HALLOWEEN – ARTIST PROFILE
June 1st, 2006 by rui
Philip Ilson and Tim Harding founded the Halloween Society short film club in April 1994, as a regular showcase for short film. It was originally housed at Notre Dame Hall, a 1940s ballroom just off Leicester Square in the heart of London’s filmland. The screenings ranged from short dramas, animations, and documentaries to experimental and guerrilla work and always included a live element, whether cabaret, DJs or bands, as well as a compere between the films.
The initial Halloween screenings include selections of work by many film-makers who have gone on to become successful film and video-makers and household names, including Guy Ritchie (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), Asif Kapadia (The Warrior), Andrew Kotting (Gallivant, This Filthy Earth), Steve McFadden (Eastenders’ Phil Mitchell), Jamie Thraves (The Low Down, Radiohead promos), Tim Hope (One Giant Leap, Coldplay promos), Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord Of The Rings), comedians Harry Hill, Sean Lock and Emo Philips, Alison Murray (Train On The Brain, B*Witched promos) as well as premiering Paul McCartney ‘s film of Linda McCartney’s photographic session with The Grateful Dead .
Halloween collaborated with other clubs and film organisations, and were the co-founders of the Kentra multi-media club event in early 1998 and the Volcano Independent Film Festival in 1996. Halloween has also been invited to international film festivals in Perth, Australia, Halifax and Ottawa, Canada, and Helsinki, Finland to present short film and live events.
Other Halloween collaboration with other clubs and organisations, including Kentra’s move to the then newly opened Scala in Kings Cross in 1999 and Cargo in 2001, Islington’s Embassy Bar at the Ski Tracks In The Snow Hitchcock event at Gainsborough Studios, plus the Uprush Cinema Sundays cult feature film events at the Scala in 2000.
Philip Ilson has also co-programmed and coordinated the British Council’s Sensurround multi-media club extravaganza which toured Europe (Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Thessaloniki), Israel (Tel Aviv) and South America (Bogota, Caracas).
Other guest slot have including participation in Vienna, Oberhausen and Paris, as well the Norwich FAN Festival , Glasgow CCA , Llandudno Oriel Mostyn Gallery and Croydon Clocktower arts centre in the UK.
Since the closure of Notre Dame Hall, Halloween has taken screening to many different venues, including the Vibe Bar and the Rhythm Factory in East London, Form in Soho, The Lock in Camden and the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton. It finally found a home at the ICA Cinema during 2001.
This coincided with another Halloween first – a regular monthly even called Full Length. Featuring bands (such as Ladytron, Bis, British Sea Power, Simian, Queen Adreena, DJ Yoda) creating live soundtrack to cult films (Tron, Quadrophenia, Baraka, Microcosmos, Crash, La Planete Sauvage, The Goonies), it has toured to the Lausanne Film Festival in Switzerland as well as the Big Chill music festival. Other festival-based short film and performances include working with the Mean Fiddler on a late night film and music marquee at Leeds music festival , as well as having regular work through Glastonbury Festival .
Kickstarting Halloween’s evolution into a short film festival has been Kate Taylor, on-off collaborator since 1999 who officially came on board as Festival co-director in 2002 . Following stints at onedotzero, the British Council and the Cornerhouse in Manchester, Kate currently works as freelance short film programmer and editor of the Northern Film Network.
The first Halloween Short Film Festival was held to great success and acclaim in January 2003. Headlines included a retrospective of actress Sienna Guillory and director Alison Murray, a VJ set from Tim Hope and a live performance of Gallivant from Andrew Kotting plus performances from bands such as Klang, Kaito, This Girl and Days of Worth.
Bigger and better, the second Halloween Short Film Festival, featured a retrospective of Andrea Arnold’s work, who in March 2005 went on to win an Oscar for her short film Wasp as well other retrospectives of Nick Gordon-Smith, animators the 3 Bears and upcoming video producers Type2error. Music was provided by Uncle John & Whitelock, Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies and No Comply, while the ever-popular Sunday afternoon film quiz made a reappearance.
For those with a keen historical flavour, you can download the 2005 brochure in Acrobat PDF form (1.5 MB) by clicking here
In 2006, Halloween branched out again, added the Curzon Soho as a venue to its ICA heartland and preparing a bumper crop of film-related action.
