Friday 8 May 2009

Cannes in a Van

A couple of months ago I wrote about the need for people to support independent cinema, and I'd now just like to briefly comment on someone who is supporting independent cinema in a very different and much more direct way. For the last few years, Andy Greenhouse and his cohorts have been driving to the Cannes Film Festival...in a van. Why? Well, because it rhymes. But beyond the linguistic pleasures, there is another reason...

You see, this van is actually the world's 'smallest mobile film festival'. Every year the big yellow van parks up on the Croisette and screens independent short films out of the back of the van. Last year these films included one of my own,
Great & Small, and this year I'm pleased to say that they're taking two (Canbury and Paintbrush). It's a truly fantastic, truly independent initiative, and I’m proud to have my work included.

Please visit their website to find out more:
http://www.cannesinavan.com/

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon Andy and the Cannes in a Van project via their twitter updates (@cannesinavan) and hope to interview them this week for www.dw-world.de/artsontheair

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the value of their mobile festival - particularly for indie film makers.

Did you get any feedback on Great & Small from people who had seen it screened by C in a V?

Alex Barrett said...

Thanks for the comment.

I don't think I was contacted by anyone who had seen the film screened by CiaV, but to be honest in my experience it's very rare for people to contact filmmakers after a screening, so I don't hold that as a negative against what CiaV do. 'Great & Small' was screened out of the van at Cannes, and also at their festival at the Movieum in London last year. One of the big challenges for filmmakers is how to get their work seen, so it's great to have any kind of support and exposure.

What's good about Cannes in a Van is that it's fun. Distribution models are changing, and this is a nice way to get work seen. In terms of what I've been talking about on my blog, it's also a truly indepedently-minded scheme, which I also think is great.