothing and you end up with the Filmonik Gorilla Kabaret.
The second and last Gorilla Kabaret of 2013 has been and gone. But this four-day “diet” kabaret was everything but sugar-free. Evidently, four days is more than enough time to explore love, loss, life, death (in many varieties), the thug life, creepy artists, appropriate use of the “C” word, talking cars, VCRs, walking on Mars, beautiful monsters, a fond farewell to Maestro himself, and plenty more sweetness besides.
Once again the daytime hub was set up at Madlab. On the morning of day one, our trusty whiteboard was riddled with just shy of twenty-five films, each more elaborate than the last. Kino-ites EXPLODED in all directions, wrangling directors, actors, sound guy(s), actors, filmmakers of all shapes and sizes and props galore.
Then, on day two, everything went strangely quiet… As per the creative restrictions that come with a Gorilla Kabaret, there is no kit to hire out, no edit suites to hog and NO 24-HOUR LAB!!! This meant all 55 of our participants were forced to venture forth into the great unknown to make their films in time for the screening, coming back to Madlab only occasionally to drink some coffee, edit together footage, and panic frantically in the fetal position.
Left with only rumors of the dark themes making their way onto various timelines, the anticipation towards Sunday was palpable. On day four, our hub suddenly erupted with bleary-eyed editors and well-rested actors, with mere hours left until the public screening. Footage was converted, hard drives were melted, blood was spilt…
Filmonik returned to Islington Mill once again for the public screening. After four days and three nights of toil, the hard work finally paid off. In a packed out room filled with faces both old and new, Manchester was treated to yet another slew of magnificent short films, with all the screaming and tomfoolery we’ve come to expect in between.
Without a doubt, this has been the best output of films from a Gorilla Kabaret we’ve ever seen. The Filmonik community is coming into its own as its stories, sketches, music videos and experiments become sharper and more refined by the month, regardless of the restraints. This time next year, if the bar can actually still be raised higher, we’ll be on to something special indeed. But until then, take a bow.
Many thanks to the Filmostock blog for this tasty write-up:
And to all our participants and audience members, cheers for coming down, screw the post-kabaret blues, and we’ll see you all soon. xxxxxxxxxX
