Cinema with a difference at Herbert Ganado Gardens

Highlights of the programme include Kenneth Scicluna’s Daqqet Ix-Xita (Plangent Rain), and a selection of films to be premiered, specially commissioned by Scottish filmmakers Cara Connolly and Martin Clark.

Seven independent filmmakers were asked to make a short film at the Savoy Complex in Glasgow; several of them will also be attending the festival. A group of films set in Glasgow’s celebrated Savoy Centre curated by Cara Connolly and Martin Clark, will be shown on Neck of the Woods screen on July 30.

Cara Connolly and Martin Clark met in their early twenties in Glasgow, Scotland. They both trained as fine art photographers at Glasgow School of Art, and began their careers making video art, which they found fulfilling yet lonely. Now they make documentaries together, and aren’t lonely anymore.

Martin an Cara have very different personalities – extrovert and introvert. Through their filmmaking Martin is learning to listen, and Cara is learning how to talk to strangers. What they have in common is that they see the same things. With the Savoy Centre Films we are making for Kinemastik, we wanted to see how different artists and filmmakers responded to this kaleidoscopic indoor market.

Many small parts make the whole of the Savoy Centre, and we wanted to do the same thing with this ongoing collection of films. Bare Bones artists and writers have put together a show reel of independent shorts that will be showing on the Neck of the woods select screen.

Works by Chris Bianchi, Harry Malt, Alex Sebley, Alex Turvey, Bill Bragg, Daniel McKernan, Dave Prosser, Focus Creeps, Guy Verge Wallace, Hayley Morris, James Wignall, Matt Lambert. Bare Bones is a quarterly publication, in full-colour newspaper format, funded entirely by its contributors. It is distributed free in the UK.

Phil Adams, veteran DJ with Rough Trade, and DJ Capitol K, will be playing at the festival party, which will be taking place on the Saturday night at Torri Mamo, Marsascala from 23:00. Kinemastik’s annual Children’s Film Festival, Little Rock People, will be held on July 31 at 19:00 at Herbert Ganado Gardens.

Prior to the festival, a two day workshop for children (aged 4-12yrs) will be held at St James Cavalier, Valletta, and guided by Joanna Tabone, Adrian Abela, Aidan Corlett, Sean Decelis and St James Kids Club team, lead by Amanda Palmieri. Titled ‘Silhouette Dreaming’, the workshop will be tackling mostly shadow puppet theatre and stop-motion animation. A film made at the workshop will be screened at the Little Rock People festival on July 31.

Bookings (maximum 40 children) can be made through St James Cavalier and [email protected]. The KISFF is supported by The Malta Film Commission, The British Council, Malta Contemporary Art, Farsons, Marks + Spencer and ALDO. Tickets are at €7 for one night or €12 for two nights. Tickets are available from St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity or can be booked by calling 99 242815.

For more information and the full programme log on to: www.kinemastik.org.