The Sutton Film Festival originated
from the desire to premiere a recently completed short film
to cast and crew called DAWNRAZOR.
Organiser Marq English, of MEV Productions decided that
it would be a better idea to expand
on this premise and hold a Short Film Festival that would
cater for fellow budget filmmakers
who needed a platform to show their work and network with
likewise people.
From the beginning, Marq didn’t want
it to be a competition but a showcase for people to show
their work without the competitiveness
of a contest. As well as his own short, Marq opened up
for submissions on Shooting People
and was overwhelmed by the response to this posting.
The venue selected was The Charles
Cryer Studio Theatre in Carshalton and the date set for
Sunday 18th August 2002. A grant
was applied for from Sutton Arts Council (which MEV
Productions is a member) and it
was full steam ahead with Marq acting a host. The evening
was a great success and had the
added bonus of selling out.
Keen to capitalise on the success
of the first year, Marq organised the next Festival for
Sunday 18th May 2003, once again
at the Charles Cryer Studio Theatre. This was quite a
task as he was travelling to Cannes
two days later for the Film Festival and so had that to
contend with as well. For this year,
David Wells came onboard as co-organiser and generously
sponsored the event and the hire
of equipment.. The evening went very well with actor
Adrian Palmer hosting the screenings
and singer Mel Sanson (accompanied by Andy Seabrook)
providing acoustic melodies in the
intervals.
It’s been a privilege to be able
to screen some excellent shorts at the festival that’s included
(among others) the Award Winning
Films WALKING WITH WALKEN, WOMAN X, CRY FOR BOBO,
SNOT and HOLLY-BOLLY.
In 2004, the Festival moved to a
new venue - The UCI Multiplex Cinema in Sutton, here we were
able to show films with digital
projection that will showed onto a sixty-foot cinema screen.
For the 2005 event, the festival
moved to the Secombe Theatre in Sutton and we are returning
here for the upcoming 2006 showcase.
Marq English & David Wells
Organisers |
