:: PROGRAMME: Thursday, May 22nd @ The Meeting Place beach cafe, Hove Lawns ::
This was our first attempt at an outdoor screening and, predicatably, the weather was so bad we had to transfer to an alternative venue - St Andrew's Church, Waterloo Street. A mere 100 yards away.

:: eMale - Director Richard Harris - 7mins ::
Based upon a series of reviews of sex-workers submitted to a local brothel’s website by its male clients, this challenging film presents a unique video ‘canvas’. Mixing voices, sound effects, internet images and other visual material to dramatic effect, it forces the audience to reflect on the impact of money on male -female relationships.

For more information about this film, visit www.bigbamboo.org.uk

:: SLEEP - Director Callum Morrison - 5 mins ::
The latest offering from one of Brighton's most original animators explores the course of true love on the Hove Lawns - accompanied by plenty of gratuitous sex. Morrison's previous films have shocked and surprised Final Cut audiences with weird stop-frame animations featuring laser-eyed doll's heads, exploding police cars and live human hearts. This one won't disappoint!

:: SIXTY CUPS OF COFFEE - Director David Ward - 9 mins::
Ward's stylish film was shot in America and tells the story of Rickie Cass who once read that sixty cups of coffee would kill you: 'stopping your heart like a tightly-wound watch'. One morning in a down-at-heel diner full of Texan misfits, he decides to find out the truth. Sixty Cups of Coffee was an award-winning black (coffee) comedy, following one man's quest for truth and the reactions of those who witness his gruesome journey to the bottom of that last cup.

:: BOGLIFE (24 hrs in the life of a night club toilet) - Director Will Jewell - 15 mins ::
Premiered at the 2002 Brighton festival, Boglife charts the descent of a nightclub toilet from a clean happy hygenic commode to a vomit-stained shit-caked den of drugs and cheap sex. Set during the early 90's rave scene, the film has a banging original soundtrack, fantastic costumes and is full of period detail. It'll make you squirm, it'll make you flinch... it will make you wonder why you ever went to night clubs!

:: PROJECT MAYHEM - Director: Rob Chiu - 4mins ::
Set in a futuristic concrete-covered cityscape and made for By Designers For Designers London 8, this film is visually reminiscent of the Terminator films and conveys the frustrations of every artist's worst fear: Creative Block. Sleepless nights stretch into weeks and month as the curse of 'Creative Block' consumes you bit by bit. 'I am Jack's creative block. I tried support groups, but when they didn't work I began to fall apart. Bit by bit. That's when I met the spirit. Ronin was everywhere.'

:: INSIDE OUT - Director Andy Waller - 9 mins ::
Joseph Rushen is a techno-geek, surveillance expert and hermit who spends his days spying on his family and imagining scenarios in which he is the centre the universe. How did he come to be like this and who is the mysterious figure reappearing in each of Joe's fantasies? And how will he respond to the fire downstairs? Local film-maker Andy Waller's directorial debut combines soap opera realism with quick-cut voyeurism. Just don't forget to turn left at Mars!

:: HAIRCUT HARDMAN - Director Graham Ball - 15 mins ::
First screening of this new noir thriller from S-I-A Films after its recent premiere at the Hollywood Underground Film Festival. Tony Baxter is head barman in a South London pub. He has developed a perpetual headache and is beginning to believe that his customers are talking about him behind his back. Fuelled by the fear that he might also have a brain tumour, Tony's chronic and dangerous paranoia and disintegrating personality lead him to shave his head and wander the streets of London's West End.

:: MIDFIELDING - Director Ste McGregor - 4 mins ::
First cinema screening of the cult music video from this well-known Brighton animator in which stand-up comic, Noel Fielding, delivers an hilarious monologue to a club hit from Midfield General.

:: VENUS AND MARS (trailer) - Director Kieron Butler - 2 mins ::
This trailer promotes a new feature from Brighton film-maker Kieron Butler. The film received it's premiere screening in the 2002 Hastings Film Festival and was shown by invitation at last month's Britspotting film festival in Berlin.

For more information about Venus and Mars, visit: www.venusandmarsthemovie.com

:: STORY OF A STAR - Directors MetaLuna - 1 min ::
The 1950s gave birth to a range of new synthetics benefiting women. The Deering Milliken Research Corporation sponsored a visually striking production to push Agilon, a 'new and better stretch yarn for stockings'. Using material sourced from the Internet Movie Archive, Brighton-based VJs metaLuna (SupaFlySista & RandomFX) have reinterpreted this footage to a dark and foreboding sound track.

For more information about metaLuna's work, visit: www.metaLuna.net

:: THE MEETING PLACE - Director Richard Harris - 21 mins ::
We couldn't resist including this delightful film about the old Meeting Place cafe, first seen at last year's Festival. It closed its faded shutters for the last time in December 2002 and the projection screen for tonight's show will stand precisely on the spot occupied by the original structure. With the help of some of its more eccentric customers, The Meeting Place tells the story of the original cafe which dispensed tea and cakes to locals and visitors alike for almost 80 years. The film was recently broadcast on Sky TV's Sussex Today programme.

(Left) The Lord Mayor of Brighton & Hove opens the new Meeting Place cafe on January 6 2003, assisted by BBC Radio's Joanne Good and Rodney Posner, owner of cafe since 1978.

For more information about this film, visit www.bigbamboo.org.uk

:: SEASIDE PRIDE - Director Will Jewell - 3 mins ::
This film from local film-maker, Will Jewell, is a lively split-screen look at last year's huge Gay Pride festival, documenting the sights, sounds, colours and eye-catching costumes.

:: HORSEBOY GETS A GUN - Director: Jane Couldrey - 5 mins ::
Using a mixture of live action and animation, this highly original take on the Western genre tells a story of cowboy adventure and true love. Half-man and half-beast, Horseboy longs to be with his horsey love, but also seeks human-style adventure on the range. His gang of seven magnificent desperados inevitably destroys itself in a spectacular shoot out at the Carrousel corral. Will Horseboy ride off into the sunset to find true horsey love? And what became of his gun?