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Buzzes from BIAFF 2007 - part one
Royal Tunbridge Wells may be beautiful. I wouldn't know. Jan and I came there
to attend BIAFF and so we were far too busy to go sight-seeing. The weather
was beautiful, but even that could not tempt us away from the films, people
and chatter.
Arrival
The Wellington Hotel was on the shabby-genteel side but the cheery service
more than made up for any failings. Its main staircase was a celebration
of creaks and groans when even the lightest person skipped up or down it.
The food was good, the drink reasonably priced and the welcome first class.
The overspill hotel down the road looked more "wedding cake" in style. Several
people stayed at B&B places around town.
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Dorothy Borrie |
Frits Cohen |
Val Ellis |
Peter Cole |
Alice Dunckley |
Brian Dunckley |
We were driving past the entrance, looking for the car-park when we spotted
the Rouillards en masse by the door waving us down. They said someone
who spoke a little German was needed ... were they joking? Later it turned
out they were not, but Pat Adcock translated for the delightful couple
Martin and Pavla Ctvrtnicek, who came originally from Prague but now
live in Germany. They, poor souls, were in a b&b 20 minutes away but
before long we organised a series of lifts to and fro.
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Turning into the rear car-park we smiled to see a white mobile-home
which we knew held Bernhard and Karin Hausberger from Austria. Bernhard's
English is good but Karin can be a little shy so she spent part of the weekend
in the van watching Austrian television through their satellite system! I
don't think they have an illegal still on board, but Bernhard was generous
with the Schnapps all weekend. Slipping in the back door and up to the main
lobby we passed Andy and Maria Mauger, the guys who run Motcombe-Relf
music setting up their stand at the foot of the stairs. Next morning we were
serenaded down to breakfast by samples of their royalty-free records. |
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Pavla and Martin Ctvrtnicek |
Maria and Andy Mauger |
There were so many nice people to greet that it took some time to get through
the lounge to the front lobby where the SERIAC team had their welcome stand
and issued us with tickets, programme, a pack of information ... and a full
set of warm smiles. We turned round ... and there were Mike and Jo Coad.
Astonishing! Only the night before we were reading the blog of their six
months back-packing tour of the far east (a riot to read and with super photos
-
click
here) and envisioned them in Asia not Kent.
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Bernhard
Hausberger
Austria |
Christiane
Surdiacourt
Belgium |
Jean-Pierre Hue
France |
Karin
Hausberger
Austria |
Jan
Schoonen
(Netherlands) |
Romi Van
Krieken
Netherlands |
Friday Night
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The AV Show went like an express-train. Obviously Peter
Coles had taken to heart concerns in previous years about the length
of this show and was determined not to waste a second. I swear a couple of
the digital presentations had movement at 24 fps in them! For me the best
trick was in a sequence about a young woman who wanted to become a Goth.
On the side wall of the cinema appeared the famous silhouette of Alfred
Hitchcock. Was this a new trick in the AV repertoire? As I was by a window
I peeped out to see Ken Wilson walking past one of the floodlights
at the front of the hotel and realised it was his shadow.
I wonder why I never, ever agree with the judges decisions in AV competitions.
As the two forms grow technically closer I suspect there will be more
cross-fertilisation of ideas. I do, however, miss the really high-fidelity
sound that accompanied non-digital AV shows where sound was often on tape. |
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Peter & Mary Rouillard with
Willy & Etienne Van der Linden |
Michael Slowe, David Newman
and John Gibbs |
Saturday
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On Saturday the mini-cinema shows went remarkably smoothly.
The rooms were on the tight side so sometimes we took our second choice of
cinema - but no matter where you went Brian Dunckley had planned a
varied and interesting programme.
Mike Shaw had created a 15-minute "interval" tape which played as
we entered the cinemas. It showed the IAC logo in animated form and a succession
of local images. With gentle music it helped make people feel at home when
they came in and did not deter conversation. Garth Hope's amazing
"IAC 75" logo (see it here) marked
the start of each show. |
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An audience in one of the mini-cinemas. |
Carol Wilson in a break. |
The story continues in part two - click
here.
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