Urban Visionaries (support: The British Council)
Composed by Helen de Witt (Great Britain),
Presented by Rhidian Davis.

Is a unique collection of artists' films, commissioned by the London Film and Video Development Agency and representing the depth of the talent pool of artists working in the film medium. At a time when more and more visual artists are experimenting with the film medium , this diverse programme of shorts re-evaluates and challenges cliched preconceptions of what "experimental" means. These are visionary films
offering an eclectic mix of fiction and fact, extending the boundaries of the often conventional and conformist world of short film. 
This is a programme guaranteed to transfix audiences. And the diverse group of filmmakers represented here will be available to introduce
screenings and talk about their work. 

	Noodle Soup (Pho) Dir: Uyen Luu UK 2001 20mins 16mm Uyen travels to Vietnam for the first time in 20 years to see her country and her people. This film about her search for identity is both visually stunning and profoundly moving as Uyen comes to recognise that her Vietnamese identity has been suppressed by her struggle to integrate in the western world. The film has screened at festivals all over the world and won best Documentary at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival
	Dog of My Dreams Dir: Roz Mortimer UK 2001 10mins 35mm A contemporary bestiary of the twenty-first century, with a tongue-in-cheek look at relationships between dogs and girls. A subversive and witty film which merges voice and text with surreal and constructed images. Roz Mortimer's previous work includes the very popular Wormcharmer and Bloodsports for Girls.
	Episodes from the Life of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Dir: Paul Bush UK 2001 6mins 35mm A re-enactment of extracts from the 1941 Spencer Tracy version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in which the bodies of the original actors are replaced in every single frame by a series of different actors. Cinematic psychosis, in which the narrative remains superficially intact. Paul Bush is one of the busiest artists on the international festival circuit, and is the director of classic animations His Comedy and The Albatross.
	Everyday Something Dir: Carol Morley UK 2001 15mins 35mm Drawing on Carol's extensive collection of newspaper cuttings, this film explores ideas of boredom and mundanity and is a poetic rendering of everyday life in crisis. Carol Morley's The Alcohol Years was one of the most talked about documentaries of 2000 and winner of a special Grierson award. Here Carol returns to her short film roots with initially hilarious results, but what darkness lurks behind the surreal suburban anecdotes?
	Perfidia Dir: Cordelia Swann UK 2001 15mins betaSP A slightly unhinged chronicle of a year, with flashbacks and film clips, in the life and imagination of a woman confined to her flat. Autobiographical and confessional from the director of the trilogy Out West, Desert Rose and Back East.
	Bekky Ykkeb Dir: Alnoor Dewshi UK 2001 3 mins BetaSP
	Do You Love Me? Dir: Alnoor Dewshi UK 2001 3 mins betaSP  Two shorts from the ever ingenious and talented director of Jomeo and Ruliet. In the first film Bekky meets herself in the garden. But which one is she? And the second is a home movie of an intimate moment of idiocy. Alnoor Dewshi's work has been distributed nation-wide on general release with a feature film and also handed out on free vhs tapes in a London street market.

Commissioned by London Film and Video Development Agency and funded by Arts Council of England, London Arts, East London FiIm Fund and Carlton Television. Premiered as a programme at Brief Encounters 2001 in Bristol. 

Contacts
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Tel./Fax: 007 095 950 09 92
E-mail: mediaforum@mediaartlab.ru
URL: http://www.mediaartlab.ru/