BritDoc was it’s usual charming parade of projects and people enthusiastically exchanging on the lacquered lawns. There were some differences from last year – notably the new short and good pitches, and way the international docs programming had been handed over to directors of other major festivals, and the increase in attendees. For me the difference each year is the changing guise by which I actually attend BritDoc. Year 1 I was a red t-shirted volunteer, in 2007 a delegate, and this one I sat on a jury, for the short film competition.
The other judges in this category were Tanya Seghatchian, who heads the UK Film Council’s development fund, Sarfaz Manzoor, a journalist and ex-documentary commissioner, and Alex James from a band called Blur, as he informed us, who also brought along his heavily pregnant wife Claire to share his vote. We discussed the 5 films on the Friday, and without a doubt Eva Weber’s Solitary Life of Cranes had all our hands. Initially a set a 3 Minute Wonders about crane drives and solitude, Eva fell in love with her subject and this hidden world looming over all heads. She continued filming, and after 2 years the fanatic perfectionist almost has a cut she’s pleased with.
The beauty of this utterly crafted film is how it so wholly transports you to a different physical and psychological space, which is normally inhabited by men directly above your own head. The sound is spectacular. The way vibrations travel through the metal arches is immediately evident, and detail in matching sounds spied from above is only a minor aspect of how the sound scape works so well.
A very complimentary article about the film appeared in The Observer if you want to read more, and I’m going to get my hands on one of the original short crane films to put up on site soon. Big congrats Eva Weber, and enjoy your prize. (Passat sponsor docs at Channel 4, and were especially keen to help a new talent in a practical way. So, after a little chat they decided to present the winner of the short film comp with a camera, and having asked about I found people were wanting the new new HD Panasonic camera, so that is what was got. If you want to win some equipment, we’re soon to be launching another competition with Passat, where there is £5k of equipment on offer.)
