The See Side, See Festival 2012
See Festival returns for its seventh year of showcasing international and award-winning documentaries
Deservedly marking its place in the annual film festival calendar, See Festival 2012 has handpicked some of the best must-see documentaries around and has very helpfully ordered them into categories for your viewing convenience. Conscious of catering to the varied tastes of Brighton’s culturally savvy population, even the headliners have broad appeal with Shaun Ryder, The Only Way Is Essex, Senna, and Anyone Can Play Guitar leading the way amongst a diverse selection of film screenings, seminar, Q&As and master classes.
This year’s unique event; In Conversation With Shaun Ryder offers Brighton an experience no other city can boast. The Happy Mondays and Black Grape front-man turned TV presenter discusses his music career and will premiere footage from his forthcoming documentary series for HISTORY™, Shaun Ryder On UFOs. Fresh from the success of his best-selling autobiography, this is your opportunity to hear entertaining anecdotes from the man himself, before he embarks on the impending Happy Mondays reunion tour.
BAFTA return to present two very special master classes. The first being The Only Way Is Essex: Structuring Reality which takes us behind the tears, tantrums and vajazzles as a panel of top programme-makers guide us through the processes involved in making this distinctive genre with TV reviewer Boyd Hilton and former star of the show Kirk Norcross. Senna: A Masterclass completes the BAFTA weekend with a screening and Q&A with director Asif Kapadia, writer Manish Pandey and archive producer Paul Bell.
Heading up an impressive line-up of music docs, Anyone Can Play Guitar charts the success and failures of the epic Oxford music scene and the many bands it spawned, featuring Radiohead, Supergrass, Ride and Foals. This screening is accompanied by a Q&A with director Jon Spira, producer Hank Starrs and Mark Gardener of Ride, who will conclude the evening with an acoustic set.
The music strand continues with a screening of the long lost Leonard Cohen documentary, Bird on a Wire, as his twelfth studio album Old Ideas rides high in the charts. Director Tony Palmer also discusses capturing the now infamous 1972 tour. A contrasting look at the music industry is offered up by Bob And The Monster. This award-winning documentary follows outspoken indie-rock hero Bob Forrest, through his life-threatening struggle with addiction, to his transformation into one of the most influential and controversial drug counsellors in the US, including testimony from his peers, Courtney Love, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus many more. The direction changes again with Lyrics Revolt, a documentary exploring how Arab hip-hop has emerged as the soundtrack of the resistance and is creating a new Arab culture.
The launch weekend includes the pioneering YouTube documentary Life In A Day followed by a look at clips from Britain In A Day that will be premiered in cinemas before the London Olympics. 66 Months and My New Home look at relationships and responsibility in long-term filmmaking with a seminar hosted by executive producer of the Seven Up! series, Claire Lewis, with James Bluemel, Christopher Hird and Daisy Asquith. Free events include School Of Doc and a master class from Grierson-winning director Jerry Rothwell.
A variety of revolution documentaries begin with Planeat, the story of three men’s life-long search for a diet, which is good for our health, good for the environment and good for the future of the planet followed by a Q&A with director Or Shlomi, and leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas. Continuing the theme is Just Do It and a Q&A with producer Lauren Simpson, as well as screenings of How To Start A Revolution, Confessions Of An Eco-Terrorist and revolution double-bill Zero Silence and Krisis.
Offering a peek into hidden worlds, from real-life caped crusaders Superheroes to the film that shook football, The Four Year Plan. Dragonslayer, A Balloon For Allah and a touching double-bill of Circus Of My Sun and Lunik IX complete this insight into the unseen.
The conflict category announces the Oscar-nominated Hell And Back Again, the Steve James directed The Interrupters, awarding-winning My Heart Of Darkness, and the thought-provoking The Crisis Of Civilization and Blood In The Mobile.
Local talent showcase their short films, featuring work from the Open Cinema, local Universities, and Brighton Film School. Followed by an evening of shorts from respected directors such as BAFTA-winning Lou McLoughlan.
The festival closes with the Oscar-shortlisted Under Fire: Journalists In Combat, a deeply affecting film that looks at the psychological cost of war through the eyes of combat reporters.
See Festival, 24 March–1 April 2012. Full listings are on the website, www.seefestival.org. Follow See Festival on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.
