One Voice Film Festival (Interview with Jordi Robert)

This summer in Bournemouth there is a film festival called One Voice International Film Festival that celebrates young filmmakers and short films.  I managed to ask one of the curators of the festival a few simple questions about their goals and hopes for the event:

1. What is the mission statement of One Voice festival?

The aim of our film festival is to encourage film making and to celebrate the accomplishments of young film-makers.

2. What type of filmmakers are you looking for?

We are not looking for a specific type of filmmakers. Our only restrictions are:

1.   Films in which young people under the age of 26 years were key to the production.

2.   Films no longer than 15 minutes length.

3.   Films should have been made after October, 2011.

We wont accept films with strong violence or sexual nature as we have young audiences.

3. What are you primarily judging the films on?

We judge on overall feel of the film. How watchable is it? Innovation,Creativity, Story telling. I personally enjoy when young people have something to tell in a creative and visually interesting way.

Some films may have very low budget and low production quality but still have a very interesting story to tell or have great entertainment value. Others have bigger budget, great equipment, big production team behind them but their story is flat or you just seen that movie many times before. We would much prefer to show in our festival a film that has a great story or is innovative in any way than a film that is very well made but has no soul.

4. How do you feel about film culture in Bournemouth and the south coast of England? Do you feel that there are enough opportunities for young people to show creativity?

I can only speak about Bournemouth as I don't know very well what's happening in other places. In Bournemouth we only have mainstream cinemas, so it is very rare to be able to see short films or films that are not made in Hollywood. This is very frustrating especially for a town that have one of the best visual arts and media universities in the country. Students come from all over the world to get their film and media degrees in Bournemouth, and yet there is nowhere where to show their work or where to watch inspiring films. I guess that we are trying to fill that gap.

At the moment the students come and go, but I believe that if we could make Bournemouth more interesting to those young people that finish their degrees, they would stay and build they careers here in the South West.

5. What is the plan for the future?

The plan is to keep organising the film festival, to give opportunities to young people to show their work, network, meet each other and work together in new projects. We also offer support to young people that may not have the equipment or the skills to make a film. We meet on a weekly basis with the aim to learn about filmmaking. This group is called "Film Junkies" and meets at the same venue of the Film Festival "One Voice" which they organise.

One Voice Festival takes place on the 27 July, 6pm at Stourvale Centre, 108 Stourvale Rd.  Bournemouth.  Check out the Facebook page for more information on films.