2nd Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday to Us... Happy Birthday to Us!!!! Caught Short is turning 2, next Thursday 7 September..... and we invite YOU to the party...

Thursday 7 September
7.30pm for an 8pm start

TAP Gallery
278 Palmer St Darlinghurst

$10 on the door gets you a bunch of great short films, live music, champagne, cake....

Be all the more joy-full if you can be there....

SM

the return of.... the blog.

So much for a promise of "to never again be so tardy". Why has it been almost a year since I updated the blog? Rhetorical question, so please don't feel obliged to spend too much time pondering it. Really. I insist. Believe it or not,the "Drafts" page does indicate a certain amount of good intention. There is a draft from April, one from May. The Blog has been in my thoughts, but has clearly taken residence in the very back seat of the jalopy that is my mind. Tsk.

Its June 2006 and the Sydney Film Festival is in full swing. Be sure to not miss the Dendy Awards for Short Film on Saturday 24th June, and get your selves along to the bounty of filmic goodness that makes up this years SFF.

As for Caught Short, well... where do I begin? June's screening saw audiences challenged and amused with the offerings of films like "10" by Emmanuel Marshall and "True" by Dean Friske. Our youngest film maker, Steve Anthopolous, screened "Tree in the Forest", and Paul Leeming presented the first of his sci-fi trilogy, "Eve". Adam Sebire's "La Violincelle" and Eren Sener's "Alive" exemplified the diverse range of film making talent on offer in this here town of ours. Thanks to all our film makers, and to those that came along to the screening!

July is just around the corner and we really do very sincerely advise you to mark a HUGE smiley face on your calendars for Thursday the 6th - a smiley face with a speech bubble, perhaps, reminding you to get along to TAP Gallery and immerse yourself in 2 hours of short film wonderment. If you have a film, we want it! Visit www.filmcaughtshort.com for submission info.

In August, Caught Short will be hosting the Sydney Peace Fest - A short film festival featuring films on peace. This is in conjunction with the Hiroshima Day Commemoration Committee and promises to be a night of exceptional films and the chance for you to engage in the pursuit of a weapons free world. Bless.... could anything be more wholesome?

Well... That's all I can muster at the moment. I am experiencing a severe case of an ailment I have decide to term "Post Reflective Stress Disorder". Ever written a three and a half thousand word paper on your own failings as a student teacher? Good god it is annihilating. If I reflect anymore I may very well turn into... my own reflection, a mere shadow of a former self and.... I won't go on.

CAUGHT SHORT
THURSDAY 6th JULY
TAP GALLERY

see ya there.

xxx
sarah mc

what ever happened to june?.....

I know it took place somewhere between may and now. I know that Caught Short that month was SPECTACULAR... I know that a certain Sydney Film Festival "happened" and took with it an ounce of Sarah L's sanity, a chunk of my budget, and, it would seem, the ability to sit down for ten minutes and update the damn blog for June's screening. I apologise profusely and shall never again be so tardy.

And what about July and August? Was my promise to "never again be so tardy" a shallow and meaningless vow, carelessly discarded? I assure you not. So. It is September. True - the blog has not been updated in some time. BUT. We now have a website!! To call the website "embryonic" is probably the largest understatement to ever be made by any woman, anywhere, at anytime. Nonetheless, a website it is and you may hit it by going to www.filmcaughtshort.com. I have Ben Loves Space working on something far more aesthetically appealling and functional (cheers to Ben), and will inform you all of the new and imporved web site in the very near future. In the mean time... laugh it up at my rudimentary web building skills.... scoff at my inability to allign things "just so"..... be amazed at one woman's lack of creative flair... Most importantly, hit the "Submitting your Film" link and get your films to us... STAT!

Thanks to Mr H. for inspiring this re-connection with the blog, by the way. If somebody sitting in a little village south of London takes the time to read the thing, then maybe..just maybe...it is worth updating.

June, July, August, September... Four months worth of fantastic films. Hit the "Films Screened" link on the website (www.filmcaughtshort.com) for more details. Like Latham "easing the squeeze" I wonder how many times I can mention the website in one sitting? You know..our new website? www.filmcaughtshort.com

A quick mention to some other GREAT film nights taking place round town. Caught Short is proud to introduce Shorts Around Sydney (www.shortsaroundsydney.com)SaS is now screening at the Greengate Hotel in Kilara each Tuesday night in September. Check the website (www.filmcaughtshort.com) for details of the upcoming Shorts Around Sydney wrap up party.... A chance for all Caught Short enthusiasts to meet the team behind Shorts Around Sydney at TAP Gallery! A great opportunity to see where you might like to submit your film next!

Also, Reelife is currently calling for submsissions. Reelife is a national youth short film festival, providing young people with the chance to be seen and heard... check out www.vibewire.net.au for more info.

Congratualtions to Jules Nemcich for getting "The Famous Film Festival" off the ground!! Screening monthly in Sydney... check out www.famousfilmfest.com for more info. And Qtim Broad hosts "Tall Shorts" at the Royal Hotel in Darlington once a week.. Featuring loads of local student films...

Screen culture on the slide in Sydney town??? I THINK NOT!!! Its exactly where it should be... with the people..in pubs.. in community art spaces... being projected onto walls in Chippendale, shared between houses in Glebe..... Cinemas may be taken from us (RIP Valhalla...... Join the fight to keep the Chauvell!!).. but we'll always find a way to get films out and about, enjoyed by the masses and pushed into our collective conciousness.

The next Caught Short is on October 6th. Submit your films to PO Box 908 Newtown 2042. Call me. Email me. Ask me questions. Send your films! Come and watch some films. Make a film. Act in one. Write one.....

Oh. And don't forget to visit the website www.filmcaughtshort.com.

Peace and more peace.
Sarah

some fun for philanthropic fans of film!

we would LOVE you to support the following...

Fundraiser for Palestine
Mazaj Lebanese Restaurant -222 South Terrace Bankstown
Friday 3 June 2005,7pm
Pre-sold:$40 On the night:$50
Includes:Mezza,main course and soft drinks.
Live Arabic band,and auction of Palestinian embroidery.
Money raised will go to Palestinian refugees.
To purchase tickets call 0405 760 929 or 0438 515 372

some of you might remember Rihab and Nick screening "Exerpts from Piece" in April... support justice for the Palestinian people and get along to this fundraiser if you can!

Landmine Action Week Event
Film night
7pm, 27 May
Sidetrack Theatre, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville
it's a long way to Tifariti, a film by Yvette Andrews about the Saharawi people's struggle for Independence plus music, dancing & a Saharawi style BBQ and tea ceremony
Entry: $20/$10 concession Bookings: Lesley Osborne on 9810 5372 or Annette O'Neill on 9810 8603

Sahara Art Caravan
Works by Western Saharan artists living in refugee camps in Algeria & images by Australian and British photographers showing the devastating effects of landmines on the Saharawi nomads of Western Sahara. Addison Road Gallery, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville, 25th May - 5 June, open Wednesday to Sunday 11am - 5pm. Exhibition opening 6pm, 27th May.

Award winning Canadian filmmaker screens documentary in Sydney
Award winning Canadian film-maker ELAINE BRIERE is touring Australia this month for screenings of her latest documentary "Betrayed" on the biggest international maritime strike of the 20th century. Ms Briere launched the tour on the Spirit of Tasmania and is now in Sydney for a screening and forum on the 12th May at the Valhalla.

A second screening and Q & A with the filmmaker will be held at:

The Screening Room
Friday evening, May 20th
7pm
16-18 Meagher Street, Chippendale
Entry by donation , recommended $5

Painstakingly researched Betrayed documents the merchant marine at war, the union's fight to get seafarers better conditions, the 1949 strike, the bloody battles around the coast, as well as the solidarity action in Australian and other world ports.

Her film also tackles the recent ‘flags of convenience’ practise by multinational ship owners who avoid safety and proper wages and conditions regulations by registering ships in a number of small developing nations. The film documents the Yarra dispute with Canadian Steamship Line(CSL) in Port Pirie 2002, when crew barricaded themselves on board the vessel for two weeks in an attempt to save their ship from being flagged out.

Elaine Briere's tour is sponsored by the Maritime Union of Australia

have fun... learn yourself a thing or two... meet a bunch of wonderful people doing wonderful things for other humans (persih the thought!) and for film, too....

thank you thank you.
see you there.
s

050505

I have started this post twice already, and have not been able to avoid referencing numerology!! But, hey. Whose here for the numbers? They came to TAP from near and far last Thursday for FILM!... And on film I should keep my mind when editing this rambling techno-journal-log-thingy..

Bel de Jersey's 'There Once was a Ball Breaking B*&$%! kicked the evening off with giggles a plenty. This modern day fable of the generous spirit is Bel's first film, and has screened far and wide... An excellent film with nothing less than a "delightful" score..... Best of luck to Bel and all future filmic projects....

'Bowled Over' was next on the bill..... Written and produced by Gaye Belle and Directed by Antony Waterlow (a first time collabotation for the two), 'Bowled Over' is wonderfully written and cast to portray teenage anguish at its ironic best!

'Pulse', an experimental film by Qtim Broad, delves into the beauty that is Newtown... Pulse documents the characters and sights of this slice of urban jungle in a time lapsed montage set to the sounds of local band "Triangle".... For me, a sentimental journey through my own back yard, yet a universal insight of this space called "city"..... complete with the veins of urban life crawling with humanity.... it's life force (if you will...) However, this film manages to portray the cold reality of the city scape as isolating, fast paced and all too pre-occupied with its own development. But then, amongst images of a setting sun and people negotiating their own ways through the maze, we see how this kind of space generates creativity and vibrant diversity.... it is it's own little ecology of interdependence and woven wonder.... All the while the score carries the images even deeper into your conciousness...sound vibrations in harmony with all we are seeing.....(Can you tell that I liked it??) Looking forward to more from mr b.......

Nils Crompton's film, 'Doris', was another thought provoking gem. Set predominantly in a 50's design house in Wahroonga, the films protagonist, Ruby, seeks solice and escape from the realities of a dying nan she seems to have a fond affection for. Nil's has shot this film in almost pefect harmony with the house.... and successfully juxtaposes space, charcter and sound to capture, in my view, somewhat of a post modern dilemma..... exactly which post-modern dilemma, I will leave for you to ponder!

Carlo Ledesma's film 'Locked' was last on the program ... the film began without a hitch, but, the world decided that tonight was not the night for Locked to be seen. OurDVD player promptly pixelated the film's image and distorted the audio just as Carlo's story of key cutting Frank was taking shape. .. leaving film maker and event organisers a little anguished, to say the least. I could continue apologising to Carlo profusley for this little .. (should I bother putting it nicely?) fuck up (nuh!)... and I will...SORRY! See Carlo's own version of events at http://www.gamefaceup.blogspot.com/
I won't give too much more away about 'Locked' as we will surely screen it with great success in the very near future!

So..... The Sydney Film festival is round the corner..... as is another wonder-FULL Caught Short!

caught short
thursday 2nd june

doors at 7pm, films at 8pm
$5 concession, $8 other

TAP Gallery
278 Palmer Street Darlinghurst

call with any questions..... and submit your short films!
sarah mc 0415 437 030 / sarah 0404 099 149

happy birthday, katie!
good luck, Harry the Dog!!!
have fun, Jeff!

*night*
sarahmc

Seven

"7 is a strong number....yep. It is....7 really is a strong number." (Man on a bus, 7th April, 2005)

sarah and i were told this little gem on our way to caught short gig number 7.. unsurprisingly, i conjoured up a meaning for it immediately... i love to listen to the ramblings of crazy urban dwellers (within reason..the one legged man in glebe is pretty intense).... they scream profanity into the profound and never cease to confront me with truths about human nature..... and, as the world would have it happen, our program that night seemed to do the same...

"Utopia. UTOPIA. Do you mean there is no place for me in Utopia? Can I be my own Utopia? Can this....be......it?" (Woman yelling on a street in Camperdown, 3rd April, 2005)

myopic utopic. can we see the world from any place but our own? at the moment i feel like we are all afflicted with a short sightedness that, try as we might, is all pervasive and ...violent, in a sense. Or the cause of violence, or perhaps just the consequence of it.. I like to believe that film attempts to broaden our view..not change it, but perhaps alter it....or at least provide the glimpse of a position we wouldn't other wise see. I came across the concept of "illegal alphabets" today.....the deconstruction of language in order to recreate it "as it really sounds"..... i am slowly trying to get my head around this realtive to film...... and the film makers ability to recreate the visual "as it really appears...".... (illegal frames??) .....sorry..this entry seems to have taken on a truly blog like state of rambling....... there is a point here somewhere.....in the meantime, to the films..

Drew Clarke's "Baptism of Fire"
An animation called "Causes" by Joe Brumm
"Sweetheart", by Matt Saville
"Exerpts from Piece" - Rahib Charida and Nick
"Uranium" and "Telestreet" - from Tim Parish @ www.undergrowth.org

the man on the bus, revelling in his faith in the mighty number 7. the woman on the street, screaming utopia to no one or everyone or maybe just to me... palestinians calling for freedom, middle aged men calling mum, childhood memories,..... "robots in disguise" ..... and seeing the world through butterfly eyes.... all glimpses of humanity and it's insanity... short glimpses...... myopic. microscopic.

enough enough....

thanks to all our wonderful filum creators...and apologies for this pensive jibberish..... maybe i'll post a more comprehensive and relevant discourse when not so loopy feeling

(don't be scared to enter your films, or come along in may.....we're not always like this....)

sm

CAUGHT SHORT
thursday 5th may

TAP Gallery
278 Palmer St
Darlinghurst

$5 concession, $8 "other"

contact a sarah for more info
sarah 0404099149
sarah mc 0415 437 030
filmcaughtshort@yahoo.com.au

caught short flyer by bec...