As part of my Film Studies course at De Montfort University and in partnership with The Phoenix Cinema in Leicester, I collaborated with my peers to develop a film festival that would be held at that same entertainment venue. I worked on a variety of aspects of this project but I was more closely involved with the Mystery Film Event.
Unfortunately, most of the festival had to be canceled due to the first outburst of covid cases and our event never got to be realized, however, there was still a lot of work put into the preparation for this Festival.
The festival would be held from the 14th of march to the 22nd, the date was coming closer and there were still some choices to be made as well as some planning to be made. Around a month prior to the festival, we were visited by a graphic designer who presented us with multiple ideas for the brochure and the overall look of the festival, personally, I was a big advocate for the style that included blacked-out text and high contrast of color as I believed it delivered striking imagery that caught the attention of the viewer as well as being a pleasing poster.
Our group started to develop a variety of interactive events that could happen after our film and make it a more interesting experience. After a few weeks of consideration, we came down to a pretty solid plan that would not only attract more people but would provide those interested an original immersive experience.
To start, we narrowed down our list of possible films:
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Memento (2000) – Christopher Nolan [As one of the most underrated Nolan films and since the director was planning on releasing a new feature on the summer of the same year it would be a great opportunity to visit this piece. Along with this the film deals with missing memories and an unsolved murder which fits perfectly in the festival’s theme.]
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Klute (1971) – Alan J. Pakula [Being a sleeper hit during the 70’s and having its plot revolving around a mystery disappearance we thought the film would provide a different and decent experience to the Mystery Film audience.]
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Notorious (1946) – Alfred Hitchcock [Showcasing one of Hitchcock’s earliest films was an obvious choice, especially for film enthusiast we believed that this film would provide an original experience since the majority of people have not watched it in the cinema. Furthermore, it delves into the secrets of the nation which is a subject many find interesting and appealing while still in theme with the festival.]
We chose to go with Memento due to its mass appeal as well as the opportunity that it gave up making a detective-type immersive experience.
After weeks of work and much planning we settled on a final schedule for the Festival:
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Saturday 14th March – The Conversation @ 6pm with Introduction by DMU Film Lecturer Ian Hunter
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Monday 16th March – Mulholland Drive @ 8.15pm with a themed exhibition afterward and Hollywood cocktails.
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Wednesday 18th March – Film Quiz @ 8.30pm
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Friday 20th March – Pop Up Event: A Quiet Place @ 6.45pm at the Guildhall with a ghost talk afterward
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Friday 20th March – Mystery Film (Memento) @ 8.15pm with a raffle happening before the screening
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Saturday 21st March – Atlantis The Lost Empire @ 11am with crafts, face-painting and activities before and after the film for the younger audience.
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Saturday 21st March – Double Bill: Clue & Knives Out @ 6.30pm/8.30pm
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Sunday 22nd March – The Death of Stalin @ 12pm part of Phoenix’s Lazy Sunday Offer and with a real-life comedic re-enactment of the funeral of Stalin
The Mystery Film group had to organize the team for the event therefore we separated roles for the day so that everything would go according to plan, I would be checking the tickets and giving the raffle tickets at the entry while there would be three other people Rebecca, Tim and Aidan people directing people to their seats, Connor, on the other hand, was going to present the raffle winners so he would be up in the stage. In the end, we would return to the same places to receive the forms back and then would all clean the cinema room.