The screening of Mona Achache‘s Le Hérisson (The Hedgehog) was no doubt bolstered by the presence of one of the film’s lead actors Togo Igawa, who was in attendance throughout the weekend and was such a humble and polite individual.

The film, an adaptation of Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, is an extremely sophisticated and philosophical look at eleven year old Paloma’s (Garance Le Guillermic) attempts to make sense of the adult world in which she is about to enter. We are introduced to the film via Paloma’s video diary, wherein she will document her life surrounded by ‘rich’ people until her next birthday, at which point she will kill herself.

As instantly alarming as this premise is, the film exudes such a warm heartedness and sincerity that the trio of superb lead characters cannot fail to win you over. The temporal route to Paloma’s birthday-suicide is truncated by the intertwined, burgeoning relationships with two other characters: Renée (Josiane Balasko), the janitor, who tends to the ‘rich’ tenants – that are so despised by Paloma – is the metaphoric ‘hedgehog’ of the title. Then there is the exotic, newly arrived neighbour Kakuro Ozu (the aforementioned Togo Igawa).

Amongst these emotional connections, the film is a love letter to creativity and the creatively minded, with not only the film itself being a masterpiece, and the source material on which it is adapted a mentally and philosophically creative novel, but all characters that we are urged to like celebrate/practice the arts in some way or another. There’s Paloma’s transfixing sketches and her passion for filmmaking, along with the many literary and cinematic references scattered throughout the film.

It wasn’t only I that was charmed by this near perfect piece of cinema, as the average rating from the attendees came out at 96.7% (calculated from 30 audience ratings out of 5).

Sound it Out (Jeanie Finlay, 2011) – Rating: 4.5556

We cannot express how delighted we are that this film is our most highly rated film to date!!! Even narrowly surpassing the almost infallible La Haine, which we screened last September. Below I have inserted the programme notes that were given out on the evening; the reason we think it’s such an important film.

A film that wholly embodies the ethos of Minicine and the community film society movement. We’re at an interesting societal juncture at the minute, a juncture that is seeing the rise in the orchestrating ability of passion over profit-for-profit’s sake. Not to go crazy with utopian fervour or anything, not to claim that faceless and soulless multinationals are going to come crumbling down tomorrow, but since the financial meltdown of 2008 put major questions over the way capitalism has functioned since the ‘big bang’ of the Thatcher-Reagan era, business models are being rethought. Where the only things that matter are numbers and profits, it seems easy to pull the plug. Whereas for the thousands out there who rightly see profit as something that makes your passionate endeavour sustainable, rather than the end in and of itself, are persevering through hardships with some positive consequences. You’ll see this in Sound It Out, where we see that Zavvi, an enormous high street name goes bust, while this independent retail outlet keeps going. This is then mirrored in an extra-textual context via the production itself, a flagship example of the possibilities of crowd-source funding, bypassing traditional funding routes and in the process maintaining independence and clarity of vision. It’s not an overnight change, and doesn’t account for the many independent retailers that have suffered in recent years, but it is a gradual paradigm-shift which we are only seeing the beginning of.

Check out our member Steve Firth’s review on our site here and feel free to add to the discussion.

Clock DJ (David Salaices, 2010) – Rating: 3.1111

Above a three is a solid result by my books for a piece of experimental work like this. It’s such a pleasant burst of visual and audio jiggery-pokery.

Check it out here

The Archive (Sean Dunn, 2009) – Rating: 4.0556

Just as Sound it Out is our highest ranking feature film, The Archive almost became our highest ranking short film, pipped only by last year’s screening of the short taken from the beginning of the upcoming We Are Poets documentary. If you haven’t seen The Archive check it out below. But more importantly, why not turn that admiration into some sure-to-be appreciated financial support to Sean Dunn’s endeavours to create a feature length documentary. How fitting this would be considering the success story that Sound it Out has been for the concept of crowd-sourced funding.

Check out the whole project here

And watch the Archive right now

I Need Nothing: A Useless Odyssey (Caoceito and Burdman, 2011) – Rating: 3.6667

I am intrigued about how many people had this song ringing round their heads the day after the screening, but hopefully you also had the wonderful choreography and graft that will have gone into producing the video too.

You can watch it here

Don’t forget our next film is The Hedgehog on Thursday 28th of June. Details can be found here and tickets are open to members NOW. They will open to the general public on Friday.

Northern Soul: A review of Sound it Out by Steve Firth

Jeanie Finlay’s documentary Sound It Out goes beyond chronicling the times of Teesside’s last independent record shop. The film is a piece of social realism about life in Northern England, 2011’s contribution to a back catalogue that includes Billy Lair, The Full Monty, Billy Eliot, and This Sporting Life.

Sound It Out is different though, the people are real. They live in Stockton, a town with mass unemployment, high crime and little else of note. It’s a difficult place to survive in, an even harder place to get out of. Some have found a temporary haven: music and the Sound It Out record shop.

Sound It Out is a cross between a community centre, a bring-and-buy shop and a psychiatric clinic. You go there not only to buy records, but also to meet your social and spiritual needs. The owner, Tom, has probably known you for years. You’ve most likely bought all your records from him. He might even occasionally send you a text message letting you know he has something that may interest you. He knows your musical tastes better than you do. Sound It Out is sanctuary in a cultural wasteland.

Tom claims 99% of people who frequent the shop are male, suggesting the obsessive nature of record collecting and the need for escapism are masculine traits. Well, what his customers lack in gender diversity they more than make up for in age range and musical taste. From youthful metalheads with a detailed knowledge of obscure genres to grandfathers with a penchant for 80s soft rock, Sound It Out welcome all kinds.

Stocked full of vinyl the shop is an anachronism. That the store thrives in an age of homogeneous commercialism is a significant achievement. David, Tom’s assistant, is especially aware of how callous the business world can be. Sacked, along with all other Zavvi employees, by money-orientated big business he’s revelling in his new environment, showing how a love of music, heart, and dedication to customers has made Sound It Out independent, separate and unique.

At first you laugh at Sound It Out’s strange clientele. Yes, at them, not with them. They are misfits, sad in modern meaning of the word, a jumble of life’s unfortunates, their only means of expression their all-consuming infatuation with music. The critical decisions in their lives appear to be, ‘What filing system do I use to make my records easy to find?’ and ‘Where can I put my ever-growing collection?’

One of the strengths of Finlay’s film is how it allows the viewer to jump to certain conclusions a character, and then slowly reveals their human side, showing the real person. Audience misconceptions are gracefully corrected.

The best example of this is Shane, the undisputed star of Sound It Out, a man who on the face of it appears to be the stereotypical, not very bright, middle-aged rocker. He’s seen Status Quo, according to his own estimate, “350-400 times”, says he prepares for a Quo gig by listening continuously for a week to the band’s music, and claims “there’s nothing like six nights in a row of Quo” before adding “it takes a fortnight to recover, though.” When he announces he wants to be buried in a coffin made of his records’ melted vinyl you think it’s hilarious.

You don’t think it’s hilarious when he describes his life and how difficult it’s been. Or when he talks about his years at a ‘special’ school, or when refers to himself as a ‘spacka’, or when he tells you about his job as a shelf-stacker on the permanent night shift. He’s now sad in the traditional sense of the word, you feel sorry for him, you think no one should have a life like his. You’re happy he’s found something to cling on to, something that gives his life meaning, something to take him away, however briefly, from a world of prejudice. It’s irrelevant Status Quo have rescued him, that he has a release is what’s important.

Shane is a hero.

And there are numerous other passionate, honest, likeable people in Sound It Out. The auditor with his strict indexing system (alphabetical, then chronological), the twentysomethings DJing in a shed, and the rappers specialising in the geographically-challenged and little-known genre of Mákina, all add to the film’s warmth and humanity. While society has shamefully failed to give them any hope, they’ve got on with the lives and found a positive outlet to express themselves. Sound It Out is their triumph.

Although the film has some unquestionably funny sections, it would take a hard heart to watch Sound It Out and not be moved. People’s daily struggles are ever-present throughout the film. Whether it’s customers trying to sell their record collection for a few quid, people who can’t afford to buy an album having it “bagged” for future collection, or the seeming inevitability of each generation disappearing into the unholy triangle of unemployment, alcoholism and criminality, Finlay shows it all. We should be grateful to her.

The director allows the film to speak for itself. The cinematography captures the town’s bleakness without being overwhelming, and the characters tell us all we need to know about their lives. The simple camera work gives a feeling of freshness, and whether capturing a live band attempting to be ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ in the far-too-small shop, customers talking to Finlay on camera, or people speaking in their front rooms, there’s a warmth and intimacy to the film-making. Such is the success of this approach that the film’s soundtrack is less conspicuous than you’d expect, supporting the characters and the visual experience rather than dominating proceedings.

With its often amusing cast Sound It Out begins as a comedy, and gradually turns into a tragedy. It shows people in the North of England who, for reasons beyond their control, have to endure dead-end lives with music their sole pleasure. Stockton may be, as one teenager put it, “Where I feel safe” but it’s also claustrophobic, desperate and decaying. Sound It Out is more Kes than High Fidelity and shows us the cost of prioritising uniformity over independence, the price of placing commercialism before caring, and the idiocy of loving profit not people.

If you’re a music fan, believe there’s more to life than putting money in the coffers of multi-national companies, or have an independent streak and like to see David put one over Goliath Sound It Out is recommended. If you care about people it’s essential viewing.

If you like what you see in the descriptions below then membership would certainly be something that you should consider. For all screenings after June’s, the period of member-exclusivity on the purchase of tickets will be extended, and at only £15 for the year, with FREE admission to your first screening as a member, and reduced ticket price from £6 to £4, you make your money back – and then some – in no time. Plus you get to be part of a lovely bunch of like-minded cinephiles.

If you’re interested you can buy your membership immediately here. If you want more info, feel free to email minicine@live.co.uk

Tickets are open to members for next month’s screening right now! They will open to non-members next Friday, so if you’re not a member you will get a chance to pick up the remaining tickets then… if there are any left!

As always, along with all these feature screenings there will be a collection of short films for your viewing pleasure. Also, wherever a film is not in English, it will contain English subtitles (this seems somewhat obvious but you’ll be surprised how many times we’re asked)

Thursday 28th June: The Hedgehog (Le Hérrison) 2009 – Mona Achache, France 2009

An extremely charming, sophisticated and philosophical look at eleven year old Paloma’s attempts to make sense of the adult world in which she is about to enter. Through her video diary, Paloma will document her life surrounded by ‘rich’ people until her next birthday, at which point she will kill herself. As instantly alarming as this premise is, the film exudes such a warm-heartedness and sincerity that Paloma, along with the characters she encounters en route to her suicide, cannot fail to win you over.

Members can buy tickets now by clicking here

Thursday 26th July: Battle of the Queens (Kampf Der Königinnen) – Nicolas Steiner, Germany 2011

The primary draw of this documentary about fighting cows in the Swiss Alps is the astonishing black and white cinematography. The breathtaking visuals complement the elegance with which these cows ‘fight’ – although that word could be easily interchangeable with ‘dance’. The highest respect, decency and delicacy is bestowed upon these competing animals, with injury the furthest thing from what is desired from their confrontations. The subject matter could lead one to expect a quite stuffy affair, revealing an out of date tradition. Yet this is not at all the case; people – young and old, male and female – travel for miles to turn these events into brimming spectacles.

When this film played its UK PREMIERE at the recent Bradford International Film Festival, it wasn’t only one of our Co-Director’s favourite of the whole festival, but various others’ favourite film that played too. You cannot see it anywhere else in the country and it’s an honour to have it as part of our lineup.

Thursday 23rd August: No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) – Bahman Ghobadi, Iran 2009

All throughout Tehran there are musicians striving to practice their art, record music and play live shows, yet in the context of the stringent restriction placed upon expression, this becomes viciously perilous. Ash and Negar, of the band Take it Easy Hospital, are determined to acquire the correct papers in order to leave Iran. Their journey to do so brings them into contact with many musicians, practising and playing in inventive spaces across Tehran. With all the musicians in the film being played by themselves, the film blurs the lines between fact and fiction. This is amplified in a meta-textual way by the symmetry between the peril these musicians face, and the peril that those making this actual film with no permit or legal permission also face.

Thursday 27th September: Dance to the Spirits (Dansa als esperits) – Ricardo Íscar, Spain, 2010

A documentary on traditional African medicine filmed in the heart of a Cameroonian village. Without being condescending, invasive or exploitative, the film showcases insightful and enlightening examples of the culture within this Cameroonian tribe. In addition to the fascinating medical practices, the entire approach to life and structure of meaning is truly eye opening. The film is far from an exoticised outside look, even subverting some reductive stereotyping. This is especially the case with the charismatic doctor himself, Mba Owona Pierre, who openly jokes about being referred to as a ‘witch doctor’ or ‘sorcerer’. He concedes that western/physical medicine has its place and that he often rigorously checks his patients pre-treatment, to see if they are affected by a ‘day-world sickness’ and could therefore be treated by the hospitals. If not, if they were suffering from an ‘Evu’ induced ‘night-world sickness’

Last Saturday was International Record Store Day, and to coincide with the celebrations we proudly announced that on May 24th we will be screening Jeanie Finlay’s SOUND IT OUT at Armley Mills’ Palace Picturehouse.

The film chronicles the day-to-day running of Sound It Out, the last remaining independent record store in Teesside, and showcases the stories of the shop’s shop’s staff and the most dedicated patrons, who recant tales of their love affair with music. Watch the trailer below.

This charming documentary is the embodiment of Miniciné’s ethos and was a hit at last year’s Leeds International Film Festival. Click here to see what our director Mike had to say about it when he saw it at last year’s British Federation of Film Societies’ annual conference.

Tickets now open to members

If you’re a member, you can buy your ticket right now by clicking here. Remember, as a member you can also reserve an additional +1 for a non-member. As tickets are only open to Minicine members at the minute, the best way to make sure you’re there is to check out what membership gets you here, and sign up.

If you want to catch the latest information, be sure to Follow us on Twitter, ‘Like’ the Facebook page or join the Facebook event for this screening here and e-mail minicine@live.co.uk with the subject MAILING LIST to be added to our e-mail distribution list.

Venue:

This screening will be at our usual home at the lovely Palace Picturehouse in Armley Mills. For more info on the venue and how to get there, see the website.

Laughter Lines is a 15-show festival that showcases some of the best up-and-coming com­edy talent around, alongside the most exciting and impressive headline acts in the country – all presented in some of the best venues Leeds has to offer.

For our part in the festival we will be screening World’s Greatest Dad (2009): A high school poetry teacher and single father discovers that the thing he covets most in life may not be what makes him truly happy in this pitch-black comedy directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, and starring Robin Williams.

Tickets for this screening are £5, get your tickets here.

This screening will be at our usual home at the lovely Palace Picturehouse in Armley Mills. For more info on the venue and how to get there, click here.

For more on what Laughter Lines have going on see their website here.

One sentence synopsis: Ash and his girlfriend Linda are on a ‘romantic’ cabin getaway when they find the recordings of Professor Raymond Knowby’s translations of the Book of the Dead, which when played, awakens ancient evils.

Possibly the most iconic and well known on our poll, the expressive camera direction, the memorable and quoteable lines, the gore-fest antics and slapstick comedy will all combine to make for a thrilling evening.

Enjoyed in the comfort of Glyde House’s inviting atmosphere, this will be a memorable evening of cine-fun, enjoyed out of the cinema context. The screen is big, the sound is grand, but the drinks don’t necessarily have to stop flowing when the film starts; whilst still being respectful to the audience, you can feel free to laugh, howl and scream, giving this evening that social atmosphere that can’t be attained in the traditional cinema setting.

Check out the trailer here

Get down early to have a chat with like-minded cinema fans, fantastic-film nuts and people out to simply do something a little different. There will be plenty of time to stick around after and soak in the bloody delights of this undoubted cult-classic.

The Bride of Vernon

Don’t forget that in addation to this main attraction, the evening also offers the opportunity to uncover some tremendous local talent, as we will be screening the Leeds produced stop-motion animated short The Bride of Vernon. See the trailer below for a teaser.

ONLY £5

Entry costs only £5 (£2.50 for Minicine members). Doors open at 6pm with the films due to start at 7pm. Hope to see you Wednesday.

Full details, venue information and any updates can be found at the Facebook event for the screening here or if you have any queries at all, please e-mail minicine@live.co.uk

Well we are very pleased to announce that this short film will be playing as an opener for our Mini-Bloodbath screening on Wednesday 4th April.

Further details on the event and venue can be found here, but for now just watch the trailer for this wonderful student production and be enticed to join us on Wednesday.

Cine-Polskie’s film programmer Adam Ryan has the following to say on the two films that have so far been announced.

The Saragossa Manuscript (Wojciech Has, 1968)

Due to the fact that our guest speaker will be offering an in depth talk on the day, and that the film’s frankly formidable reputation has – in all likelihood – preceded it, I will be brief.

The Saragossa Manuscript is undoubtedly one of Wojciech Has’s finest works. Using Jan Potocki’s novel The Manuscript Found at Saragossa as a palimpsest, it subverts the fantastic source material to create a wholly surrealist piece of cinema; his first exploration of the form that would reach its peak with The Hourglass Sanitorium (1973). It also signalled a move away from his more formal, melodramatic early work, such as Petla (1958), One Room Tenants (1960), and How to be Loved (1963), and a move towards the lavish indulgence of his middle and later period, characterised by films such as The Doll (1968) and The Trials of Balthazar Kober (1988). It is nonetheless a Has film through and through. Incorporating one of his signature motifs of a journey as the driving narrative force, it retains the key strengths of his earlier films in creating a consistently unique world, using close-up shots to endow inanimate objects with a potent – albeit at times ambiguous- relevance, fluid camera movements that add a haunting, poetic quality and a central character out-of-whack with his environment.

Of all the many big names that have expressed a love of this film, for me none are as impressive as Luis Bunuel. In his autobiography My Last Breath (1985) he names only a handful of films, and filmmakers for which he is partial; among these are The Bicycle Thieves, The Battleship Potemkin and, of course, The Saragossa Manuscript, which he goes on to claim he saw “a record breaking three times,” even going so far as to help arrange a distribution deal for the film in Mexico. The Milky Way (1969) is heavily indebted to it – both in narrative structure, tone and visual style – as are a number of his other late-period features.

If all this wasn’t tantalising enough, the copy of the film to be screened is a newly restored version revealed by ‘Kadr’ film studio in Poland earlier this year. The ideal ending to the day; this will enchant, mystify and down right delight you.

Night Train (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959)

Night Train straddles two distinct eras of Polish cinematic heritage: while it still has one foot in its ‘Polish School’ present, there is no doubt that this is a film looking to the future.

Along with Wojciech Has, Kawalerowicz was one of the first graduates of the Young Filmmakers School in Kraków, immediately after which he began to make Socialist Realist movies, in accordance with the enforced cultural policy at the time. Just as some of the finest examples of silent cinema were made in its twilight years, Kawalerowicz’s late Socialist Realist film Under the Phrygian Star (1954) is one of the finest examples of a soon-to-be-dead genre. After one foray into the exploration of the post-war condition so prevalent among the Polish School directors, The Real End to the Great War (1957), there was a marked shift in his directorial style. Perhaps best known for Mother Joan of the Angels (1961) – which took the Silver Palm at Cannes- it was in fact Night Train that really marked a new phase in Kawalerowicz’s artistic sensibility.

Formally innovative, psychologically gripping and controversially cosmopolitan, it can reasonably be considered a pre-runner to Roman Polanski’s debut feature Knife in the Water (1962), as well as the films of the loosely termed ‘Young Culture’ movement that dominated the ‘Third Polish Cinema’ of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Its pessimistic portrayal of human relationships, lucid Andrzej Trzaskowski jazz score and Hitchcockian overtones all contribute to making this a delightfully intriguing piece of cinema.

A huge thanks to Second Run DVD for making this film available. They’re really helpful and proper supporters of cinema

For all the details on the day, see the Facebook event page .

You can buy a ticket immediately by clicking here.

Tickets are a mere £5 (£2.50 for Minicine members) and the venue has a fully licensed bar (see below), so It will be the most social of film experiences. Doors open way before the film starts, so you can come down, grab some drinks and ensure you get a slice of Minicine’s trademark homemade cake.

As for the film, well that is partly up to you, the audience. We have selected four films that are all chocked full of ludicrous one liners and enough blood flowing between them to fill a swimming pool.

These four films are:

Child’s Play 2 (Written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia, 1990)

One sentence synopsis: Andy thought he’d put an end to Chucky, the doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer, but he’s back to once again try and shift his soul into the boy’s body.

Possibly the least blood-filled of the films, but Chucky does have some killer lines. This film was just on the precipice of the series, between being genuinely creepy, yet still fun and before Chucky became quite so daft.

Friday 13th part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan (Written and directed by Rob Hedden, 1989)

One sentence synopsis (although pretty sure the title takes care of this): Hockey mask wearing Jason Voorhees is once again resurrected from the depths, this time making it on board a boat bound for the Big Apple.

Pretty much the least financially and critically successful film in the series, yet this bears no influence on our appreciation of the comedy-kills though.

Evil Dead 2 (Written by Scott Spiegel & Sam Raimi and directed by Sam Raimi, 1987)

One sentence synopsis: Ash and his girlfriend Linda are on a ‘romantic’ cabin getaway when they find the recordings of Professor Raymond Knowby’s translations of the Book of the Dead, which when played, awakens ancient evils.

Possibly the most iconic and well known on this list, the memorable lines and scenes in this film are undeniable.

Puppet Master (Written by Charles Band, Kenneth J Hall and David Schmoeller, directed by David Schmoeller, 1989)

One sentence synopsis: Five killer-puppets protect the secrets of their master from some – very eighties – investigating psychics.

Perhaps – but hopefully not – the least recognisable on the list. Being the only non-sequel here shows how this distinctive series got off to such a memorable start.

Get voting

You are invited to choose one of these films by way of public vote. Anyone is welcome to vote on the film, but if you buy a ticket, your vote will count for ten. If you are a member, it will count for twenty. So you can vote on the poll right now, but when you buy a ticket, e-mail your vote to minicine@live.co.uk. Same goes for you members, just e-mail your vote through.

Get voting right now by clicking here. Voting closes at midnight on Sunday 1st April

To buy a ticket simply click here to go to our secure online box office.

As always, if this is your first screening as a member, it will be completely FREE. Check out details of this, along with what other perks you can benefit from, on our membership page.

For the most up to date info, follow us on Twitter, ‘like’ the Facebook page, or e-mail minicine@live.co.uk with the subject MAILING LIST to hear from us via e-mail.

The Venue: Glyde House

Glyde House is a wonderful grade 2 listed building right in the heart of Bradford city centre, just over the road from the National Media Museum, so easily accessible – even for our Leeds based regulars. Check out their website for full details and directions.