The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum in Lisbon

The latest episode of our pre-constructed adventure serial of the future, UNIVERSAL EAR, will receive its world (festival) premiere at IndieLisboa International Festival of Independent Cinema this May. The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum also played in a temporary cinema during Mr Cole's solo exhibition at Bandits-Mages in November. It marks the Institute's return to IndieLisboa ten years after It's Nick's Birthday received a Special Mention from the Jury at the 2009 edition - although a tight connection has been maintained between the festival and the Institute in the interim, through our presence on the prize jury in 2013 and attendance in support of colleague Aleksandra Niemczyk's work in 2016 and 2018. From wherever you're sat, it's a good festival.

Synopsis: Time-travelling record producer Harley Byrne crash-lands in a virtual reality heritage theme park in 22nd-century France. Corrupt holograms, cyborg saints, and sentient statues haunt an absurdist Super-8 universe, digitally re-colourized for your pleasure!

EVENT: UNIVERSAL EAR: The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum at IndieLisboa '19.
PROGRAM: International Shorts

WHERE: Culturgest - Pequeno Auditório, Edifício-sede da Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Rua Arco do Cego, 50, 1000–300 Lisbon

WHEN: Sunday 5th May, 2019, 21.45 & Wednesday 8th May, 2019, 17.00

COST: €4.50
NOTES: Writer/Director Graeme Cole will be in attendance for the Sunday screening (and potential intro/Q&A duty).

IndieLisboa'13: The jury's long since returned

If you've been following the Institute's other social networking platforms closely, you'll already be aware that at the end of April I was honoured to be part of the international short film jury at IndieLisboa'13 International Festival of Independent Cinema. (Our short musical It's Nick's Birthday received a Special Mention from the Jury at IndieLisboa'09).

Along with my esteemed fellow jurors Inês Nadais and Tess Renaudo, we saw over 70 short films before talking, eating, drinking and dancing ourselves to a verdict. Thousands of € and millions of prestige were bestowed upon our chosen ones: a full run down on the winning films can be seen below, or here.

I elaborated on some of the recurring themes and stylistic tendencies of the program in a fascinating piece over on Neil Young's Jigsaw Lounge. So read that.