AV News 184 - May 2011
For the first two preliminary round judging sessions we were part of the
3-man juries. Then, when sufficient potential 5 Star and prize winning films
had been identified, we were withdrawn to view these in a room set up
specifically for this purpose. It had all the appearances of a small cinema with
large screen, one permanent projectionist, etc. The beauty of being on the
Final Panel meant that we saw only the cream of the crop from then on. After
each viewing we had 6 minutes of discussion time to decide whether the film
was to retain its 5 Star rating, or increased to a rare Diamond (we chose 6 out
of 215 films), or reduced to a 4 Star.
What I hadn't expected was that we were still expected to write critiques
for each, Diamond, 5 Star or prize winning film. These had already been due
to be written up by the preliminary round judges, which meant that each of
these film's producers would receive two A4 size typewritten critiques! It was
felt that the Final Panel critiques might have a different slant, so we shared
the task. During our 6 minute discussions I found that Ron and Paul were
excellent to work with. There was diligent, fair, un-biased scrutiny with
respect for one-another's opinions and logical persuasion if our opinions
varied, which was very rare.
By this time it was Sunday evening, the preliminary round judges had
finished their work and we had had to make our final decisions. At this stage
we hadn't seen any of the candidates for the Best I minute films, the Under
16 nor the 16-21 category films. So these were viewed and prize winners
chosen. Two of the Under 16 films were animations and their quality was
exceptional. The Under 21 winner was a film of extraordinary maturity and the
young male actor gave a performance that made us contemplate awarding
him the Best Actor prize.
Then it was back to the main prize list. We were unanimous in our choice
of the winning film, a great relief. The rest of the prize winners were then
discussed at length until we were satisfied that we'd done the best possible
job. The overall standard of the films seen was very impressive, the prize
winners would grace any International screen. It's very rare that I laugh out
loud at any comedy but I must admit to almost whooping at one Animation
film which would have put Tom & Jerry to shame.
It was now midnight and I felt a certain sense of relief, I hoped I hadn't let
the AV side down. Will I be asked again? Who knows, but if I was I'd accept
like a shot, despite all the hard work, the critique writing and watching the odd
hour long film of dubious quality. By the way, there is no time limit to the
length of the films, so we did see some that were well over one hour long.
Now that the gap between Film and AV is closing, with video clips being
included in our sequences and some still images being used in film, I would
encourage any serious AV worker to go to see BIAFF films if they get the
chance to do so.
BIAFF 2011 was held at Harrogate on the 8th - 10th April at which the
Geoffrey Round Trophy prize winners were also shown.
Page 24