The Edinburgh International Film Festival presents a grand showcase of UK talent every year in its Gala section, and the second year of the Skillset Trailblazers initiative shows nothing less than a full commitment - with a considerable selection of films created from talent established from previous years. EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill noted "Our feature programme abounds with UK talent," and that it "was really hard to narrow our lists down."
Trailblazers are selected up-and-coming individuals given mentoring and introductory services by key members of the UK film industry, promotion and festival guidance.
This year's EIFF programme Trailblazers were:-
Lol Crawley: Cinematographer, Better Things
David Bloom: Writer, Donkey Punch
Lisa Trnovski: Producer, Mum And Dad
Tony Slater-Ling: Cinematographer, Summer
Joe Lawlor: Co-writer/Director, Helen
Christine Molloy: Co-writer/Director, Helen
Alia Alzougbi: Actress, Trouble Sleeping
Thomas Turgoose: Actor, Somers Town
Nichola Burley: Actress, Donkey Punch
Gideon Koppel: Director, sleep furiously
Skillset supported the new release Faintheart, the 2008 EIFF Closing Night Gala choice, extensively. Director Vito Rocco was supported by a Skillset programme which eases the transition between short and feature filmmaking. Previous Trailblazers have returned to this year's EIFF: prolific producer of Sugarhouse Rachael Connors was named a Trailblazer in 2007 and has returned to the EIFF with two films: Bananaz, which follows the band Gorillaz and premieres as part of the Mirrorball section, and the aforementioned Faintheart. This union of Skillset Screen Academy and the EIFF brings forth a grand display of cultural and storytelling riches.
There were several public events planned to showcase all this, and the most entertaining was with the deserved winner of the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature, Shane Meadows. He gave a thoroughly entertaining and likable Skillset in Person lecture on the nitty gritty of getting his movies made. The whole success story was told, right from his career starting almost by accident, when he blagged his way onto a media skills course for disadvantaged society members, grabbed camera and started shooting simple stories with himself as the leading men, women and children. This took off rapidly, garnering more attention from friends and others; he eventually arrested Stephen Woolley's attention with the quality of his storytelling skills. They did a deal to produce TwentyFourSeven, a work Meadows is clearly very proud of.
And the rest, as they say, is history. The idea that comes across throughout is that while quality filmmaking is not easy, the playing field has never been so level. Entry-level video editing tools are available for peanuts, and encouraging newcomers to use "free versions of software" and get their story ideas off the ground, no matter how simple. He's an engaging speaker, with plenty of wry laughs coming throughout. His genially off-colour story of Kate Dickie, the masseusse, was hilarious and delightful.
Another of the ideas that Meadows was keen to promote is how film and the act of creation has a power to enrich lives. His own, and that of this year's Actor selection Thomas Turgoose, fresh from the success of This Is England and now in Somers Town. Meadows noted Turgoose "had a very rocky life up until he started acting", and waxed lyrical about how the movies have saved him and how he's "getting scripts every day". Like 2007 Trailblazer Sam Riley, plucked from obscurity in a Leeds warehouse, the movies offered a vent for his creative skills.
There was also a Skillset Trailblazers party for those film students selected for the Trailblazers scheme in 2008. They are as follows (each of these movies are showcased in the Trailblazing Shorts strand):-
Bournemouth Screen Academy Justin Brown: Cinematographer, Open Skies Rob Brown: Director, Open Skies Stacey Bradshaw: Director/Character animator, In The Spotlight Samantha Jordan: Director/Background animator, In The Spotlight
Screen Academy Scotland John Douglas Dodds: Director, Geriatrics The Musical, ECA Catriona Craig: Director, The Problem With Pets, Napier
The London Film School Ong Chantarangkul: Director/Writer, Wings Of Blue Angels Natalie Higashi: Producer, Wings Of Blue Angels Rémi Borgeaud: Director/Writer, A Riff For Lazaro Miri Shapiro: Editor, A Riff For Lazaro
The National Film & TV School Ian Clark: Director/Writer, Outcasts Megan Stuart Wallace: Producer/Writer, Outcasts
Skillset Screen Academy Wales Felix Massie: Director/Writer/Animator, Keith Reynolds Can't Make It Tonight, Wales Yiorgos Moustakis: Director/Writer/Producer, Mari, Wales Firman Machda: Director, Empty Space, Wales
Paul Andrew Williams (recipient of the Skillset New Directors award in 2006 for London To Brighton and director of The Cottage) was also there, to give advice and discuss how the Skillset scheme can assist in launching their respective careers.
