Cherie Federico: Aesthetica Short Film Festival director and driving force behind Reignite
REIGNITE II: The Creative Economy will bring together key partners and industry leaders to explore the impact of large-scale cultural programming on York’s wider economy this evening at City Screen Picturehouse, York
The 6pm to 9pm event will feature a film screening and Q&A with “some of the UK’s most significant creative talent”, as part of this week’s BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival, when York becomes a cinematic playground for global giants in the media and gaming industries.
Highlighting York’s decade-long UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts designation, the discussion will focus on the role of media arts in driving economic growth, attracting tourism and fostering a vibrant and creative city for years to come.
Aesthetica director Cherie Federico says: “Reignite II is an opportunity to discuss the economic impact of culture on our city and how bold cultural programming offers an uplift in the city centre through economic and social inclusion.
“Through Reignite, we are looking to unite the city in support of the high growth and economic potential of York’s creative industries, and we’re committed to supporting the sector to reach its full potential.”
Rachel Bean, project manager at York BID (Business Improvement District), says: “We believe that media arts have a vital role to play in the city’s economic future, and we’re excited to build on the success of [the first meeting of] Reignite and continue to work closely with Aesthetica and partners to explore this potential.”
Reignite: Economic Impact Through Creative Industries was launched last month to celebrate York’s creative sector and its significant impact on the local economy. The inaugural event brought together representatives across all sectors to unite under York’s UNESCO Media Arts status, with the aim of encouraging all sectors in York, including hospitality, retail, and transport, to recognise the vast potential of York’s creative sector to transform the city’s economy.
Organisations Aesthetica, Viridian FX, Bright White, York Museums Trust and the National Railway Museum, together with a panel of young creatives, highlighted the need to embrace the city’s UNESCO designation to strengthen the York economy, with ambitions to create educational pathways, develop new skills and jobs and attract investment.
“Reignite is about making York’s UNESCO Media Arts relevant to the city’s arts and culture and seeking to transform York into a knowledge-based economy,” says Cherie. “We’re looking to develop Reignite events every quarter, working in tandem with City of York Council.
“We have a few hundred businesees in the creative industries in York already, but we must encourage more businesses to set up in York, particular in gaming and coding. We’ve reached the point where the city is being recognised for being very innnovative in what it’s achieving in the worlds of visual special effects and gaming, and we need to build on that.
“York has a unique cultural heritage and we must re-define ourselves as a regional city that thinks nationally and internationally, with a strategy for start-ups, education and inward investment.
“We want to encourage future careers, whether as arts workers or coders, and to legitimise those career paths in York, and we want to inspire not only young people in the city.”
New York-born Cherie has studied, worked and lived in York for more than two decades, setting up the international art magazine Aesthetica 20 years ago and subsequently the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, now its 13th year, and the Aesthetica Art Prize, an annual showcase for cutting-edge global talent at York Art Gallery.
“Aesthetica Short Film Festival underpins the values of York’s UNESCO Media Arts designation, making it visible with large-scale, bold cultural programming that has an economic impact on the city and cultural impact on residents and visitors alike,” she says.
“The draw of the festival, bringing big names to the city, highlights everything we’re seeking to do. This year we have ten representives from from Ridley Scott Associates; Oscar-winning filmmaker Tim Webber; the head of BAFTA Games, Luke Hebblethwaite; the BBC’s head of environmental documentaries, Mike Gunton, and fashion photographer Michel Haddi.
“BAFTA-winning Bait director Mark Jenkin, Bridgerton cinematographer Diana Olifirova, Suffragette director Sarah Gavron, Northern Irish director Kathryn Ferguson, who made the Sinead O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares, and Aesthetica alumna Jennifer Sheridan, director of Extraordinary for Disney+, they’re all coming too.
“So is Terri White, former editor-in-chief of Empire film magazine, whose memoir Coming Undone is being adpated into a TV series starring Billie Piper. We’ll have films by Ricky Gervais, Maxine Peake and Ben Whishaw too.”
Tonight’s event is supported by City of York Council, York BID, Aesthetica, Kit Monkman’s Viridian FX and York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
YORK is one of only 12 UNESCO Creative Cities in the United Kingdom and is unique in being the UK’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts.
York is part of a network of 246 Creative Cities that has identified creativity as a strategic factor in sustainable urban development.
The aims:
To strengthen the creation, production, distribution and dissemination of cultural activities, goods and services.
To develop hubs of creativity and innovation and broaden opportunities for creators and professionals in the cultural sector.
To improve access to and participation in cultural life, in particular for marginalised or vulnerable groups and individuals.
To fully integrate culture and creativity into sustainable development plans.
In 2020, York launched a new Culture Strategy – York’s Creative Future – with inclusion and participation at its core, “showcasing the city’s commitment to ensuring culture is relevant and accessible to everybody in York regardless of age, background or postcode”.
Tous Love Me, directed by Victor Claramunt, showing at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2023
FIVE days of short films lead off a week long on Latin pop and school rock musicals, plus science and sticks, dance moves and festive designs, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York city centre, November 8 to 12
THE 13th edition of York’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival combines 300 films and 15 venues in a five-day showcase of worldwide independent film that champions emerging creative talent.
Guest programmes explore the climate crisis, Black British cinema and LGBTQ+ experiences. Look out too for the Aesthetica Games Lab, in celebration of video game culture, plus multiple masterclasses, networking sessions, kids’ workshops, AI workshops and the VR Lab’s selection of 360 (degree) and immersive film experiences. York residents can save 50 per cent each day with the York Days Discount. Full programme and tickets: asff.co.uk.
Shower After Swimming, linocut by Anita Klein, from the Comfort And Joy exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York
Exhibition launch of the week: Comfort And Joy, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, November 4, 11am to 3pm, until mid-January 2024
PYRAMID Gallery’s Christmas show, Comfort And Joy, combines paintings, prints, ceramics, sculpture and glass. Look out for needlepoint by Dinny Pocock, jewellery by Joy McMillan and sculpture by Paul Smith, Lynn Muir, Helen Martino, Peter Hayes, Eva Mileusnic, Gwen Vaughan, Fidelma Massey and Louise Connell, among others.
On show too will be paintings and original prints by Sarah Williams, Anita Klein, Lesley Birch, Eliza Southwood, Emma Whitelock, Trevor Price, Mychael Barratt and Hilke Macintyre, porcelain origami by Kate Buckley, plus glass by Keith Cummings, E&M Glass, Hannah Gibson, Tracey Knowles, Will Shakspeare, Morag Reekie, Jo Kenny and more besides. Attending today’s launch will be Smith, Birch, McMillan, Whitelock and Knowles.
York illustrator Elliot Harrison
Inspired event: York Artists & Designer Makers’ Annual Christmas Show, York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road, York, November 4 and 5, 10am to 5pm
YORK artists and designers return to York Cemetery Chapel this weekend for their Inspired festive showcase. Adrienne French will be exhibiting paintings; Jo Bagshaw and Richard Whitelegg, jewellery; Elliot Harrison, illustrations; Catherine Boyne-Whitelegg, pottery; John Watts and Wilf Williams, furniture; Petra Bradley, textiles; Sally Clarke, prints, and Simon Palmour, photography.
Safia Bartley’s Filomina in Tutti Frutti and One Tenth Human’s The Lightbulb Princess at York Theatre Royal
Science show of the week: Tutti Frutti and One Tenth Human in The Lightbulb Princess, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 5, 2pm
LEEDS company Tutti Frutti Productions and Lancaster’s One Tenth Human team up for a magical, fun-filled 50-minute extravaganza for children aged four and upwards that explores the science behind electricity.
Kai’s sister Ray is determined that Mum will enjoy a perfect Christmas. It may be way too early, but already she has Kai and Ali hunting everywhere for decorations. When they find tree-top sparkly fairy Filomina, an unexpected adventure begins, one where they will need your help in a show full of electrifying storytelling and original songs. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Anton Du Beke: Chat and cha cha cha at York Theatre Royal
Song and dance of the week: An Evening With Anton Du Beke And Friends, York Theatre Royal, November 6, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing legend and judge Anton Du Beke sashays into York with his live band, guest singer Lance Ellington and dancers for a fab-u-lous evening of song, dance and laughter. The ballroom king will be combining songs and dances that have inspired him with behind-the-scenes stories from his many years on Strictly. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
La Bamba! leaps into the air at Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday. Picture: Pamela Raith
New musical of the week: La Bamba!, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; Wednesday and Saturday, 2.30pm
NOT to be confused with the 1987 film of the same name or Richie Valens’ teenage hit from 1958, La Bamba! is a new musical fiesta of passion, pride and Latin pop anthems starring Strictly Come Dancing champion Pasha Kovalev, The Wanted’s Siva Kaneswaran and rising star Inês Fernandez, choreographed by Strictly’s Graziano Di Prima.
Follow young Los Angeles dreamer Sofia as she takes her first steps toward stardom and witnesses the power of music to unite communities. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Stick Man: Freckle Productions head to York Theatre Royal with Julia Donaldson’s story
Children’s show of the week: Freckle Productions in Stick Man, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 4.30pm; Wednesday, 10.30am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
WHAT begins as a morning jog becomes a misadventure for Stick Man: a dog wants to play Fetch, a swan builds a nest with him, and he even ends up atop a fire. How will Stick Man return to the family tree in time for Christmas?
Adapting Julia Donaldson’s book, Freckle Productions combine puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves in the 55-minute performance. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Emma Dickinson and Jonny Holbek rehearsing with the York Light Youth ensemble for the York amateur premiere of School Of Rock
Are you ready to rock?York Light Youth in School Of Rock, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK Light Youth’s tenth anniversary show is the York premiere of the technically and musically challenging musical School Of Rock, combining young performers aged ten to 17 and York Light Opera Company adults.
Based on the 2003 film, the storyline follows Jonny Holbek’s Dewey Finn, a failed wannabe rock star, who vows to turn his clueless prep school students into a rock band to enter Battle of the Bands. Along the way, Dewey finds romance, self-worth, a proper job, while initiating the children and their parents in the beauty of rock. Box office: josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Recommended but fully booked
QUEEN of British soul Beverley Knight’s York Barbican concert on Thursday has sold out, as has indie pop trio Scouting For Girls’ gig there the next night.
In Focus:Gigs of the week: Teenage Fanclub on tour in Leeds and Sheffield with new album Nothing Lasts Forever in tow
Teenage Fanclub: Heading for Leeds and Sheffield on tour. Picture: Donald Milne
GLASGOW indie legends Teenage Fanclub follow up September’s release of 11th full-length studio album Nothing Lasts Forever with a 12-date November tour, taking in Yorkshire gigs in Leeds on Wednesday (sold out) and Sheffield on November 12
On songs looking for positives while faced with the grim realities of the 21st century, songwriters and guitarists Raymond McGinley and Norman Blake are joined by Francis Macdonald on drums, Dave McGowan on bass and Euros Childs on keyboards.
Light is a recurring theme, both as a metaphor for hope and as an ultimate destination further down the road. That said, although McGinley and Blake found themselves covering similar ground, it was pure coincidence.
McGinley says:“We never talk about what we’re going to do before we start making a record. We don’t plan much other than the nuts and bolts of where we’re going to record and when.
“That thing about light was completely accidental; we didn’t realise that until we’d finished half the songs. The record feels reflective, and I think the more we do this thing, the more we become comfortable with going to that place of melancholy, feeling and expressing those feelings.”
Blake reflects: “These songs are definitely personal. You’re getting older, you’re going into the cupboard getting the black suit out more often. Thoughts of mortality and the idea of the light must have been playing on our minds a lot.
“The songs on the last record were influenced by the break-up of my marriage. It was cathartic to write those songs. These new songs are reflective of how I’m feeling now, coming out of that period.
“They’re fairly optimistic, there’s an acceptance of a situation and all of the experience that comes with that acceptance. When we write, it’s a reflection of our lives, which are pretty ordinary.
“We’re not extraordinary people, and normal people get older. There’s a lot to write about in the mundane. I love reading Raymond Carver. Very often there’s not a lot that happens in those stories, but they speak to lived experience.”
While the vocals and finishing touches on Nothing Lasts Forever were added at McGinley’s place in Glasgow, the music was recorded in an intense ten-day period in the bucolic Welsh countryside at Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth, in late August.
This environment led to a record full of soft breezes, wide skies, beauty and space. “We like to get something out of where we go, and you can definitely hear a stamp of Rockfield on the record,” says McGinley.
“We recorded our album Howdy there in the late ’90s. Prior to that, I’d been a bit reluctant to go as everyone seemed to record there, especially if you were signed to Creation, but I thought I’d go and have a look at the place. “
McGinley continues: “When I went down there, I loved the fact that there’s no memorabilia about anyone who’s ever been in the studio. The only visual musical reference is a picture of [pioneering space age record producer} Joe Meek on their office wall.
Teenage Fanclub’s artwork for their 11th studio album, Nothing Lasts Forever
“Anyway, over 20 years after our first visit, we decided to go back. When you’re there, it feels like your place. We’re really rubbish at trying to find words to describe how our music sounds, but maybe because we recorded in Rockfield in late summer, there’s something pastoral about the record.”
Blake, McGinley, Macdonald, McGowan and Childs arrived at the residential studio without a fixed plan. Their confidence and ease with working together meant the record came together quickly.
McGinley says: “When we got offered ten days in Rockfield, we weren’t ready in our minds but then we just thought, ‘**** it’ and went for it. If you’re sitting around waiting for the stars to align, you can end up never doing anything. We turned up and worked our way through ideas, and came up with some while we were there.
“The song Foreign Land was born in the studio. If we hadn’t gone there at that point through happenstance, that song wouldn’t exist. We like to let things happen. As people, we find a deadline inspiring. We like to put ourselves on the spot and see what happens. We usually get away with it. This record is the cliche of the blank canvas, which thankfully we managed to fill.”
Blake adds:“We’ve all been playing together for such a long time. In the past, whoever had written the song would have been the director. ‘This is how I’m hearing the drums, if you could play the bass like this’…We don’t do that now.
“Raymond or myself would just bring in the idea and people would listen and play what works with it. We’d play for a couple of hours and that would be the arrangement. There’s a trust that comes from knowing each other such a long time, a kind of telepathy. Everyone knows where they fit in the puzzle.”
The seven-minute acoustic closing track, I Will Love You, looks to a point beyond the fury and polarisation of our modern discourse, to a time when“the bigots are gone/after they apologise/for all the harm that they’ve done”.
McGinley says: “In many ways, us-and-them-ism has taken over the world. I Will Love You is looking for positivity but it’s being totally fatalistic at the same time. This s**t will exist forever, what are you going to do about it?
“I came up with the line ‘I will love you/until the flags are put down/and the exceptionalists are buried under the ground’ while I was playing the guitar. I started wondering what that was all about and where it might go. It’s looking for positives within a fatalistic, negative view of human nature.”
The full track listing is: Foreign Land; Tired Of Being Alone; I Left A Light On; See The Light; It’s Alright; Falling Into The Sun; Self-Sedation; Middle Of My Mind; Back To The Light and I Will Love You.
Teenage Fanclub play Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Wednesday, doors 7.30pm, sold out; Leadmill, Sheffield, November 12, 7.30pm. Support comes from Sweet Baboo. Box office for Sheffield: leadmill.co.uk.
Special screening: Zomblogalypse, South Bank Community Cinema, Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, November 17, 8pm
The poster for November 17’s screening of Milestone Films’ Zomblogalypse at South Bank Community Cinema
MANY Zomblogalypse cast and crew members will be in attendance to introduce the screening and discuss the York-made zombie comedy in a Q&A afterwards, following its release by Dark Rift Films, the York film company behind festival crowd-pleaser How To Kill Monsters.
Zomblogalypse co-director Miles Watts says: “We love screening Zomblog with an audience because it’s got that trashy late-night Rocky Horror vibe. Usually it’s a bit tough to watch your own films with a crowd of people because all you see is the mistakes.
“But Zomblog is a different beast because this year marks the 15th anniversary of the original web series that launched this whole thing, and we’ve always had an appreciative and supportive fanbase.”
The cast includes Watts and his Milestone Films co-directors Hannah Bungard and Tony Hipwell, as well as seasoned York actors Victoria Delaney, Andrina Carroll and Dinnerladies’ Andrew Dunn.
Look out for a flash sale of film merchandise including posters and blu-rays of the film, with details of special discounts on the Zomblogalypse Facebook page. Tickets cost £4 on the door from 7:30pm.
After We’re Gone, directed by Ira Iduozee, showing at Aesthetica Short Film Festival
THE 13th edition of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival will be bigger and better than ever with big industry names, new features, more masterclasses and a 50 per cent YorkDays residents’ discount each day.
Significantly too, the festival is determined to highlight York’s status as the UK’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts, not only through a festival with one eye on the future, but also through the newly launched Reignite drive, propelled by Aesthetica director Cherie Federico, to highlight the financial impact of York’s creative sector and the need to transform York into a knowledge-based economy.
“The time for complacency is over,” says Cherie. “York has a unique cultural heritage and we must re-define ourselves as a regional city that thinks nationally and internationally, with a strategy for start-ups, education and inward investment.”
At the heart of the five-day festival, spread across 15 venues from November 8 to 12, will be 300 films in competition, including new works by Rick Gervais, Maxine Peake, Ben Whishaw and Oscar-winner Tim Webber, from Framestore.
The 2023 Official Selection of shorts, feature-length films and documentaries VR experiences and games screenings has been curated into five themes: Now, In This Very Moment; Standing at the Threshold of Change; A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With One Step; Be Free From Yourself and It’s Nice to Meet You.
The Guest Programmes for 2023 come from BFI Doc Society, Iris Prize and We Are Parable, among others, while the New Wave initiative provides a platform for up-and-coming directors. Issues such as gender, identity, the climate crisis and social injustices will be prominent throughout the festival film choice.
Festival films span 12 genres: advertising; animation; artists’ film; comedy; dance; documentary; drama, experimental; family friendly; fashion; music video and thriller. They can be experienced on the big screen at assorted locations during the festival run or streamed from home via the festival’s Virtual Platform, open for viewing On Demand until November 30, along with the masterclasses.
Cherie Federico: Aesthetica Short Film Festival director
Top film industry organisations will be participating in more than 60 masterclasses and practical workshops for adults and children from November 8 to 11, with pre-booking recommended.
The 2023 event welcomes directors and cinematographers such asSarah Gavron (Rocks), Mark Jenkin (Bait), Nicolas Brown (1917), Diana Olifirova (Heartstopper) and Kathryn Ferguson (director of the Sinead O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares), to give sessions on their experience working in the industry, from editing, sound design and cinematography to screenwriting, interactive storytelling, games, AI (artificial intelligence) and VR (virtual reality).
Festival-goers can go behind the scenes with multi-award-winning British animation studio Aardman; BBC Studioswill demonstrate its work in the Natural History Unit, producing series with David Attenborough, while Ridley Scott Associates will delve delves into The Future of Storytelling.
Aesthetica also welcomeGeorge Lucas’s VFX studio, Industrial Light and Magic, alongside Oscar winners Framestore, to discuss the world of visual effects and post-production.
One event asks What is the Role of the Intimacy Co-Ordinator, while another looks at the female gaze and what it means for women to depict women. Other compelling topics will be: Next Level Scriptwriting, Developing Award-Winning Animations; Where to Shoot Your Film; the Power of True Stories and Composing for Screen.
Practical sessions take place at Pitcher & Piano, the StreetLife Hub, the Guildhall and York Theatre Royal, hosted by key organisations, from the London College of Communication to the Pitch Film Fund.
Festival visitors can travel to the past to uncover the magic oftraditional printmaking or look to the future inTestbed of AI Generators and Writing in 360°: A Practical Workshop. Look out too for sessions on how to pitch, a virtual production demonstration and a showcase of Canon’s cinema cameras.
Hitting the heights: The Secret Diary Of A High Rise, directed by Stehen James Ong
Children can learn to direct, edit and make their own films in Do You Want to Be a Director and How to Make a Film, led by the Pauline Quirke Academy. New for 2023 is How to Make a Game and Do You Want to be a Game Developer? from Impact Games: a chance for young people to learn the secrets behind their favourite games. Pre-booking is essential.
In its 13th year, ASFF becomes the first British film festival to introduce a Games Lab, at Spark:York, inviting audiences to explore new worlds and interactive storytelling with 40 new independent games to play in a celebration of game culture, design and production on PC, console and headset. Workshops, events and masterclasses will accompany the Games Lab too.
“The video game industry is undergoing dramatic change culturally and technologically and is now larger than the film industry and music industry combined,” says festival director Cherie Federico. “We see journeys into narrative design as a crucial way to understand how storytelling is evolving in the 21st century. We see gaming much like film, but as a player you are involved in bringing a story to life.
“The inaugural Games Lab marks a new chapter in the festival’s story and reflects how the screen industry evolving. It’s an exciting moment to take stock of and recognise the impact of gaming culture, and how it touches our daily lives.”
Twenty VR projects in the Screen School VR Lab will be part of the festival’s ever-expanding offering of Virtual and Expanded Reality experiences, presented in tandem with Investigative Games and Kit Monkman’s York-based special effects studio Viridian FX.
This year’s Aesthetica Fringecomprises a sound installation, looking at feminism and women’s experiences in public places, at Bedern Hall; the Inside [Out] exhibition by three female photographers, celebrating women behind the lens, at City Screen Picturehouse; a display of contemporary film posters from the Official Selection at StreetLife Hub and workshops in printmaking, gaming and film for children and adults.
For the festival programme and tickets, head to: asff.co.uk.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival director Cherie Federico
300 independent films on your doorstep
EXPERIENCE a vast range of films from around the world with the Official Selection, Guest Programmes and New Wave screenings. This year’s outstanding selection includes films by Ricky Gervais, Maxine Peake, Ben Whishaw and Oscar-winner Tim Webber.
The Official Selection is curated with more than 300 films spanning 12 exciting genres, covering comedy, drama, animation, documentary, family friendly, thriller and more. Guest Programmes come from BFI Doc Society, Iris Prize and We Are Parable among others. New Wave spotlights new talent and is the only strand in a UK festival to showcase graduate films, introducing the filmmakers of the future.
UK film festival first: Pioneering Games Lab
THE Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom sold 10 million copies in three days, making it the fastest-selling game in Nintendo history. Games enable players to interact with stories like never before, from journeying through vast open worlds to navigating mesmeric VR (virtual reality) experiences.
Aesthetica sees the games industry evolving and wants to spotlight and celebrate all that interactive media offer, proudly becoming the first British film festival to develop a Games Lab alongside the film screenings, VR and immersive experiences.
Head to Spark:York to play your way through 40 captivating titles, from squirrel mysteries to mythical island escapades, as these Official Selection games immerse users in imaginative worlds.
Masterclasses and Panel Discussions
WHETHER you are an actor, cinematographer, director, developer, producer, screenwriter or a film aficionado, ASFF has world-class masterclasses to suit you, bringing together big names from across film, games and VR. Speakers include representatives from Aardman, Guardian Documentaries, the BFI, Film4, Ridley Scott Associates, Ubisoft and BBC Writersroom.
The list of directors, producers and visual effects specialists have worked such iconic projects as: Avengers: Endgame, Bridgerton, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Gravity, Ready Player One, Wallace And Gromit, and much more.
Family Friendly screenings: Bring the whole family
INSPIRE your children with a selection of incredible films. The whole family can experience the best in independent cinema at Family Friendly film screenings of comedies, engaging dramas and fun-filled animations. Follow compelling characters, from a brave hummingbird to a shy presenter, in shorts that encourage us to be our best selves. ASFF’s three reels are divided into ascending age groups.
Screen School VR Lab: Expanded Realities here in York
THE possibilities of 360° film are endless. Immersive experiences like these bring audiences closer to the action than ever before, positioning them in both real and entirely imagined environments.
Aesthetica and LCC’s (London College Of Communication) Screen School invite you to dive into a bold selection of imaginative stories. Embark on a multi-sensory journey as you explore the world of 360 cinema. The VR Lab will be held at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, alongside panel discussions at York Explore. To join virtually, buy a cardboard headset and experience at home.
Networking Sessions: Meet filmmakers
BUILD relationships, seek out collaborations and make lasting memories. Whether you are looking to connect with industry representatives, discover new opportunities or learn new approaches to filmmaking, Networking Sessions are the perfect opportunity to meet with film sector professionals and share ideas. 2023’s representatives are from renowned organisations such as Canon, The Pitch Film Fund and York special effects studio Viridian FX.
Insightful Workshops: Learn new skills
TRAVEL to the past to uncover the tactile magic of traditional printmaking or look to exciting futures with Test Bed of AI Generators and Writing in 360: A Practical Workshop. A series of workshops will run at Pitcher & Piano, StreetLife Hub, The Guildhall and York Theatre Royal’s Studio, with a host of key organisations, ranging from the London College of Communication and The Pitch Film Fund to Viridian FX and Canon.
These practical workshops are centred around expanded realities, making them essential for those looking to try out new technologies and learn from industry professionals.
Three Exhibitions: Sound & Photography
THE premiere of Flux & Possibilities, Martyn Riley’s deep listening, multi-channel sound installation, explores personal identities and histories at Bedern Hall. Created in partnership with Aesthetica, LCC and Audible, it invites you to listen to numerous female-identifying interviewees across different locations and generations, revealing their personal stories of feminism, inequality and gendered spaces.
Look out too for a film poster exhibition at the StretLife hub and photography exhibition, Inside (Out), featuring three female photographers, at City Screen Picturehouse, both in Coney Street.
Pitching Sessions: Speak with the experts
DEVELOPING a new short or feature project? ASFF offers a series of 20-minute pitching sessions where experts provide guidance on how to develop ideas, break into the industry and further your distribution goals.
These sessions will be led by delegates from BBC Film, Goldfinch, Film4, Guardian Documentaries and Neal Street Productions across various days at Malmaison York, as well as virtually. Pre-selection and applications are required.
Kids’ Workshops: Filmmaking & Games
ASFF believes in nurturing children’s creative potential. New for this year, children can attend workshops to learn how to direct, edit and make films. Budding game developers can join Impact Games to learn what goes into creating the games they love.
Pauline Quirke Academy will lead workshops for young directors keen to get behind the camera, shout “action” and “cut” and tell their unique stories.
Two types of workshops will run: filmmaking and gaming, where children can learn how to code and develop their own games.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival runs in York from November 8 to 12; full programme and tickets at asff.co.uk.
Filip Fredrik’s Elements: Showing at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2022
A FILM festival with international pedigree, poetry clashes, comedy aplenty and Constellations shine out for Charles Hutchinson.
Festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, across York, Tuesday to Sunday
AESTHETICA Short Film Festival returns for 300 films in 15 venues over six days in York in its 12th edition. The BAFTA-Qualifying event will have a hybrid format, combining the live festival with a selection of screenings, masterclasses and events on the digital platform until November 30.
New for 2022 will be York Days, a discount scheme with the chance to save 50 per cent on prices on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday programmes. Comedies, dramas, thrillers, animation, family-friendly films and documentaries all feature, complemented by workshops, the Virtual Reality Lab, installations and the festival fringe. Box office:asff.co.uk/tickets.
Malaika Kegode: Guest appearance at Say Owt Slam’s birthday party. Picture: Jon Aitken
Birthday party of the week: Say Owt Slam’s 8th Birthday Special, with Malaika Kegode, The Crescent, York, tonight (29/10/2022), 7.30pm
SAY Owt, York’s loveable gang of performance poets, Stu Freestone, Henry Raby, Hannah Davies and David Jarman, welcome special-guest Bristol poet Malaika Kegode to a high-energy night of words and verse, humour and poet-versus-poet fun.
“It started as a one-off gig! I can’t believe we’re still slamming eight years later,” says artistic director and host Raby. “Whether you’re a veteran or looking for something new, everyone is welcome at a Say Owt Slam, where each poet has a maximum of three minutes to wow randomly selected judges with their poetry.” Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
David O’Doherty: Change of date for York gig
On the move: David O’Doherty: Whoa Is Me, Grand Opera House, York, changing from Monday to February 5 2023, 8pm
HERE he comes again, albeit later than first planned, trotting on stage with all of the misplaced confidence of a waiter with no pad.
“There’ll be lots of talking, some apologising and some songs on a glued-together plastic keyboard from 1986,” promises David O’Doherty, comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright, 1990 East Leinster under-14 triple jump bronze medallist and son of jazz pianist Jim Doherty. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Flo & Joan: Musical comedy duo offer thoughts on topics of the day
Musical comedy of the week: Flo & Joan, Sweet Release, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday, 7.3pm
FLO & Joan, the British musical comedy duo of sisters Nicola and Rosie Dempsey, play York as one of 30 additional dates on their 2022 tour after their return to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Climbing back out of their pits, armed with a piano and percussion, they poke around the classic topics of the day with their fusion of comedy and song with a dark undertow.
The sisters have penned five numbers for the West End musical Death Drop and have written and performed songs for Horrible Histories (CBBC), Rob Delaney’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central) and BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Emilio Iannucci: Starring in Nick Payne’s romantic two-hander Constellations at the SJT
Play of the week outside York: Constellations, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, running until November 12
WHEN beekeeper Roland meets scientist Marianne, anything could happen in University of York alumnus Nick Payne’s romantic and revealing exploration of the many possibilities that can result from a single meeting. Reminiscent of Sliding Doors and Kate Atkinson’s novel Life After Life, this two-hander starring Carla Harrison-Hodge and Emilio Iannucci ponders “What if?”.
“Constellations plays with time and space in the most brilliant way,” says director Paul Robinson. “Deeply human, deeply moving, it genuinely tilts the world for you. I challenge anyone not to leave the theatre just a bit more aware of what a fragile and remarkable thing life is.” Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Bring It On: “The thrill of extreme competition”
Backflip of the week: York Stage in Bring It On: The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; Saturday matinee, 2.30pm
THE York premiere of Bring It On backflips into the JoRo in a youth theatre production directed by Nik Briggs. Inspired by the film of the same name, this story of the challenges and surprising bonds forged through the thrill of extreme competition is packed with vibrant characters, electrifying contemporary songs and explosive choreography.
This Broadway hit is the energy-fuelled work of Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q) and Tom Kitt (Grease: Live). Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Humour on hand: Harry Hill promises Pedigree Fun on his first tour since 2013
Very silly show of the week: Harry Hill, Pedigree Fun!, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, writer, actor, artist and former doctor Harry Hill and his big shirt collars take to the stage for an all-singing, all-dancing surrealist spectacular in his long-awaited return to the live arena for the fist time since 2013’s Sausage Time tour.
“I hadn’t realised how much I missed performing live until lockdown stopped me from doing it,” he says. “The good news is I’m planning a very silly show.” Full of pop-culture spoofs, no doubt.
Audiences will meet Harry’s new baby elephant, Sarah, along with regular sidekick Stouffer the Cat. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
John McCusker: Fiddler supreme on 30th anniversary tour
Fiddler on the road: The John McCusker Band 30th Anniversary Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm
SCOTTISH fiddle player John McCusker will be joined by Ian Carr, Sam Kelly, Helen McCabe and Toby Shaer for his concert series in celebration of 30 years as a professional folk musician since cutting his teeth in The Battlefield Band at 17.
To coincide with this landmark, McCusker has released a Best Of album featuring tracks from his solo records and television and film soundtracks, alongside a book of 100 original compositions, John McCusker: The Collection.
“I’m delighted to be able to get this special show on the road and celebrate 30 years as a professional musician,” says McCusker. “I’m looking forward to performing the highlights from my back catalogue and revisiting memories associated with those tracks.
“It’s brilliant that I’ve been able to make music and perform for 30 years and I’ve worked with so many incredible people in that time. I’ve never had a plan; good things have just happened and, so far, it’s worked out as well as I could possibly have dreamed of. I can’t wait to play with my friends again.” Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
York Settlement Community Players’ cast for Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike: Mick Liversidge (Vanya), top left, Victoria Delaney (Sonia) and Susannah Baines (Sasha); Andrew Roberts (Spike), bottom left, Sanna Jeppsson (Cassandra) and Livy Potter
York premiere of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm, 7.30pm
VANYA and his sister Sonia live a quiet life in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up, but when their famous film-star sister, Masha, makes an impromptu visit with her dashing, twenty-something boyfriend, Spike, a chaotic weekend ensues.
Resentment, rivalry and revealing premonitions begin to boil over as the three siblings battle to be heard in Christopher Durang’s comedy, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best New Play with its blend of Chekhovian ennui, modern-day concerns of celebrity, social networking and the troubling onset of middle age. Jim Paterson directs Settlement Players’ production. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Plastic Mermaids: “Emotional exploration of the many facets of heartbreak”
Time to discover…Plastic Mermaids, The Crescent, York, November 10; Oporto, Leeds, February 2 2023
AFTER playing Glastonbury and Camp Bestival in the summertime, Isle of Wight five-piece Plastic Mermaids are off on an 11-date tour to promote their second album, It’s Not Comfortable To Grow, out now on Sunday Best.
Led by brothers Douglas and Jamie Richards, who approach life like an art project, they face up to their dark side in an emotional exploration of the many facets of heartbreak on such psych-rock and electronica numbers as Girl Boy Girl, Disposable Love, Something Better and Elastic Time. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival launch night at City Screen, York. Picture: Jim Poyner, 2019
BILLED as “York’s largest cultural event of the year”, the 12th edition of the six-day Aesthetica Short Film Festival combines 300 film screenings, social events, workshops and industry-led masterclasses at 15 venues across the city from November 1 to 6.
1. Opening Night Ceremony, City Screen Picturehouse, York, November 1, 6.30pm
THIS launch event for the 12th ASFF presents a special screening of outstanding, inspiring and thought-provoking works from the 2022 Official Selection. The Opening Night Ceremony, curated by festival director Cherie Federico, introduces audiences to the breadth of the programme with a screening that captures a taste of what to expect over the course of the festival.
2. Official Selection screenings
EXPERIENCE a vast range of film screenings with the Official Selection programme. This curated set of 300 films provides something for everyone, with the genres including comedy, drama, animation, documentary, family friendly, thriller and more, alongside feature-length documentaries and narratives. See the filmmakers of the future here.
3. Virtual Reality Labs
HELD daily from November 1 to 6 at City Screen Picturehouse, the Virtual Reality Labs offer opportunities to experience immersive storytelling. Explore new worlds and discover 360-degree cinema, held alongside panel discussions on the latest technologies at York Explore library.
Virtual Reality Lab at Aesthetica Short Film Festival
Do not worry if you will be joining the festival virtually: you can purchase an Aesthetica cardboard headset to experience expanded realities at home.
4. Family Friendly screenings and workshops
THE whole family can experience the best in independent cinema at Family Friendly film screenings, including comedies, engaging dramas and fun-filled animations.
New to the festival this year, children can attend workshops with creative professionals, where they can learn to direct, edit and make their own films. These workshops, designed to harness creativity and boost confidence, will offer young people a chance to tell and share their stories.
5. The Listening Pitch film premieres and live hardware performance, November 5, 6.30pm
AESTHETICA and Audible have teamed up to run The Listening Pitch, which aims to discover original stories that demonstrate how listening lets us understand different points of view. The premiere of three winning films will be complemented by the 2021 winner, Blind As A Beat. Drinks will be provided on arrival; the premieres will be followed by a live hardware performance.
A New Beginning, by Christophe Chudy, at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2022
6. Fringe Exhibition, StreetLife project hub, Coney Street, York, throughout the festival
HEAD to the StreetLife hub to experience the transformative power of art. A free exhibition, Unite. Create. Transform, brings together ten award-winning artists, whose work invites viewers to explore, discover and engage with the contemporary world. Look out for a new commission too.
7. Sounds You’ve Never Heard Before, Bedern Hall
AUDIBLE, Aesthetica and London College of Communication have commissioned a new work by one of the UK’s most exciting sound artists: Jin Chia Ching Ho. Using five-channel Genelec speakers, this installation presents the audio of five natural materials: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Jin was asked to consider how we understand sound in a world that has changed the way people listen, creating a one-hour experience that invites you to sit back, lie on the cushions provided and listen deeply.
8. Pitching Sessions
IF you are developing a new short or feature project, or looking for advice to develop your next big idea, you had to apply for a one-on-one Pitching Session by October 14 to be invited to receive invaluable feedback on your work.
Elements, by Filip Fredrik, showing at Aesthetica Short Film Festival
These sessions are an opportunity to talk to top industry professionals and develop your ideas, with representatives from BBC Film, Film Four, StudioCanal and Guardian Documentaries, among others, taking part.
9. Hey, Sunshine Party, November 2, from 8pm
THE Hey, Sunshine Party, the festival’s first party, offers a throwback to the 1970s and 1980s in the perfect opportunity to grab a free gin and tonic, experience classics by The Stranglers, Blondie, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Abba and more, make new connections and ease into the week ahead.
10. Closing Awards Ceremony, November 6
DRAWING the in-person festival to a close, the Awards Ceremony welcomes filmmakers, delegates and audiences to watch the live prize-giving unfurl. Prizes are awarded for the best film in each genre, as well as the Audience Choice, Best of Fest and Special Guest awards. Take part in the celebration, to be followed by a drinks reception.
Did you know?
AESTHETICA Short Film Festival may take place in-person from November 1 to 6, but the event does not end there. A large selection of recorded screenings, events and virtual masterclasses will be available on the ASFF digital platform until November 30.
“So join in, be part of the largest cultural event in York this year and enjoy the best of independent new cinema,” says director Cherie Federico.
To book tickets, go to: asff.co.uk
To download the 2022 programme, go to: https://issuu.com/aesthetica_magazine/docs/aesthetica_short_film_festival_2022?fr=sMDgyODUyNTQxNzU
Cherie Federico: Director of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival
AESTHETICA Short Film Festival returns for 300 films in 15 venues over six days in York in its 12th edition from November 1 to 6.
The BAFTA-Qualifying event will have a hybrid format, combining the live festival with a selection of screenings, masterclasses and events on the digital platform until November 30.
New for 2022 will be York Days, a discount scheme with the chance to save 50 per cent on prices on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday programmes. “This is our local push,” says director Cherie Federico. “We believe that film is for everyone, and now you can join in York’s very own film festival.
“Each year, we transform the city into a cinematic playground, showcasing the world’s best film, providing a platform for the very new directors and short films to reach audiences. York is the place where the filmmakers of the future are discovered. As a city, we play a major role in supporting new talent.”
Comedies, dramas, thrillers, animation, family-friendly films and documentaries all feature among the 300 films – from around 4,000 entries – in a festival “where you can engage with global stories”, enjoy film premieres, workshops, the Virtual Reality Lab, installations and the festival Fringe.
“The success of our eight Film Club nights in the York Theatre Royal Studio from April to July gave me the idea to do York Days because it showed there’s an appetite for independent cinema in York,” says Cherie.
“York Days is your opportunity to attend the festival, soak up as many films as you can, and join in our award-winning masterclasses and workshops. This festival is for you and we want you to join in with your friends and family.”
Picking her recommendations for York Days, Cherie suggests seeing films aplenty from the Official Selection; attending a masterclass or workshop; experiencing Virtual Reality in the VR Lab at City Screen Picturehouse, and visiting the StreetLife project hub, in Coney Street, to view the ASFF exhibition, Unite. Create. Transform. For children, she advises attending Family Friendly screenings and signing up for children’s filmmaking workshops.
“We’re running four three-hour children’s workshops on how to direct your own film, divided into two age groups, seven to ten and 11 to 14, with places for 80 children from York to participate, free of charge, as I want to encourage young people to make films,” says Cherie.
Looking ahead to the 2022 festival overall, Cherie says: “I think this year is going to be very, very busy. For example, for our 60 masterclasses and workshops, people are travelling from across the world because they’re world-class, featuring leading representatives from the film industry’s top organisations.”
The 2022 Official Selectiion has been curated into six broader categories: Life As We Know It; The Bigger Picture; We’ll Cross That Bridge When We Come To It; How Do You Do?; Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Taken and The Present Was Their Idea Of The Future.
“I find with these themes, it’s not about being complex but accessible,” says Cherie. “The power of films is that they’re reflective of daily lives but cinema is transformative because it can introduce you to different cultures, languages, customs, but at the same time it’s about encapsulating human experiences.
“That’s really powerful because it enables you to understand things that you have in common rather than the things that you don’t. This festival celebrates the highs, the lows, the joy, the pain, what it means right now to be on Planet Earth, which is extraordinary because it reminds us of the humanity that binds us together. We take the world’s temperature with this festival.”
Within the six overarching themes are a selection of ten fitting films that span the festival’s 12 genres, complemented by feature-length narratives, documentaries and Virtual Reality experiences.
Alongside, ASFF runs Guest Programmes from around the world, including Queer East’s spotlight on LGBTQ+ cinema from East and Southeast Asia; the Scottish Documentary Institute highlighting East African and Pakistan Stories, and this year’s country in focus, Norway. Look out too for the New Wave strand, showcasing graduate filmmakers.
The masterclasses and panel sessions with industry leaders take in such topics as sustainability and diversity, the ethics of cinema and human rights. Representatives from BBC Film, Sky, Film4, Canon and Ubisoft discuss every stage of film production, the latest film technologies, cinematography, film scoring, scripting, editing and directing.
New too for 2022 is the ASFF Fringe, whose highlights include the aforementioned Unite. Create. Transform group exhibition by ten award-winning contemporary artists, not least Aesthetica Art Prize finalists, at StreetLife, and the ASFF’s £5,000 commission of an immersive sound installation by Jin Chia Ching Ho, Sounds We Have Never Heard Before, presented in partnership with Audible, to be enjoyed on giant pillows at Bedern Hall.
For the Fringe, York Dungeon will be providing walking tours of the city (as well as running one of the festival workshops on make-up for the screen). “A walking tour at a film festival might seem a bit off-piste, but why not!” says Cherie.
To book festival tickets, whether for In-Person, Virtual or Hybrid packages, go to: asff.co.uk/tickets. Tickets for York Days can be booked at asff.co.uk/yorkdays or in person from November 1 at City Screen.
Jean Toussaint: Performing with his jazz quintet at the NCEM tomorrow
THE National Centre for Early Music’s autumn season of jazz, folk, global and early music and films opens today with the return of Making Tracks at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York.
First set up by a network of British venues in 2010 and re-launched in 2019, the project selects young world music professionals, bringing them together for a two-week residency and national tour designed to reach across social, cultural and geographical divides and to foster a deeper appreciation of musical and cultural diversity.
Eight musicians will be performing as soloists and collaboratively. In the line-up will be oud player Alaa Zouiten, from Morocco/Germany; Swedish fiddler Anna Ekborg; Scottish lever harpist and composer Lucie Hendry, based in Denmark, and Scottish Highlands smallpipes, whistle, pedals and fiddle player, composer, instrument maker, educator and musical director Malin Lewis.
So too will Cherif Soumano, the rising star of the kora from Mali, now living in Paris; Leeds folk singer, folklore songwriter, guitarist and shruti box player Iona Lane; Iranian-born tar, setar and daf player and vocalist Shabab Azinmehr, from Belgium, and Ranjana Ghatak, a London singer, composer and tanpura player embedded in the classical and devotional Hindustani vocal tradition, who is also part of the Yorkston/Thorne/Ghatak trio with James Yorkston and Jon Thorne.
As part of their residency, the Making Tracks musicians also will be hosting a free music workshop for young people.
Saxophonist Jean Toussaint, who came to prominence in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1982 and moved to London in 1987, will be showcasing his latest album tomorrow.
Songs For Sisters Brothers And Others reflects on the turbulent Covid-19 years. “The pandemic caused me to focus on the fragility of life and the fact we’re here one moment and gone the next,” he says of penning songs as a “tribute to my wonderful siblings while they were still around to enjoy it”.
Zoe Rahman: Giving a foretaste of her 2023 album on November 9
Joining him in his quintet in York will be Freddie Gavita, trumpet, Jonathan Gee, piano, Conor Murray, bass, and Shane Forbes, drums.
THE NCEM is offering a reduced ticket price for those who book simultaneously for Toussaint’s gig and the Zoe Rahman Trio’s NCEM debut on November 9, when the exuberant British/Bengali pianist and composer steeped in jazz and classical music will be introducing compositions from her forthcoming album, set for release next year.
Rahman has worked with George Mraz, Courtney Pine and Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra music and won the Ivor Novello Impact Award at the 2021 Ivors Composer Awards, a MOBO award and British Jazz Award and has been nominated for the Mercury Prize. In York, she will be performing with Gene Calderazzo on drums and Andrea Di Biase on bass and will be working with York Music Forum too.
Fresh from the BBC Proms, Welsh harpist Catriona Finch teams up once more with Senegalese kora specialist Seckou Keita on Saturday in their multi-award-winning duo to mark May’s release of their third album, Echo, on Rough Trade.
Combining classical and folk, traditional and contemporary, Finch and Keita’s tender musical alliance explores different cultures and shared humanity “as their fingers flow like opposing tributaries into a single river of sound”.
The folk programme takes in co-promotions with the Black Swan Folk Club for Irish singer and bouzouki player Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) Farrell, performing songs from album True Born Irishman and A Lifetime Of Happiness, on October 12 and performers and authors John Watterson (aka Fake Thackray) and Paul Thompson presenting Beware Of The Bull, The Enigmatic Genius Of Jake Thackray on October 28 at 8pm.
They will be combining humorous Thackray songs with stories of the late Jake in the wake of publishing their biography charting the life of the Leeds topical comedy songwriter, poet and journalist.
Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita: Welsh harp and Senegalese kora
THE NCEM’s own folk promotions will be led off by Scottish multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer John McCusker & Friends on November 2, after the former Battlefield Band fledgling marked his 30th anniversary as a professional musician by releasing his Best Of compilation from solo records and television and film soundtracks in 2021.
Lady Maisery, the innovative award-winning English vocal harmony trio of Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans, play on November 16.
All composers and multi-instrumentalists in their own right, they perform intelligent and thoughtful folk arrangements of both trad repertoire and original compositions, whether unearthing a feminist twist hidden in a traditional tale, delivering a poignant anti-war ballad or drawing on myriad influences in their own songs.
On December 2, The Furrow Collective – Lucy Farrell viola, saw, voice, Rachel Newton, harp, fiddle, voice, Emily Portman, banjo, concertina, voice, and Alasdair Roberts guitars, voice – present Winter Nights, a spine-tingling evening of harmony and storytelling, bringing light into the wintry gloom.
On December 17, Green Matthews evoke the spirit of Christmas past in Gaudete, spanning 600 years of music that brings the festive season to life in a riot of sound and colour. In the line-up are Chris Green and Sophie Matthews, cittern, English border bagpipes, shawm, guitar, flute and piano accordion; Chris Matthews and Emily Baines, woodwinds, and Richard Baines, violin.
Bookers for any two of Lady Maisery, The Furrow Collective and Green Matthews will receive a £5 discount; book all three for an £8 saving.
The NCEM’s Family Friendly show “for a while” presents Mish Mash Productions in a return to York with Strange Creatures, a musical adventure for children aged four to seven and families alike, on Sunday, October 16 at 1.30pm and 3pm.
Lady Maisery: English vocal harmonies on November 16
Violin, viola and cello combine to create a magical world inspired by the book Beegu, written and illustrated by Alexis Deacon and performed by arrangement with Penguin Random House.
On the film front, Victor Sjöström’s 1921 Swedish silent movie The Phantom Carriage will be shown with live musical accompaniment on October 26 as part of York Ghost Week 2022.
In this 100-minute Dickensian ghost story and deeply moving drama that inspired a 12-year-old Ingmar Bergman to make films, the last person to die before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve is doomed to ride Death’s carriage, collecting souls for the year ahead.
This eerie and innovative Swedish classic also was a showcase for ground-breaking special effects as well as haunting visuals, now to be complemented by the spontaneous performance of Frame Ensemble, a quartet of northern musicians – Irine Røsnes, violin, Liz Hanks, cello, Trevor Bartlett, percussion, and Jonny Best, piano, specialising in improvised silent film.
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival will be returning to the NCEM during its November 1 to 6 run, showcasing 300 films in a celebration of independent cinema that connects audiences through powerful storytelling.
The international festival spans comedies to dramas, immersive virtual realities to family-friendly animations, alongside masterclasses.
The NCEM may be the National Centre for Early Music but its brief under director Delma Tomlin is far broader. Three examples are Singlr An Appera on October 23 at 8pm, klezmer and Balkan band She’Koyokh on October 30 at 6.30pm and Manasamitra’s Slumber Stories and Dusk Notes on November 11 at 5pm and 7.30pm respectively.
She’Koyokh: Klezmer and Balkan band from London
Organised by Lydia Cottrell of SLAP, Loré Lixenberg’s Singlr An Appera is a dreamlike musical evening in the Singlr salon where ambient electronic tracks and live musicians accompany the vocalised conversations of the Singlr app participants.
London’s international seven-piece klezmer and Balkan band She’Koyokh will be presenting Klezmer With Nightingales, a night of energetic klezmer combined with ancient Sephardic songs, reflecting the diversity of Jewish heritages, the history of migration and the musical integration that has taken place across Europe and beyond over hundreds of years.
In the band are Çiğdem Aslan, vocals, Susi Evans, clarinet, Meg Hamilton, violin, Matt Bacon, guitars, Živorad Nikolić, accordion, Paul Moylan, double bass, and Christina Borgenstierna, percussion.
In Leeds-based Manasamitra’s Slumber Stories, stories from around the world swirl together with semi-improvised music to create the background to a restful, rejuvenating and meditative rest-time story ritual for adults and children alike.
For Dusk Notes, vocalist Supriya Nagarajan and musician and soundscape artist Duncan Chapman unite with designer Pritpal Ajimal in a spiritual work that speaks to the Hindu gods, particularly Krishna, the god of compassion, tenderness and love.
Combining songs whose melodies date back to the 2nd and 3rd century, Dusk Notes has ragas to suit the mood of a mellow winter evening at the time of twilight just before the sun goes down.
Early music enthusiasts should look out for the young Spanish instrumental group El Gran Teatro del Mundo, who head to the NCEM on November 20 at 6.30pm after a week-long debut British tour. These rising stars of the EEEmerging programme promise a sparkling concert of 17th and 18th century works by Vivaldi, Telemann and Fasch.
Leveret: Springing into spontaneous action next March
Organised by the NCEM, the 2022 York Early Music Festival’s run from December 8 to 17 features such guest artists as Solomon’s Knot, the Orlando Consort and Bojan Cicic. Full details can be found at ncem.co.uk/yemcf.
Still on the Christmas theme, The York Waits – Tim Bayley, Lizzie Gutteridge, Anna Marshall, Susan Marshall, William Marshall and singer Deborah Catterall – focus on The Mirth & Melody Of Angels, Music for Christmas and The Festive Season from Medieval and Renaissance Europe, as they celebrate the 45th anniversary of their re-creation of York’s historic city band, on December 20.
Booked into the diary for 2023 already are two folk nights: The Rheingans Sisters on March 3 and Leveret on March 15. Book for both concerts by October 31 to save £5.
The Rheingans Sisters make playful, powerful music that is contemporary yet deeply anchored in folk traditions, performed on myriad instruments, many made by their luthier father. Nominated for Best Duo/Group at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, in 2020 they released their fourth album, Receiver.
Leveret brings together three of England’s finest folk musicians, fiddle player Sam Sweeney, button accordionist Andy Cutting and concertina player Rob Harbron, whose natural, relaxed musicianship is not arranged in the conventional sense. Instead, they rely on mutual trust and spontaneous musical interaction to create new settings of their repertoire in the moment, with no two performances ever alike.
The NCEM is supported by City of York Council, Make it York, Arts Council England, Creative Europe and Mayfield Valley Arts Trust.
All concerts start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise. Tickets can be booked on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.
Spanish ensemble El Gran Teatro del Mundo to play York as finale to first UK tour promoted by NCEM in November
El Gran Teatro del Mundo: First UK tour concludes at NCEM in York
SPANISH baroque ensemble El Gran Teatro del Mundo will embark on their debut British tour in November, organised by the National Centre for Early Music, York, in its first venture as promoters.
The tour is supported by the Creative Europe EEEmerging+ programme [whose bridge-building work concludes next summer alas] and the Ministry of Culture of Spain through INAEM, the National Institute for Performing Arts and Music.
Winners of the Diapason d’Or for their first album, Die Lullisten, the six-piece ensemble previously won theCambridge Early Music Prize at the 2019 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.
The ensemble comprises Claudio Rado, violín, Michael Form, recorders, Miriam Jorde, oboe, Bruno Hurtado, cello, Jonas Nordberg, archlute, and directorJulio Caballero, harpsichord.
Rising stars of the EEEmerging+ programme, El Gran Teatro del Mundo have performed at prestigious venues and festivals all over Europe, such as: Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht; Festtage Alter Musik Basel; Musikinstrumentenmuseum Berlin; Musica Antica Urbino; Festival d’Ambronay; Centro Botìn Santander; the Riga Early Music Festival and the Festival Baroque de Tarantaise in France.
Specialising in music from the 17th and 18th centuries played on oboe, recorders, cello, theorbo and harpsichord, the ensemble will celebrate the genius of Vivaldi, Telemann and Fasch in a tour programme of work entitled The Art Of Conversation.
“We are delighted to be initiating this exciting UK tour,” says NCEM director Delma Tomlin
El Gran Teatro del Mundo will appear at St John Smith’s Square, London, November 14; Turner Sims Concert Hall, University of Southampton, November 15; Cambridge Early Music, November 16; Lakeside Arts, Nottingham, November 17, and St George’s, Bristol, November 18. The grand finale, at the NCEM on November 20, will be filmed.
El Gran Teatro del Mundo say: “The 2019 York Early Music competition was a wonderful experience for us and we were really looking forward to coming back to the UK. After a very long wait, we can finally share with the British public the wide range of emotions and feelings that our energetic programme conveys.
“We are especially grateful to the NCEM for their support and dedication in making this tour possible. We are working to make it a great artistic and human experience for everyone.”
NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “We are delighted to be initiating this exciting UK tour and to work with promoters from across the country as we welcome this impressive young instrumental group.
“We first welcomed El Gran Teatro del Mundo to York in 2019 when they took part in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition. We were impressed with their talent and artistry, and they have continued to go from strength to strength, recently winning the coveted Diapason d’Or.
“This is the first chance to invite them post-Covid restrictions, and we can’t wait for them to return to the NCEM this autumn.”
Tickets for the 6.30pm York concert are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.
Alfie Barker’s Hanging On: Best Of Festival Award winner at November’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival
ALFIE Barker’s docu-drama Hanging On has won the Best of Festival Award at the 2021 Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York.
Barker’s film, spotlighting the strength of community in a neighbourhood that unites when forced to the edge of extinction, also received the Best Documentary Award at November 7’s awards ceremony at the Yorkshire Museum.
Maria Martinez Bayona won a hattrick of awards for Such Small Hands – Best Thriller, Best Director and Best Cinematography – with its account of an unchecked pack mentality alienating a new arrival at a girls’ orphanage, whereupon she invents a manipulative game to swing the balance of power.
Best Advertising Award winner: Fiona Jane Burgess’s The North Face X Gucci
The Best Advertising Award went to the director’s cut of Fiona Jane Burgess’s The North Face X Gucci, Presented By Highsnobiety, in which a new generation of birdwatching enthusiasts are breaking the stereotypes of what outdoor recreation looks like and who it is for.
Frédéric Schuld’s The Chimney Swift won the Best Animation Award with its 19th century European tale of a child climbing up a chimney while a bird sails down into it to build a nest in an encounter with no way back.
The Best Artists’ Film Award went to Aleksander Johan Andreassen for Centarium, a film he staged and filmed in shopping centres during mostly normal opening hours as a chain of events is sparked by a mannequin coming to life. Andreassen’s camera follows two characters’ movements.
Best Comedy Award winner: David Dearlove’s Taj Mahal Presents…A Short Film
David Dearlove’s Taj Mahal Presents…A Short Film, a “short film for people who don’t like short films”, was very much liked by the judging panel, who gave it the Best Comedy Award. BAFTA-nominated actor and director Phil Davis stars in this humorous swipe at a genre that “often seems longer than it is short.”
Clap hands for Joshua Ben-Tovim and Roseanna Anderson’s Blast, winner of the Best Dance Award for a film that takes its cue from the growth of radical ideologies and modern art in London, 1914. From here on, they consider the ways in which we “progress” as a species.
The Best Documentary Feature, Daniel Edelstyn and Hilary Powell’s Bank Job, focuses on an unlikely team, seemingly insurmountable odds, even explosions, as they take steps towards a future wherein money works for us all. This mischievous film follows a community making its own currency.
Best Documentary Feature winner: Daniel Edelstyn and Hilary Powell’s Bank Job
The Best Drama Award winner, Romain Dumont’s See You Garbage!, is a dramatic comedy about garbage collectors Élie, Nino and Belz being surprised to be invited for Christmas at the house of the Prime Minister and the First Lady.
The Best Experimental Award, Michelle Williams Gamaker’s The Bang Straws, considers the violent mechanisms of 20th century studio films, taking Anna May Wong as its starting point to revisit the casting discrimination that she experienced.
The Best Fashion Award winner, Elisha Smith-Leverock’s Rejoice Resist “celebrates and shows Black pleasure as the ultimate form of resistance”, highlighting the importance of allowing yourself to feel joy in the face of adversity.
The Best Fashion Award winner: Elisha Smith-Leverock’s Rejoice Resist
Leah Vlemmiks’s Best Music Video Award winner, Tesfay, uses dance, narrative and documentary to tell the story of Witch Prophet’s late grandfather, Tesfay, who raised five daughters as a single father in Ethiopia.
Ta Pu Chen’s The Cleaner shone out at the awards ceremony with prizes for Best Narrative Feature and Best Screenplay. In the film, death-scene cleaner Yan-Ting and ex-convict Ah-Chun team up with En-Ya, who was born with a silver spoon attached, to not only scrub places but also clear uneasiness and grudges.
In the Best VR & 360 Award winner, Joséphine Derobe’s Meet Mortaza, 24-year-old Mortaza had to flee Afghanistan because he was sentenced to death by the religious authorities. Forced into exile, Mortaza will strive to reach Europe to ask for asylum.
Best Animation Award winner: Frédéric Schuld’s The Chimney Swift
The Best Editing Award was awarded to Wang Yuyan’s One Thousand And One Attempts To Be An Ocean, a film with the advice: “If you don’t want to drown, be an ocean” as it reflects on the experience of being unable to see the world with depth perception.
The ASFF’s Hybrid and Virtual pass-holders have a deadline of November 30 to vote for their favourite film online, via the festival’s virtual platform, for The People’s Choice Award. “Just look out for the ‘Vote Now’ button when streaming great independent cinema this month,” comes the advice.
All the prize-winning films can be watched on ASFF’s Stream On Demand online service until November 30. For more details on how to watch, go to: asff.co.uk/tickets.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival director Cherie Federico
NEXT year will mark the 20th anniversary of Cherie Federico moving from New York to York.
By then, the founder of Aesthetica Magazine, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Aesthetica Arts Prize will have lived longer in her adopted home city than her native United States.
In 2002, she came to York to study at York St John University and…stayed, seeing possibilities within these historic city walls for artistic innovation.
This is her busiest week of the year, hosting the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, now in its 11th year and bigger than ever, running from Tuesday to Sunday – and online until November 30 – with a remarkable 500 films; themed strands and guest programmes; masterclasses; an industry marketplace; VR (virtual reality) lab; interactive media lab; a celebration of the New Wave of filmmakers; mentoring sessions; networking opportunities and a Sunday awards ceremony.
“It’s become a very significant British film festival, and our ticket sales are healthier than ever,” says Cherie, as the festival restores live screenings in 2021 after last year’s entirely digital event for home viewing only. This year, you can watch in person or online or a hybrid combination of the two each day.
“People are buying hybrid passes to be able to soak up everything in the city – films, masterclasses, panels and discussions – over the six days and also to have full access to the virtual platform to catch up on films and masterclasses until the end of the month.
“There are more films showing than ever before because we’re offering the chance to experience them in different ways; some programmes are online only, some are in-person only, so there are some distinctive programmes, but there’s also cross-pollination between the two formats.
“The thing that has changed this year is that we’ve organised the films into six strands, which came about in response to the pandemic.”
ASFF’s films span documentary; advertising; narrative; animation; artists’ film; comedy; dance; drama; experimental; family friendly; fashion; music video and thriller. “The programme is still organised thematically by genre, but these films now move into different strands too,” says Cherie.
“I was thinking, ‘what are the key things that unite the films in this year’s programme?’, and I came up with How It Was, How It Is, How It Will Be, thinking about the past, present and future, focusing on extraordinary stories in the everyday.
“Strand Two, Humanity On The Edge, addresses ‘Crisis’, whether looking at the effect of climate change or the pandemic; Black Lives Matter; LGBTQ+ issues; human rights; women’s safety. There is no more ‘normal’. It’s an idea that’s become redundant. Crisis has become a defining characteristic of life in the 21st century.”
Cherie continues: “Strand 3, When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade, is about hope, optimism, positivity. The glass is half full, as we take a lighter look at life to remind us of all the joy and beauty around us, as we take a moment to admire the power and resilience of the everyday person.
“Strand 4, Pleased To Meet You, explores Connections, how relationships are formed, and considers how the digital age has altered the way we build, maintain and cut ties, maybe irrevocably.
“Strand 5, Mirror, Mirror, looks at identity, how we decide who we are or, perhaps, who we want to be; how you see yourself, whether you’re holding a mirror up to society or to yourself, and how the way you see yourself is often very different to the way other people see you.”
The sixth strand, Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free, addresses how segregation, racism, marginalisation and discrimination are systemic issues deep-rooted within society. “They are part of many people’s daily experiences,” says Cherie. “We must recognise that in the fight to establish true equality.”
In further festival highlights, New Wave introduces the next generation of filmmakers, with ASFF being the only British festival to offer a strand dedicated to graduate filmmakers, under such titles as The Art Of Limitation: Creativity Under Constraints (Saturday, City Screen, 3.30pm to 5.30pm).
The Guest Programmes have been curated by Rachel Pronger, originally from Bradford and now living and working in Berlin after deciding “it’s now or never to move”. 9/11, Twenty Years On is the subject of three programmes at Bootham School: Memories, Monuments (earlier today); In Search Of (Saturday, 3.30pm) and The Fallout (Sunday, 2pm).
“Part One looks at how did we get to the point where people steered planes into the Twin Towers; Part Two covers the day itself; Part Three considers how that moment led to a rise in populism and nationalism, and how you end up with Trump in the White House,” says Cherie. “That moment, 9/11, galvanised some very dangerous attitudes harking back to 1939.”
Look out for a sound installation at Spark: York, a new location for the 2021 festival, where the sound of a rainforest is accompanied by a CO2 monitor. “The more people that fill the room, the quieter the room becomes,” says Cherie.
For the first time since the first lockdown in March 2020, The Basement at City Screen, York, is open, playing host to the VR Lab for ten 360-degree films and six immersive experiences each day from 11am to 8pm.
The week’s masterclasses are welcoming the likes of filmmaker Peter Strickland (Katalin Vargo, Duke Of Burgundy); rising director Prano Bailey-Bond (Best Experimental Film winner for Man vs Sand at 2013 ASFF; debut feature film Censor); Hyena writer-director Gerard Johnson; actor Maxine Peake, discussing “acting as authorship”, and The Father producer David Parfitt.
So too are: stop-motion director Anthony Farquhar-Smith (Fantastic Mr Fox, Corpse Bride); rising star Gamba Cole (from Stephen Merchant’s BBC series The Outlaws ); Industrial Light & Magic’s VFX supervisor Julian Foddy and feminist filmmaker Sally Potter (Orlando, The Road Not Taken).
Still to come are: Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 3pm); God’s Own Country and Ammonite writer-director Francis Lee, the Yorkshireman who “doesn’t often do” such Close Up encounters (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 6pm) and Alice Seabright, who has written and directed episodes of Netflix hit Sex Education (Yorkshire Museum, Saturday, 6.30pm).
A Sunday streaming at 1pm brings together actor and Primetime founder Victoria Emslie and Lizzy Talbot, intimacy coordinator for Bridgerton, who will discuss the tasks and techniques involved when working with an intimacy coordinator, one of the stage and screen’s increasingly important new roles.
“It’s quite remarkable how many big names we have taking part in the festival,” says Cherie. “It’s a huge, huge festival and it’s really important for people in York to realise the scope and the breadth of a festival that takes place in their city.
“It’s major cultural programming, and I’m proud of the dynamic we bring to the city’s cultural agenda. It’s extraordinary to be able to do this and we’re proud that we brought £2 million to the York economy in 2019, the last time we had a live festival.
“This festival is a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else, and that’s what makes it so special: the combination of films, the masterclasses and the venues around the city; the union of the historic and the contemporary.”
Please note, ASFF is applying a stringent Covid-safety policy. “For admission, if you have had two jabs, you must show your NHS Covid pass; if not, you must have proof of a negative Lateral Flow Test that day. There are no exemptions,” says Cherie. “We’re determined to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 at the festival.”
For full details on the 2021 Aesthetica Short Film Festival programme, go to: asff.co.uk.
