Bristol’s role as an international centre for the film industry is enhanced next week when the curtain goes up on the city’s 20th Encounters short film festival.
The UK’s leading short film and animation festival, it takes place from next Tuesday to Sunday. The theme of this year’s Festival is 20/20 Looking Back to Look Forward. 
Encounters will this year celebrate 20 years of short film with a programme of unmissable films, live performances, radical debates and forward-thinking visions in sound and image. Bringing the city to the forefront of the international film circuit, the Watershed, Arnolfini and new venue Cube Microplex will play host to a total of 119 events throughout the six days.
The festival will kick off its 20th celebrations with Desert Island Flicks with writer and critic Will Self on Tuesday at the Arnolfini. Discussing a number of his favourite films, Self will delve deep into his archive and discuss why his chosen films warrant special attention.
This year’s Cinema – Live! will take place at the Arnolfini from Tuesday to Thursday, livening up festival nights with three evenings of Live Audio Visual Performance presenting forward thinking visions in sound and image.
Encounters will mark two decades of technological change with the UK premier of the much awaited film version of Vinyl Requiem (replayed). Created by sound artist Philip Jeck in collaboration with visual artist Lol Sargent, this reinvention of a one-off audio-visual performance of remarkable force and scale sees Jeck perform live with his on screen digitised self.
Encounters 2014 and Arnolfini present a new commissioned performance by Benedict Drew, a British artist who works across video, sculpture, music and their associated technologies.
A series of events will explore the legacy of Scottish-born animator, Norman McLaren (1914–1987) through subsequent generations of filmmakers, audio-visual artists, and musicians exploring animated sound. As part of McLaren 2014, five big screen electronic performances will blur the lines between sound and image, cinema and club in Cine-Seizure – an immersive audio visual night presenting Benjamin Damage (with Panther Panther!), COH & Frank, Konx-Om-Pax, HOL, Thor Magnusson.
More than 200 competition films will be shown at the Watershed during the festival. Presenting some of the best new short and animated films from the UK, Europe and around the world, the competition programmes include the ever popular music video and late lounge screenings along with the high-anticipated new comedy category.
A centrepiece of this year’s festival, the Encounters Retrospective will demonstrate how the festival has helped set the international benchmark for short film and animation for two decades.
The festival has handpicked 20 outstanding short films that represent the creativity, diversity and impact of short film and these will be played in a brand new format – a free Perpetual Cinema running continuously throughout the evenings and weekend. Audiences are invited to drop in at any time and contemplate the festival’s choice of short films that impacted on the world in unique and individual ways.
On its 20th anniversary, Encounters combines forces with the Centre for Moving Image in Bristol (CMIR) to launch this year’s Festival Debate ‘What is radical now’ and what this word actually means (Friday to Sunday at Arnolfini and Cube Microplex).
The debate will explore the impact of aesthetics, politics, activism and art in a one-day symposium on radicalism in film and the moving image.
Alongside this, a weekend of events has been organised to explore counterculture short film making, fascinating TV experiments and the physicality of Super 8 and film footage as a form of resistance. This radical journey through film includes the screening of Cinema do Desbunde (Counterculture Cinema) from Brazil.
Encounters Festival’s new festival director, Debbi Lander said: “Encounters began life 20 years ago as a one-off event, and has since grown into a significant international platform for developing and celebrating creativity, innovation and talent in film. We hope audiences will be engaged, questioned and inspired by the diverse events we have programmed this year.
“When the festival began we were moving out of the analogue age and into digital so for our 20th birthday we wanted to look back at this history while looking forward to what lies ahead, allowing us to address what the future looks like for film and animation.
“Our festival programme this year is both nostalgic and progressive, allowing anyone who comes along to get involved in the debate surrounding film and the digital age.”
To view the full programme and to book tickets, visit www.encounters-festival.org.uk.
