SUSSEX FILM FESTIVAL 2014

Another successful Sussex Film Festival for South Downs Film Makers.

The film “The Sweet Life”, starring Eileen and Richard Godfrey in bed, won the Comedy Award.

“The Jewel In The Town” was awarded a Highly Commended certificate.
Richard Stockwell’s film “Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon” got a Commended Certificate, as did Howard Johnson’s  “Made 4 Music”.

Congratulations to everyone involved in these productions.

The village hall at Plumpton Green is larger than the usual venue and it appeared half empty as there were fewer people there than in previous years. Only five SDFM members were there, which is a pity as it was a great festival. I suspect that the organisers
barely broke even. I am afraid that if attendances continue to fall, the Sussex FF will die.

I enjoyed the films that were shown. Picture quality was excellent, but some of the sound tracks were not very well balanced. There were a few half hour films, including one of ours. Unless long films are exceptional, they never seem to win awards, (specially documentaries). Our entry won a Highly
Commended certificate and would have possibly won an award if it had been shorter. When films are entered into competitions, we are aiming not at the audience, but at the judges. For this years festival, there were three judges, who came from Morecambe Bay. They possibly had no idea where Worthing is and almost certainly had never heard of the Connaught Theatre, They were obviously impressed with the way the film had been made, but were probably not that interested in the subject. Might it be an idea that in future, when we make a long film, we also make a shorter version to enter into competition?

Having said all that, I really enjoyed this years festival and look forward to going again in 2015. I hope to see more of you there. A word of advice – Take a cushion. The seats get very hard after a two hour session.

Fred Clarke