{"id":9609,"date":"2015-11-16T08:03:19","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T11:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/?p=9609"},"modified":"2016-01-12T05:13:41","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T08:13:41","slug":"aesthetica-short-film-festival-2015-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/aesthetica-short-film-festival-2015-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2015 In Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mar<\/a><\/p>\n

Aesthetica Short Film Festival<\/a>, the BAFTA-qualifying festival set across and in some cases carving out cultural spaces in the city of York, marked its fifth anniversary in 2015. Once again, 300 films were on show across fifteen venues and four days. Beyond the genres of drama, comedy, thriller, documentary, animation, music video, family friendly, experimental, and artists’ film, this year – after their introduction as part of the 2014 iteration of ASFF<\/a> – saw fashion and advertising return for a second stint, and the debut of films devoted to dance.<\/p>\n

Three special anniversary screenings brought together category award winners from the past five years, with panels afterwards discussing the celebrated works. Brazil, China, and Cuba were the guest countries for 2015, while there was also a showcase of films in French. And ‘The Raft of the Medusa’<\/a>, the hour-long radio play by Simon Armitage set to visuals by Richard Heslop – inspired by the filmmaker Derek Jarman and the artist Theodore Gericault, and first aired in its audio form on BBC Radio 4 earlier this year – probed\u00a0themes of flooding and isolation with a single showing on Friday.<\/p>\n

As usual there were masterclasses, workshops, talks, and networking sessions with industry figures from the likes of Ridley Scott Associates, Channel 4, and the National Theatre. There was an opening event across the long Thursday evening, a party on Friday night, and an awards ceremony come the close of proceedings on Sunday<\/a>. And in an understated but highly practical\u00a0addition to ASFF, the festival’s first videotheque, hosted at Explore York, afforded attendees the chance to experience the full catalogue of shorts. In all I managed\u00a0to attend nine screenings and view\u00a051 films.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Drama 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘M as in Martha’<\/strong>, a German film by the director Lena Knauss, is a cutely\u00a0composed but insubstantial tale\u00a0of forsaken romance. A young couple, Helene and Martha, summer in a small village in Poland, staying at a cottage frequented by Martha as a girl. From the outset, Helene – the narrator of the piece – struggles to grasp her love, knowing little of Martha’s background, and realising that this headstrong waifish woman, alternately carefree and taciturn, will not easily be possessed. Considering whether Martha loves her in return, she intuits that Martha would answer ‘yes’ to the question without knowing herself that it is a lie.<\/p>\n