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Monday, 17 October 2011

Havana Film Club: Field Trip

This week we took Havana Film Club on a field trip to Doc Heads.

Doc Heads is a bi-monthly night run by assortment of folk from production companies Fat Rat Films and Bright Hand Films. Basically, it’s like our Havana Film Club, but on a much bigger scale. Held in Monty’s Bar on Brick Lane, it brings together a bunch of people who are in the business of making films, and screens a selection of award winning documentaries. What makes it mega cool is that the directors of the films are there to introduce the film, and then hang out for a beer or two afterwards.

After a couple of pints of Peroni to whet the whistle, we made our way from the bar in to the downstairs screening room. The first film we watched was called ‘Simply Rob’, directed by Tom Shrapnel. View the trailer here.

The full thing is 15 minutes long – it’s not available online anywhere, but I would strongly recommend seeking the film out. Simply Rob is a beat poet who was diagnosed with HIV in 1994. Quite simply, he is one of the most charismatic and fascinating people I’ve ever seen on screen. The film has been selected for a load of prestigious festivals this year, and it’s certainly deserved. I can’t recommend this film highly enough. Check it out and thank me later.

Next up was ‘I Am Your Man’, directed by Tom Latter. Sadly this one doesn't seem to be online at all, which is a real shame. It was definitely a curio; examining how one woman has coped with a painful divorce. It reminded me of Alan Partridge – which in my opinion is one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on any film, fictional or otherwise.

Last up was a film called ‘Lift’, introduced by its director Marc Isaacs. Check out the trailer below.

A wonderfully simple concept; Isaacs sat in a lift in a residential building for hours at a time over a couple of weeks. He then proceeded to hold impromptu interviews with the residents as they came and went. Over the course of the film you can’t help but become attached to these people and empathise with their seemingly mundane problems. Feeling clever, I thought to myself that the everyday problems the people in Lift went through was a neat juxtaposition to Simply Rob’s struggle with HIV and drug addiction. And on that note, I felt very clever, or something, and then I drank lots of beer.

All in all, I had a great night. Looking forward to the next one already.

This week we took Havana Film Club on a field trip to Doc Heads.

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