In my opinion also UK films deserved a diamond award. This year there was a German invasion in Chesterfield. Two years ago there was a Belgian invasion in Guernsey. They won almost all top-awards and the final judges were all British. Is this logical ? Hopefully the judges did not underestimate the films that were made by their compatriots.Dave Watterson wrote:I was sad that no UK films made it to Diamond level this year. Several of our usually high-scoring film makers did not do so well this year. Of course other countries tend to send the cream of their crop.
Dave
Talking to Romy
But BIAFF is also interesting for other reasons. Socialising for instance. Talking to friends. Romy Van Krieken, who's also been a final judge once, was sitting at my table. We speak the same language. She is a film critic.She writes articles about the standard of films. She does it for a wellknown Dutch magazine. I asked her if she had already made a film herself. Her answer was no ! Once she tried to help someone, but she stopped very soon. It was too demanding. However, on the other hand she finds that non-commercial filmmakers should have some knowledge about the history of filmmaking and about films made in the Good Old Days and later.
Professor filmmaking at Exeter University
Will Higbee is my English friend's son. He is 38. He is a professor. His name is in fact Dr. William Higbee. He works in the Centre for Research in Film Studies at Exeter University. He gives lectures about filmmaking ! Now he's written a book about the French Film Director Mathieu Kassovitz. I don't remember if I have already seen a film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Please, do not tell Romy because I would feel very embarrassed. Of course I went to the cinema when I was young. This to see Spartacus, Ben Hur or Doctor Zivago or to sit in the back of the cinema room together with my girlfriend... On the other hand I don't think that Dr. Wil Higbee has ever bought a camera. I don't think that he has ever made one film. Maybe also Romy has not touched a camera either.
Question : Should film critics have made a film themselves ? Maybe it's easy to criticise, but it's not easy to make a film. I myself don't think so, but I would appreciate it. The best football coaches at the moment, Arsène Wenger and Alex Ferguson, were not glorious football players themselves, but they know how to prepare and to evaluate a match. So ...