A lot of the time, DIY projects running on small budgets can end up approaching things in the most interesting ways. Without a centralised team filming and recording Brainchild Festival 2016, we launched a new project with filmmaker Sam Boullier and producer Zoe Hunter-Gordon – ‘BCTV2‘ – where 12 filmmakers were invited to the festival to make films about the programme in any way they wanted.
The results are rather beautiful. Whether it’s digital or analogue, using soundscapes or low-fi or glitches, each film is different and reflects the engagement of each individual filmmaker with their subject, be it a band, an experience or an installation.
Over three weeks in February 2017, we’ll be sharing these films with the world. Here are the first few.
Alice Phoebe Lou in Torus by Alex Campbell
Alex captured one a magical moment that we didn’t know even happened. Alice Phoebe Lou is one of the most powerful artists and engaging human beings we know. Here she is improvising and singing into the Torus installation in the woods by the Flow Conceptions and Touchwood boys.
The Architects by Teddy Hunter
Teddy got the sounds and sights of The Shack, in day-time and night-time, shaped around an interview with the three architects that designed and constructed the stage. Meet Roma Swords McDonnell (left), Louise Colgan (centre) and Abigail Portus (right) and hear about the process of creating what was the most beautiful stage in Brainchild’s history. Also features some of Ross From Friends‘ debut live set on the Saturday at sunset, when the stage was looking pretty gorgeous.
Binker & Moses by Reuben Martindale
Reuben with the low-fi visuals and glitchy effects captures the unquestionable groove of Binker & Moses, two of the best jazz musicians we know.
Festival Installations by Charis Boon
Charis was tasked with the almighty job of making a film of the festival installations. Here you can see the dozens of pieces that were handmade by over 30 artists to bring the festival’s visual landscape to life. All the pieces are named with the time stamp of when they appear in the YouTube description.
Makeness by Maxim Ryder
Maxim takes effects to a whole new level here and turns colour, pattern and light into new assets for Makeness‘s sound. This little film shows everything about why Makeness stole the show on the closing set of the Friday night.
Sonido Trópico by Reuben Martindale
Reuben speaks to ElPeche and Salvador of Brazilian collective Sonido Trópico about their experience coming to Brainchild and what their projects mean for them in Sao Paulo.
‘Theatre of The Oppressed’ by Maxim Ryder
Maxim caught footage of The Bare Project‘s workshop ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’. Getting everyone warmed up on the Friday evening, this was a practical workshop “for anyone interested in using theatre as a tool for debate, political action and social change”.
Festival Build by Tor Richards
Tor came down to the festival early and got glorious footage of the build. Watch and see the artworks and site being assembled. She also got some of the festival action too, including Hudnall’s set at The Shack.
The Brass Funkeys play Seven Nation Army on the miniature train by Adam Green
Perhaps one of the moments we were most excited about, this was the grand idea from Ben of the music team, who simply thought that few things would be better than the Brass Funkeys on Bentley’s miniature train. And he was right – this was a magical moment, enjoyed very much by Izzy and Amelia who were on the train with the band. Nice one Adam for capturing this.
Denisha Anderson & The Forum LDN by Emily Medd
Meet Denisha Anderson, filmmaker, organiser, founder of The Forum LDN and advocate of all good things in human kind. Emily caught up with her on the day of her takeover in the Cinema, where she showed films and artworks to promote discussion around themes including love, gender and diversity and how they concern the LGBTQPOC community.
SumoChief’s #spacerhymecontinuum by Nefelibata Crabs
One of the things that makes happiest is how strong the Spanish contingent of creative folks is at Brainchild – a couple of years ago Marty and Venus (together their project is Nefelibata Crabs) got in touch wanting to come along from Spain and make films. They’ve captured many brilliant moments from Brainchild 2015 and 2016 and this is a favourite of ours. The incredibly talented SumoChief host an open jam every year in the Steez Cafe called SpaceRhymeContinuum and here’s a glimpse into what went down last year.
Torus by Tor Richards
In this film, Tor gets fully immersed in Flow Conceptions’ audiovisual installation, ‘Torus’. All the sounds you hear and colours you see are responses to the stimuli of somebody singing into the installation.
Poppy Ajudha by Wills Sloane & Aleks Golis
Wills and Aleks talked to Poppy about her childhood and some of the things that inspire her songwriting. Poppy performed as part of Ben Hayes’ set and SE Dub Collective as well as in her own band. Word on the street says she’s got some new music out soon, so stay tuned, and if you don’t know her already, then we strongly recommend you get to know.
Feeling Blue, Speaking Easy by Mel Zanga
Mel caught on camera two very special things about the 2016 festival: the storytelling workshop led by StorySlam Bristol in the woods, and the performance of ‘Feeling Blue’ in the cinema. With StorySlam Bristol, people learn how to turn a true experience into a compelling, first person, five minute story. Visuals from the workshop are interleaved with clips from Feeling Blue, a 12 minute multimedia dance piece made by four girls who contributed soundscape (Mokadem), video (Dee Ajibha), costume (Echo Godfrey) and choreography (Kara Coffey). They have a new piece showing at Platform Southwark on the 10th & 12th March, so come along if you wanna see more.
Feelgood Experiment by Teddy Hunter
Teddy captures some of Bristol based Feelgood Experiment‘s set on the rainy Sunday afternoon, where they got some hungover Brainchilders to feel a lot more joyful! At one point poet Vanessa Kisuule gets involved too. The film also interviews them about their time playing at Brainchild.
To get involved with Brainchild TV, please email us on bc.tv@brainchildfestival.co.uk.