The first is the Hastings Film Challenge.
Now in its 4th year, The Hastings Film Challenge is an exciting opportunity for everyone (of any age or background) to make a short 3minute film against the clock in an atmosphere of fun, creativity and good-hearted competition. You have 5 days to script, film, edit, and master onto Mini DV or DVD a completed film.
Participants are arbitrarily given a title, a genre and a prop which has to be part of the film you make. There were about 24 entrants this year. The Grumpy Vegan was part of Tim and Georgia’s team. Our designated title was “The Inebriate.” The obligatory prop was a table. It had to be a romantic comedy. Our efforts started late Saturday afternoon in our local, The Jenny Lind. After much throwing around (and away) ideas we settled on the concept of a woman who speed dates in a pub. She meets a series of awful men and gets drunk in the process. She eventually collapses on the pub table (aka the obligatory prop). She starts the film by listing the qualities she looks for in men: dependable, reliable, sturdy and so on. The film concludes with her in bed, with a glass of wine and looking very happy. The camera pans across to reveal she’s in bed with the pub table! Yes, we knew it’s stupid. But you try making a 3-minute romantic comedy in less than five days featuring a table!
Last night the Grumpy Vegan watched more the 20 submissions at the Hastings Film Challenge awards ceremony. The range and creativity were amazing. Our team won “Best Prop” prize. Other prize winners were deserving. Above all, we had tremendous fun and hadn’t laughed so much in ages doing it.
The other festival is Coastal Currents which takes place in Hastings, Rye and Bexhill.
This year’s festival focuses on contemporary visual arts with the theme ‘hidden Hastings’, revealing new and exciting work by local artists, in unusual locations all over the town. There are a wide range of events and activities to appeal to all – from families, community groups, and visitors to the area; to arts enthusiasts and specialists. These include exhibitions; film screenings; open-air theatre productions; art trails; sonic art and live music; storytelling and spoken word evenings; an art car boot sale; book art bibliotherapy and even guerrilla gardening. Many of these are free of charge. In addition, Coastal Currents provides an opportunity for local artists to create bold and innovative new work, visible to a large audience; and the chance to critically engage with other artists and organisations through a carefully coordinated series of free talks and events. It is through the commitment of artists that this festival has become the popular and successful event it is today.
The diversity and number of events taking place is incredible. One taking place near the Grumpy Vegan’s seat is “Bread Bird Houses” by Nathan Burr.
Burr’s intervention among the trees in Hastings Memorial Garden is “a desire to overcome alienation in an ecstatic embracing of nature and community”. The bird houses are literally fabricated from loaves of bread and bread sticks. Bread Birdhouses can be used by the bird population as a home or a food source. The latter choice suggests a Hansel and Gretel like scenario with the birds eating themselves out of house and home. Members of the public who discover Burr’s project are transformed into amateur twitchers and will walk away with a heightened awareness of the local feathered wildlife.
Here’s a link to Nathan’s Web site to learn more.
