News / Coast to coast Olympic film relay
SHETLAND’S contribution towards the London 2012 Festival being held as part of the Olympic Games celebrations is a relay of short films made by ordinary people to be shown at 21 venues across the country.
This week Shetland Arts launched the Hansel of Film website at hansel2012.org where people can submit a film, volunteer to become a “runner” transporting films from venue to venue or sign up to attend a screening.
Hansel is the Shetland dialect word for a special gift to commemorate something new.
The relay begins in Shetland on 10 June when the Olympic torch relay reaches the islands at its most northerly point, and will culminate in a marathon screening of more than 100 short films at Screenplay, Shetland’s annual film festival, between 4 and 9 September.
The Hansel of Film has the backing of film critic Mark Kermode and film historian Linda Ruth Williams, who curate Screenplay and will greet the runners at the relay’s halfway point in Southampton’s Harbour Lights cinema.
The couple said: “We are delighted to be launching this exciting, nationally inclusive film relay, which will encompass many of the nations and regions of the UK and will spread the spirit of the London 2012 Festival from Shetland to Southampton and back again.
“We are looking forward to involving filmmakers, cinemas and arts venues who are as enthusiastic as we are about taking movies on the road to celebrate the summer of London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Submissions are being welcomed from all ages and walks of life, and can be about any subject and take any form from documentary to music video. However they must be no longer than five minutes long and be suitable for general viewing.
The runners will carry the films from venue to venue in whatever imaginative way they can devise, with Shetland Arts covering expenses along the way.
Project manager Kathy Hubbard said: “Hansel of Film is truly a coast-to-coast project and we are looking forward to the many new friends and relationships that will be made as we visit over 20 venues and communities.
“This is about celebrating the creativity of the public at large, and about bringing people together to enjoy films on screens large and small around the British Isles.”
Tickets for the events are free and can also be booked via the Hansel of Film website.
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