LIAF 2011 is here… and we have officially leapt off the starting blocks in style!!! What an absolutely fantastic day!!!
Firstly… a gargantuan ‘thank you’ to the well-oiled Barbican machine. We are over the moon with our first day’s adventure and can’t wait for the remaining nine!
So we began the day with the predictably unpredictable.. a couple of potential disasters were bowled in the direction of our Director, who calmly batted them out the ball park. Fast-forward a couple of hours (spent emailing, tea-drinking, phone-calling, tea-drinking, kit-prepping, printing and drinking tea) and we’re somehow at our venue, cooing at the fantastic area that the Barbican have reserved for us for our Gala Opening ‘after show’ and feeling strangely calm.
A filmed interview for Reuters with an un-shakable Nag (LIAF Director) and Phil Mulloy (Director of ‘Dead but not Buried’), some foyer-dressing and last-minute organising and we were ready to go.
After a truly welcoming introduction from the Barbican, Nag gave his traditional Festival run-down and Wojtek Wawszczyk (Director of ‘George the Hedgehog’ and Master to the LIAF Masterclass held on Sunday 28th September), was asked onstage to say ‘Hi’. Our Gala Opening selection of shorts (kept top-secret until this evening!), were followed by the World premiere of feature ‘Dead but not Buried’ (Phil Mulloy).
If that wasn’t enough, our ‘Technique Focus: Cut-outs’ programme filled the screen from 21:20, featuring such gems as ‘Phosphena’ (Maya Erdelyi) and ‘The Collagist’ (Amy Lockhart & Marc Bell). Meanwhile, the ‘after-show’ punctuated the day’s antics with much merriment, celebration and a spot of ‘schmoozing’!
Day two commences in a matter of hours… and the BAFTA-winning animator Kevin Griffith is all ready to tutor the ‘Children’s drop-in animation workshop’ at the Barbican (10:00 – 11:00), followed by a special Family Screening. From then on in, LIAF will be permanent fixture at the Barbican for the rest of the day… with everything from our ‘SixPackFilm Tribute + Dietmar Schwartzler Q&A’ to our ‘New York Who’s Who’ at 21:00… and then we prepare for day three…
