I’m really excited about my forth-coming trip to the Baltic Region and you’ll be the first to hear all about it LOL! Right now, I would like to focus on some British stuff.
Living in Berlin as an expat and as The British Berliner, means that I get to go to such fabulous activities and events such as:
As well as being invited to theatre productions such as THE WYLD at the Friedrichstadt-Palast or Breakin’ Mozart at the Wintergarten Varieté.
My garden. Notice the bunting in the background!
As a British expat in Berlin, I also get invited to British stuff such as:
The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. I was invited by the Visit Britain Media Team! I wasn’t able to go as I was in Thailand at the time but it’s the thought that counts LOL and happily since I had actually been to Glasgow previously, I was still able to write a little something! : Go North to Glasgow!
Complimentary tickets to watch The National Theatre Live worldwide productions such as Shakespeare’s King Lear or Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein performed beautifully by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller!
Royal Ascot.
As a British expat, I also get invited to the British Embassy for “cheese and wine,” “a few drinks,” A Royal Ascot celebration aka horse-riding. Since it was official Embassy event we all had to observe protocol and tradition with the ladies wearing formal daywear and a hat if you’re sitting near the Queen, and a hat, headpiece or fascinator if you’re further away. As for gentlemen (and you get to be a real lady and a real gentleman), they got to wear either a black or grey morning dress including a waistcoat and tie, a top hat, and black shoes. Nothing else would do!
As a British expat, I get invited to networking events at the Embassy, and other social engagements. I’ve always felt honoured in being so. In fact just last week, I got a telephone call from a local TV / radio station who wanted to interview me about the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Germany. Me! I was astounded! And yes, she’s coming. The Queen is coming to Germany. I’ve never met the Queen in real life before so I hope to change that this year LOL! : 10 Reasons to be an expat.
From time to time, I get asked to join a German TV programme such as Wissenshunger on the VOX TV station. I took part on the TV show to discuss After Dinner Mints. They gave me a DVD as a thank you. Meanwhile, some friends say that repeats are still on the German network but I’ve never seen it LOL! If you’re interested, that particular episode was called “After dinner mints der Englische Versuchung” or “WH Pfefferminztaler.” if you do see it anywhere, let me know!
And if I’m extremely lucky, I get a tiny little paragraph that I wrote for a European food blog picked up by the American publication of The Huffington Post. THE HUFFINGTON POST! Wow! Here it is : 25 Spring Travel Tips Across Europe.
In short, I’m quite privileged as it goes, so in January, one of my favourite German girlfriends sent me a message on Facebook and asked me if I was going to the Festival.
“What festival I asked?”
She sent me a link.
As soon as I saw it, I contacted the organiser, a German man called Jürgen Fehrmann.
The fact is, Berlin is Germany’s capital city and a lot of things tend to happen at the same time. A lot of things. In fact, that very week I had events to attend on Wednesday and Thursday. The Festival was to start on 15.01.15 which was a Thursday. I couldn’t make it on Thursday but I went on Friday and pretty much spent the whole weekend there!
I’m married and I have a child and activities and events have to be carefully organised so that everything fits nicely. Thankfully, “The Tall Young Gentleman” had gone camping that weekend with the Boy Scouts of America. Outdoors.
And The Music Producer had another album to produce, and so I was free to go where I wished. I wished to go to the British Shorts Film Festival.
WHAT IS THE BRITISH SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL?
The British Shorts Film Festival is a collection of 111 British and Irish short films shown within a span of five (5) days from the 15th – 19th January, 2015!
This was the 8th edition of the festival and even with the crisp, cold January weather, the British Shorts has evolved to become a true international audience festival with one of the most interesting platforms for British and Irish short films, outside the UK and Ireland.
The Brain Hack.
WHO IS THE BRITISH SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL FOR?
Well, this film festival is for established film-makers, promising newcomers, talented film students, and anybody else who has an interest in the making of short films. Indeed, the likes of Judi Dench (James Bond – 007), Michael Fassbender (The X.Men), and Martin Freeman (Sherlock Holmes (BBC) & The Hobbit) have all appeared in previous festival films.
It doesn’t matter if you have a large budget, a low budget, or no budget at all (like we had LOL!). At the end of the festival ANYONE can present a film to be judged by a respected jury, as well as the audience.
Gulp!
The Bigger Picture.
BUT WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?
Well, the film screenings have the following categories:
Comedy.
Drama & Thriller.
Animation & Experimental.
Horror.
Music Videos.
Documentary.
Retrospective: “Reeling Back.” The very first (1st) British silent cinema film, accompanied by a new live score by Dirk Markham.
Special Screening, curated by Directors Notes. Followed by a Q+A with Rob Munday (Directors Notes).
OMP – Orchestre Miniature in the Park.
We live in Berlin.
Berlin is an exciting city filled with young inspiring talent so of course, there were other interesting and exciting events and items such as:
A free festival workshop & a 48-hour film project.
Concerts & Parties which were either free entrance or a small token of about €5.00 and you got a glass of champagne included too!
Exhibitions.
Talks with film-makers.
An an Open Screening for ANY short film.
WHERE DOES THE BRITISH SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL TAKE PLACE?
This is the 8th year and the festival always takes place at the home base cinema called Sputnik Kino in the suburb of Kreuzberg, with some screenings taking place at the Badehaus Szimpla, Acudkino, and Filmkunst 66.
Oh, I remember the Sputnik Kino!
When I first came to visit Berlin in the 90’s, my German boyfriend lived in Kreuzberg and told me about this particular cinema. I like artists. What can I say!
Anyway, in those days, this cinema was not as comfortable as it is now.
Oh dear me no.
Seats made from brick!
The seats were made of bricks! Yes, you heard me.
Bricks!
In Germany, you can take bottles of beer and glasses of wine into the screening with you.
Well, on this occasion, a long time ago. In the 90’s. The audience were a little upset about the film they were watching, and began to shout and throw bottles all about and at the big screen.
We got out of there pronto!
Cue 15 years later.
More bricks. With available cushions if needed!
The seats are still made of bricks but now have soft cushions to lean on LOL!
And you can still take your drinks in with you and the clientele has changed, so nobody throws glasses and bottles about.
We’re far too artistic for that!
The Sputnik Kino has a lovely reputation of supporting aspiring independent film-makers and once a month, every third (3rd) Wednesday, has an Open Screening. This Open Screening allows film-makers to show their movies to a live audience, and is in both English and German.
No appointments are necessary, no application forms, no testings made, it doesn’t have to be “finished,” any language is accepted, no previous qualifications necessary.
It’s a forum whereby you can “test” your film, and a live audience can ask questions, make comments, positively criticise or praise your film.
The requirements?
Not more than 25 minutes. And members of the public are the judges of the film.
Cost?
Absolutely nothing! For both the film-makers and the audience!
I’M INTERESTED IN FILMS BUT I’M NOT A FILM-MAKER.
I’m not a film-maker either LOL however, I do love British films.
I saw various clips of film between 2 and 30 minutes. Most were really interesting and clever, and some were downright weird, but I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see them!
I watched a whole host of Documentary Specials and also short Animation Films after which I dragged myself home in the wee hours of 2:00!
Eleanor Morton and her “Lollipop” stand-up show.
The performances were completely packed out, showing British and Irish talent in a Berlin setting.
I also watched a few live performances and a live stand up comedy show by the Scottish Variety Award nominated newcomer Eleanor Morton and her “Lollipop” stand-up show. She’s hilarious by the way and a right laugh!
Phantom Limb.
CAN YOU MAKE A FILM YOURSELF?
You certainly can!
The attraction of British films for an international crowd is either historical drama such as Downton Abbey, The King’s Speech, and Titanic or gritty down-to-earth films such as Trainspotting, Billy Elliot, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
I like British films because of the grit as I do Berlin films, such as Lola Rent and Goodbye Lenin.
Boy and Bicycle by Ridley Scott introducing Tony Scott.
At the British Shorts Film Festival, we even got to watch the very first film that Ridley Scott ever made with his younger brother Tony Scott riding on a bicycle somewhere outside Durham, I think. The film was black and white and was called Boy and Bicycle.
Lassenza.
At the film festival we booked into a workshop on film-making!
I actually went for the fun of it and to see what it was all about but my German girlfriend actually wanted to learn some movie-making techniques, and we eventually ended up making a 5 minute movie which we had to submit for film-making criticism!
We felt like this young man called Mohammed – in this film!
OMG!
We only had 48 hours to make it and I perked up I can tell you! We spent 48 hours wandering the streets of Berlin for inspiration in the German cold of January.
And then we made the film.
It’s out and it was judged. Apparently, it was OK but I can’t tell you where it is, as it’s enormously raw.
We’re actually thinking of editing it properly and showcasing it as her film portfolio and perhaps mine too. It’s arty and a far-cry from the subject matter of my blog, but you can never have too many skills LOL!
I mentioned this to a British blogger who asked whether I would share it with you all.
Ha! Ha! No chance!
The People’s Choice Award.
DO I NEED TO UNDERSTAND GERMAN TO PARTICIPATE?
Nope!
All literature and instruction is in both German and English. Being that it’s a British & Irish Film Festival, the films are of course, in English!
Exchange And Mart.
MY VERDICT?
Lots of fun and learning and a really good project!
At a time when large budgets and big stars are the norm, it’s quite nice to see, support, and encourage a non-profit film-making project.
For more information about Open Screenings. Please contact: Sputnik Kino.
Me relaxing at the Berlin Music Video Awards, 2014.
This article is not sponsored although I received complimentary tickets, all opinions and the film that I made are my very own!
I have so much to share with you.
In the next few months, I’ll be travelling to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.
International Games Week Berlin 2015 is a leading cross-industry communication and networking platform for games businesss, development and culture, and will be taking place between April 21-26, 2015.
I’ll be going to TBEX Europe (Travel Bloggers Exchange) an International Networking Conference, for the first time! It’ll be taking place in Costa Brava, Catalunya, Spain from 30.04.15 – 02.05.15.
As usual, you can also follow me via daily tweets and pictures on Twitter & FB!
If you’re not in Berlin in the Spring, you must be mad!
March & April are going to be exciting.
Watch this space!
Waving the flag of Britishness!
Have you ever been to the British Shorts film Festival? Do you like British films?
See you in Berlin.
If you like this post or if you have any questions send me a tweet, talk to me on Facebook, find me on Linkedin, make a comment below, or send me an Email: victoria@thebritishberliner.com
14 Comments on “The British Shorts Film Festival might not be a Ridley Scott film, although actually it was!”
You are a busy gal! So cool! All of it! I miss living in a city just for the possibility of doing things like this. Island life is amazing, but can be lacking in artistic venues and shows 🙂
Thank you Jenny! I know how lucky I am living in the capital city. You’re living the dream being on a Thai island but I’d agree with you, cooler entertainment is rather limited LOL! However, at least it’s Thailand right. Everyone loves Thailand. 🙂
Sometimes you’ve got to look for your niche and where you think you could take the market. Being British gives me an edge in Berlin as everyone is interested in what we think! Why not do the same? There must be loads going on. Walk around, look a little deeper. Write about Thai people, culture, food, weather, transport, sport, tourist activities, what it’s like as an American living in Thailand. Experts say write about what your readers want but you don’t have to do what everyone says. Do what you feel. I would say that write about what YOU want. You’ll find that in many cases, your readers and yourself are very similar! That way, you won’t get bored or wonder what to write about.
In my case, everything I go for is what I usually go for e.g. films, theatre, culture, art, fashion, travel, rivers, Berlin, Britain, etc. And also, I only write once a week so that I can spread everything out LOL!
Remember, have fun with your blog. 🙂
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Ah yes, the perks of having a blog that gets noticed and being invited to all kinds of events. It’s pretty cool.
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I'm a British girl from Manchester living in Berlin with my German husband and my half British – half German son.
My blog is a lifestyle expat travel blog and puts a focus on my promotion of culture, history, travels around the world, Europe, Brexit, the Royal Family, British-German life and being British in Berlin - I am The British Berliner!
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Victoria Ade-Genschow: The British Berliner – British Shorts Film Festival – University of Bedfordshire, UK
An interview with Victoria Ade-Genschow: The British Berliner – Travel Massive at ITB Berlin
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You are a busy gal! So cool! All of it! I miss living in a city just for the possibility of doing things like this. Island life is amazing, but can be lacking in artistic venues and shows 🙂
Thank you Jenny! I know how lucky I am living in the capital city. You’re living the dream being on a Thai island but I’d agree with you, cooler entertainment is rather limited LOL! However, at least it’s Thailand right. Everyone loves Thailand. 🙂
So true. 🙂
Sometimes you’ve got to look for your niche and where you think you could take the market. Being British gives me an edge in Berlin as everyone is interested in what we think! Why not do the same? There must be loads going on. Walk around, look a little deeper. Write about Thai people, culture, food, weather, transport, sport, tourist activities, what it’s like as an American living in Thailand. Experts say write about what your readers want but you don’t have to do what everyone says. Do what you feel. I would say that write about what YOU want. You’ll find that in many cases, your readers and yourself are very similar! That way, you won’t get bored or wonder what to write about.
In my case, everything I go for is what I usually go for e.g. films, theatre, culture, art, fashion, travel, rivers, Berlin, Britain, etc. And also, I only write once a week so that I can spread everything out LOL!
Remember, have fun with your blog. 🙂
Ah yes, the perks of having a blog that gets noticed and being invited to all kinds of events. It’s pretty cool.
Absolutely Phil! I’m not going to deny it in the least. Now if only New York were just around the corner, wouldn’t that be grand LOL!
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