Brighton Festival & Fringe: watching

There were lots of independent films shown as part of the Brighton Festival, though only one caught my eye.  Under the Cranes is described as a 'cinematic evocation of the borough of Hackney'.  It was scripted by Michael Rosen, guest director for the festival as a whole, and directed by Emma Louise-Williams.

Rosen's words were written as a 'play for voices' - like a radio play or documentary - and brings together different voices from Hackney over the years, from Black Beauty, which was set there in the nineteenth century to modern times and the coming of the Olympics and Westfield.

Williams' images mix archive footage from across the last century are mixed with current scenes of traffic and street life.

The experience was a beautiful and moving piece of work that really demonstrated the strength of community in the various parts of Hackney from Dalston to Hoxton.

After the screening there was a debate chaired by Rosen and featuring Williams and Leo Hollis, author of Cities are Good for You, featured in my literary review of the festival here.  Rosen and Williams were clearly left wing in perspective and the debate took a rather predictable coalition bashing line, which was unfortunate as it took the attention away from the film itself.

For a bit of light relief between Under the Cranes and the Building on What we Have lecture, I met up with friends at Dukes at Komedia to see Star Trek Into Darkness in 3D.  This was my first ever 3D film, so I was very excited!  It was also the first Star Trek film that I had seen.

As a child I remember Star Trek (the original series) being on TV, but I was never that interested and preferred to play on the floor with my Lego.  As a result I vaguely know who the main characters are, but not much more than that.  As a result there were some jokes that the Trekkies sat near me (not my friends) enjoyed but which passed me by.

The 3D effects were amazing and the story was pretty pacey if normal blockbuster fayre.