exposures Film Festival 2007

FOUR days of screenings, special events and awards ceremonies featuring the nation’s most promising filmmaking talent brings exposures 2007 UK Student Film Festival to life for it’s 14th year at Cornerhouse, Manchester between Mon 3 – Thu 6 December 2007. With 53 films competing over four categories, the question is: Who will take home this year’s prestigious University of Salford sponsored Grand Jury Prize & Corona Extra Audience Award?

The documentary category came out on top last year with Zabaleen, the story of families working Cairo’s rubbish tips. This year’s race is wide open with strong contenders in all sections. Menhaj Huda, producer of British drama Kidulthood, acclaimed documentary director Kim Longinotto and TV & film producer Sally Hibbin are this years Grand Jury and their top film will be announced at the final evening’s Corona Extra Best of the Fest Party.

The exposures audience are by no means just spectators. As well as enjoying the wide selection of innovative new films on offer, each vote they cast throughout the festival will decide who takes home the coveted Corona Extra Audience Award. There’s also the BBC Best of the North West award, judged by an expert panel, to celebrate the wealth of talent on our doorstep.

From Liverpool to London and Bolton to Bournemouth, the entries have come in from all corners of country and have been of the usual high standard required by the selection panels. The experimental line-up (Tue 4 December, 2pm) features abstract and non-narrative filmmaking including one entry making innovative use of dripping paint to characterise human emotions. The documentary category (Tue 4 December, 4pm) captures intriguing insights on camera, non more so than ROY, the story of a former prisoner who gained qualifications whilst serving his sentence but is still struggling to find employment.

Competing for the MacKinnon & Saunders Animation Award (Wed 5 December, 2pm) are 16 budding animators using a variety of techniques and materials from computer generated wizardry to good old plasticine. YouTube favourite A Tale of Rock sees Cornerhouse make a big screen star of a guitar wielding rodent for what could be the first time. A double hit of drama (Wed 5 December, 6pm & Thu 6 December, 4pm) looks set to give the judges a selection dilemma with a wealth of inspired shorts with themes relating to family, friends and dairy farmers!

The festival kicks of in style with underexposed, showing off the skills of filmmakers between the ages of 14-18 (Mon 3 December). Amongst the exciting films by young people being seen for the first time are the premiere screenings of THE C.R.U.M.P.I.T and ORIGIN, two films developed through the LiveWire Film Camp, a week-long summer filmmaking experience organised by Cornerhouse.

exposures also breaches international boundaries to take in student films from further afield. Non-competitive screenings of East Asian Student Shorts (Tue 4 & Thu 6 December, 12noon) are brought to Manchester by Teresa Kwong from the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards. European Shorts from EMERGANDSEE (Wed 5 December, 12pm) showcases work from Germany, Spain, Austria and more.

The full programme, festival background, latest news and details of previous winners and runners up are available at www.exposuresfilmfestival.co.uk