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Festival Watch
Matthew Bell gets a taste of la historia del cine
as he reports from Girona’s Museu del Cinema
as he reports from Girona’s Museu del Cinema
The medieval Catalunyan town of Girona is rich in museums celebrating its past glories. But as well as its art, archeology and Arab baths, it also boasts a museum devoted to that most modern of arts, the cinema.
The Museu del Cinema houses the collection of Catalan film enthusiast Tomàs Mallol, who built up a vast collection of pre-cinema objects and early cinematographic equipment during his lifetime.
The permanent exhibition takes the visitor through 500 years of pre-cinema history, revealing how film’s forefathers managed to
create spectacular images
from primitive optical equipment.
create spectacular images
from primitive optical equipment.
It then shows how 19th century photographers and chemists were able to harness new scientific knowledge to record the moving image and pave the way for the movie pioneers of the early 20th century.
Films buffs can see the camera obscura, early forms of photography such as the daguerreotype and the Lumière brothers’ camera. There are clips from the work of Georges Méliès, the father of modern visual effects.
A sequence from his 1902 sci-fi film Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon) includes the celebrated shot of a space capsule being shot from a cannon into the eye of the man on the moon.
For the more technically minded, the scientific leaps that made modern film possible are explained.
But the museum is more than
Museum Watch
a treasure trove for the cineaste. Kids can watch Chinese shadow puppetry and magic lantern
shows, and play with a zoetrope.
shows, and play with a zoetrope.
Born in Sant Pere
Pescador in 1923, Tomàs Mallol was bitten by the movie bug when travelling film shows visited his Catalan village.
Pescador in 1923, Tomàs Mallol was bitten by the movie bug when travelling film shows visited his Catalan village.
He built his first projector at the age of eight – which can be seen in the museum – and in adult life became an accomplished amateur film-maker.
His private collection was acquired by Girona’s town council in 1994.
The 20,000 pieces include cinema equipment, films, photos, magazines and books, some 1,500 of
which are on permanent display.
which are on permanent display.
Temporary exhibitions – the one last summer was devoted to Hollywood screen lovers – make
it well worth repeated visits.
it well worth repeated visits.
Museu del Cinema: Tomàs Mallol Collection
Calle Sèquia 1, 17001 Girona, Spain.
Entrance: €5, under-16s, free.
October to April: Tuesday to Friday: 10 am to 6 pm.Saturday: 10am to 8pm. Sunday and public holiday Mondays: 11am. to 3pm. May to September: Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 8pm. Sunday and public holiday Mondays: 11am to 3pm (8pm in July and August). http://www.museudelcinema.org
Calle Sèquia 1, 17001 Girona, Spain.
Entrance: €5, under-
MOVIE MAGIC: The Museu
del Cinema in Girona
del Cinema in Girona
Film Northants is celebrating its fifth birthday by inviting every aspiring director to submit a five-minute movie filmed in the county. All entrants will be in with a chance of seeing their short on the same cinema screen as their favourite Hollywood blockbusters.
Lily Canter, chair of the festival committee, said: “We are anticipating a better-than-ever standard of entry this year, which has consistently been the case since we first held the competition.
“We’re delighted that Film Northants has
caught the imagination of film makers in the county and can’t wait to see what they’ve got for us.”
Film Northants gives anyone in Northamptonshire the chance to have their movie shortlisted for the final and be shown at at a red carpet awards evening in September. There are several awards – Judges’ Choice, Public Vote and Under 16s – with prizes including trophies, free studio hire, a place on a film course, vouchers and movie merchandise.
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The jury for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or has hit back at claims of sexism prompted by the lack of female film-makers in the running.
Critics have complained that all 22 films in the contest have been directed by men, many past winners of the award.
In an open letter released earlier this week, a group of French film-makers accused the organisers of failing to recognise the achievements of female directors.
But British jury member Andrea Arnold, said: "I would absolutely hate it if my film was selected because I was a woman. I would only want my film to be selected for the right reasons."
Last year four women – including Scotland's Lynne Ramsay, director of We Need to Talk About Kevin – had films in contention for the prestigious prize.
Arnold, director of the recent screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights, said the lack of women in competition this year reflected the industry as a whole.
"Last year was obviously a good year," she said. "I was asked this earlier and it's true the world over – in the world of film
there are just not many woman film directors. I guess Cannes is a small pocket that represents how it is out there in the world and that's a great pity, a great disappointment."
Led by Italian director Nanni Moretti and including fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, American director Alexander Payne and Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, the jury will announce the winner of the Palme d’Or on May 27.
German actress Diane Kruger, known for such films as Inglourious Basterds and Troy, is one of four women on the jury. Her film Lily Sometimes closed the Director's Fortnight - a special section of the festival that shows features, documentaries and short films - in 2010.
It was directed by a woman, Fabienne Berthaud, prompting Kruger to insist: "My impression is that women are made welcome in Cannes."
Other female film-makers at Cannes this year include Haiffa al Mansour, the first Saudi Arabian woman director.
France's Catherine Corsini and Sylvie Verheyde are competing in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.
Cannes jury hits
back at ‘sexism’ claim by critics
back at ‘sexism’ claim by critics
William Friedkin’s blackly comic noir thriller Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church, will have its UK premiere at the opening gala film at the 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 20. The closing gala film will be the European premiere of Disney-Pixar’s Brave on June 30.
Killer Joe to open Edinburgh