The film festival went very well. About 25 people attended. First of all we heard about the draconian new regulations affecting internet producers in the UK, courtesy of Pandora Blake. All was not dismal, we have the beginnings of a plan for how to take them on.
Then we had a workshop session on making a fetish film. I set a challenge- to make a short film, in one-camera, indie film shoot style, in under two hours. Thanks to the skills of Ariel Anderssen and Zoe Page, and great collegiate suggestions and camera-work from the people attending, we made it. Our intern Pippa even quickly cut it together for us during the tea and cake break so we could even show it at the festival screening that afternoon.
I’ll put the film up on Restrained Elegance once we’ve fine tuned the edit.
Then we settled down to watch the films which people had kindly submitted. There were some very funny ones, and some very intense ones, and some very sexy ones- and all was very positive and fun. If we have one regret it is that most of the films were mostly female submissive. Primarily because the circle of producers we contacted for this first film festival are the ones who work with my wife, who is a female submissive!
Our main goal for the year was to run something at a public venue, which we’ve now done.
Our main goal for next year, assuming we’re brave enough to run it again, is to broaden the scope and make sure we make contact with other sections of the fetish community, so we can show a wider variety of fetishes and orientations next year.
Cheers, Hywel Phillips
I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting also a great chance be be more ‘Open’ amongst others. I do hope it runs again. Thanks for all your efforts.
My wife and I also enjoyed the Festival very much. It was the first time we had been to any fetish event in the UK so we agree with David Webley about the chance to be open and meet new people.
The films were interesting and a great way to see things you don’t normally watch. I take Hywel’s point about the variety of content, but there was still an interesting range of styles and fetish content for us. Inevitably some of that content appealed more and some less. But one thing struck me very strongly: all looked to be of people having fun in their own way. It utterly appalled me that a government of my country is treating these producers as though they were an evil to be cleansed. I was therefore delighted to offer Pandora Blake such little skill and help as I may have.
It may interest some if I report the chat in one group I was in during the tea/coffee break after Pandora’s talk. Several of us had picked up the point that the enforcement authority accepts it only has jurisdiction if the editorial control of a “programme service” is in the UK and this is different from the editorial control of individual films. A moment’s reflection illustrates this distinction. One may argue, for example, that the Harry Potter films (including, incidentally, all their non-consensual violence towards children) are British films because they were made here, but that doesn’t make Warner Brothers a British company. All the producers around me were quick to pronounce solidarity and unwillingness to set up offshore companies but I would not be surprised if some quietly do this. Maybe it’s one of the things “everyone does”.
At the end of the day, I had only one regret. I suddenly saw how much of the splendid food Hywel and Ariel had provided was still left. I will not make that mistake again.
Congratulations and thank you.