EIFF diary episode five

More of the Three Miles North of Molkom team and some One Minute Wonders.

by Amber Wilkinson

Forget Wimbledon - answerphone tennis is the sport of the future and Three Miles North Of Molkom's director and I have been playing a game of it all week. After five sets and a tiebreak we had finally arranged to get together at 11.15 this morning, but as I get on the bus I realise there's a message. It's Rob - he and Carinna can't locate Nick - the Aussie 'star' of their documentary. They're going to go over to his hostel and try to find him, though, so we plan to meet up in the afternoon. Luck is on our side, for once, however, and five minutes later I get another call. Nick is already in the Film Festival delegate centre and they'll meet us there.

I find him sitting on a sofa. He apologises for not having a mobile phone and I suggest maybe all the "hippy tree-hugging", as he terms it, has rubbed off on him and he has become counter-culture. He gives me the sort of look that would kill a spider at 10 paces, then breaks into a smile. Phew, thank goodness he has a sense of humour in real life as well as on film. We have a natter for a bit. He tells me he "isn't supposed to speak to journalists without Rob and Carinna," but it's just as likely he's teasing me as telling the truth. One thing that definitely comes across, though, is that he feels the directors really did capture the spirit of the No Mind Festival, in all its weird and wonderful glory.

Rob and Carinna finally manage to battle their way through the roadworks and we have a fairly long chat about the film, ranging from the budget - it was shot for £2,500 (although, of course, the costs of getting it shown have risen exponentially since) - the weird 'meeting' they had to get the go ahead from the festival organisers and their optimism about securing distribution. Nick acts like a colour commentator at a footy match, chiming in with anecdotes and jokes periodically. As soon as the festival finishes, we'll bring you their interview in full.

The only other thing I managed to do today was to catch the One Minute Wonders screening - but it was well worth it. This national film competition, run by Metro Ecosse and The List, aimed to find some new talent in the Scottish film industry. Five scripts out of 100 entries were chosen to be made, all incorporating the theme - Wild!

They are going to be travelling around several European Film Festivals and our Continental neighbours are in for a treat, since all five winners are small but perfectly formed.

Emily Monroe's Training kicks off the showcase and is a model of economy. An army chief shouts at a trainee who is thrusting a gun in the direction of a kid in a lion mask. It's well shot, thought-provoking and beautifully acted by Sean Hay in the central role.

Next up is Barry Patton's Call Of The Wild - a boy meets girl, boy loses girl story which reminds me a lot in tone of German short Boy Lost Girl - except it tells a similar story in an incredibly tight runtime.

If Call Of The Wild is about young love, I Was A Honky Lover takes us to the other end of the age spectrum. Alison Peebles' film is gleefully playful as a woman is remembered by a man at her funeral, her words about her sexual appetite playing out as the camera roves over the tea table at the wake. It has some beautiful attention to detail, and leaves you - like the central protagonist - wanting more.

There's little love lost in Brian Ross's Wild Things - a tale of a man with a butterfly obsession (although thankfully none were harmed in the making of the film). Again there is an economy to the filming, with action speaking louder than words. Particular credit should go to the great sound design that heightens the point of the film.

Rounding out the set is the blackly comic Life Gets You Down, about a con who's starting to lose it. The con is played by Jim Cunningham, who should be congratulated for his full-on performance.

All in all a top drawer set of shorts. But you can make your own mind up, since they're all available to view online here.

The next set of short film winners - this time running at three minutes each - goes into production in July, for screening from September.

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