Ikon Eastside
183 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SE
Following on from last year’s celluloid jamboree Flatpack Festival returns to Birmingham with another eclectic line-up exploring the wild frontiers of film, and once again Ikon Eastside is at the heart of the action.
Expect 16mm exclusives, archive treasures, special guests, a-v performance and new work from across the spectrum. Highlights include a trip through the back-catalogue of artist and animator Al Jarnow, who started out making mind-bending shorts for Sesame Street, and a rare chance to revisit the legendary 1992 video diary In Bed With Chris Needham. Shot by a passionate metal-head plotting world domination from Loughborough, this will stir up painful adolescent memories for some.
Thursday 24 March, 8pm
We Don’t Care About Music Anyway + Sakamoto Hiromichi
Documentary about Japan’s experimental music scene, followed by a live performance by one of the film’s stars. Sakamoto Hiromichi takes cello-playing in unexpected directions using saws and angle-grinders.
Friday 25 March, 6.30pm
Strange Powers: Stephin Merrit and the Magnetic Fields
Ten years in the making, a portrait of the influential singer-songwriter and his merry band.
Saturday 26 March, 1pm
Christine
A programme of films selected by Gillian Wearing, including a rarely-seen Alan Clarke drama from 1987.
Saturday 26 March, 3pm
Make It New John + Duncan Campbell in conversation
After a screening of his latest film, about Delorean’s adventures in Northern Ireland during the 1980s, the Belfast-born artist will be talking about how he uses archive film to explore the process of myth-building.
Saturday 26 March, 8.30pm
In Bed With Chris Needham
As part of the buildup to Home of Metal, a legendary video diary from 1992 filmed by a teenage metalhead in Loughborough.
Sunday 27 March, 1.30pm
Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow
An artist and animator who cut his teeth making sequences for Sesame St and then branched into his own filmed experiments.
Sunday 27 March, 8.30pm
Marwencol
Award-winning documentary about a man who was badly beaten and rebuilt his life by creating a WWII village in his back-yard.
Visit www.flatpackfestival.org.uk for full programme and ticket information.