FLATPICKS: LUCILE BOURLIAUD
1) Holorama
The greatest joy of working for Flatpack is being able to bring this kind of treasure trove to Birmingham. Digital artist Jeff Desom and model-maker Olivier Pesch spent months working on this crazy project. You'll have exactly six days to go and check it out at Millennium Point. Olivier will be around, in case you have questions about how to make a miniature bowling ball.
2) Supernatural
I love all the shorts in competition, but I have a soft spot for this batch, featuring works by some of my favourite female animators. The wonderful worlds depicted in these films will leave you filled with amazement and satisfied like after a good bedtime story.
3) Fraud
It is only natural that such an uncategorisable film should find its place in the programme. Not a short and not a feature, Fraud runs at 52 minutes and blurs the lines between genres (documentary? found footage? hoax?) to deliver a clever satire of consumer's society. A surprisingly gripping tour de force.
Live performances are often the highlight of the festival, and what makes it so special. Having missed them all last year, I'm decided to make up for it this time, with this colourful electronic duo playing at the BMI on Friday night.
Delicate, touching, tragic and funny all at once, this stop motion animated feature is the last film to have made me shed a tear. Well worth waking up on Sunday morning, to purify your soul after a night of hard-partying with Club Fierce.