Hello readers of The Spread, and welcome to our latest issue!
March was business as usual for Cinema Jam, with two big events that were our main focus. On the 17th there was the monthly Jam Session, where we had our usual short film screening once again at the Corbet Bar and Lounge. MOFILM sponsored the event, which saw the screening of four brilliant films, including Adolfo Di Molfetta’s animation Il pasticcere and Philip Kelly’s comedy Scratch. As always, a big thanks goes out to all the Jammers that jammed with us this month!
The second big event of the month was the Casting Masterclass on the 24th. A public event at the Hackney Attic, we partnered with Casting Networks for a discussion on casting for independent films. We were joined for a Q&A by Luke Brady, former studio manager at Nash Studios, and Thabo Mhlatshwa, former casting assistant, both of whom are now working as filmmakers.
As we move onto April, we’ve of course got a brand new issue of our magazine, which this time is all about adaptations. Our excellent team of writers have put together a varied set of reviews, features and interviews, all of which focus on movies adapted from previous material.
Movies based on Phillip K. Dick stories are the focus of Sammy Ward’s latest article, which discusses films such as Blade Runner and Minority Report. Juggy Sohal talks directly about the adaptation process, analyzing the best films adapted from popular book series and why they’re so successful.
Joe Morgan tackles video game adaptations, arguing that the PS2 classic The Getaway would be the perfect game to make the transition to the big screen. I’ve also got a feature on sequels, and why the current domination of them at the box office isn’t as bad for creativity or originality as it seems.
Earlier this month I posted my review of Insurgent, and since then I’ve also gone to see the great new Shaun The Sheep Movie. Juggy Sohal’s also got a review of The Duff, a film which he feels is one of the best teen comedies in recent memory. On the side of classic reviews, I took a look back at the original Psycho and its awful 1998 remake. Finally, Catherine Goldschmidt joins us with our first tech review, of Arri/Zeiss’ Master Anamorphics set.
Our interview section is also loaded this month. Marija Makeska spoke with two actors and a director about their work on recent films. First, there’s Goldy Notay, an actress who’s starring in the upcoming comedy Amar, Akbar and Tony, inspired by the Bollywood comedy Amar, Akbar and Anthony. Next, there’s Martin Delaney, also a star of Amar, Akbar and Tony, as well as the star of the recent indie horror film Judas Ghost. Finally, she also interviewed Simon Pearce, Judas Ghost‘s rising young director.
Our Jammer of the Month for April is BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Destiny Ekaragha, who has seen great success recently with her debut feature film, Gone Too Far!, based on Bola Agbaje’s play of the same name. I spoke with her about her approach to directing, and in our Jammer of the Month feature you can learn all about her work.
This month’s Jam Session will as always be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, this time being the 21st. As always, it’ll be a short film screening at the Corbet Bar & Lounge, and MOFILM will be sponsoring us once again. We hope to see you there!
We are encouraging submissions of feature films as well as shorts, so contact us if you have a feature you’d like us to consider!
An additional thanks goes out to Cinema Jam fans of the Twitterverse, as we have now reached 2000 followers! Follow us @CinemaJam if you haven’t already!
Stay #jammin and have a great April!
