Making Waves Film Festival

Tag: 2022

IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE
Making Waves will join film festivals across Europe in showing solidarity with Ukraine. From film screenings to a fundraiser for the Disasters Emergency Committee, we’re shining a spotlight on Ukrainian film.
Film has always had the power to bring people together. Even now, with Ukraine’s cinemas closed, the Ukrainian people are still watching films. President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested that Ukraine’s biggest film archive screen a series of Soviet-films in metro stations from Kyiv to Kharkiv, where residents have sought shelter from the war.
Outside of Ukraine, pro-Ukrainian sentiment has swept across Europe’s film festivals. Festivals in Berlin, Venice and Sarajevo have screened Ukrainian films in solidarity. Other festivals have gone even further. Cannes and Venice have chosen to ban official Russian delegations while others such as Glasgow Film Festival and Stockholm International Film Festival are boycotting films funded by Russia. Here at Making Waves we are running two events to show our solidarity with Ukraine.
MWFF & The Front Room present ‘HOME’ a fundraiser for DEC Ukraine appeal
Friday 22rd April 7-10pm at No 6 Cinema
Making Waves and The Front Room have partnered to raise money for The Disasters Emergency Committee with a fundraising event. HOME will include an eclectic mix of spoken word, live animation and a selection of short films by Ukrainian filmmakers. For us, home is a place of shelter, security and nourishment, something we would like to celebrate and share with you.
The DEC delivers effective and timely relief to people most in need. With more than 10 million people haveing fled their homes to escape conflict in Ukraine, the DEC is raising money for shelter, food and water.
We invite you to donate directly to the DEC Ukrainian Humanitarian fund via our Just Giving Page. To buy a ticket for this event please make a donation of what you can afford. One donation equals one ticket and we suggest £10 or more.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mwff-home
HOMEWARD (cert 15) 2019
Saturday 23rd April 7pm at No 6 Cinema
Having lost his oldest son in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Mustafa resolves to take the boy’s body to his native land: Crimea. Together, he and his younger son set out on a journey that will profoundly mark their relationship.
In solidarity with the Ukrainian film industry we will be screening Homeward. Ukrainian filmmaker Nariman Aliev’s debut feature premiered at Festival de Cannes 2019 and was nominated for Un Certain Regard. Acclaimed by critics and audiences, Homeward is a powerful road movie following a father and son united by grief, travelling across a war-torn land.
Despite being one of Ukraine’s finest films in recent years, Homeward is just one film in a rich and vibrant history of Ukrainian cinema. The Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre (Dovzhenko Centre) in Kiev is the largest Ukrainian film archive with an extensive collection that includes over 7,000 feature films, documentaries, animated films and thousands of archival records from the history of Ukrainian film.
In times of war it’s important to remember that art and humanity are inextricably linked. We are honoured to be screening Homeward and hope you will join us in celebrating Ukrainian culture.
https://www.no6cinema.co.uk/films/making-waves-film-festival-presents-homeward

Making Waves Film Festival runs in partnership with No 6 Cinema in the Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth and is supported by BFI FAN, BFI NETWORK, Camera Crate, Tilly Films, Euroscript, University of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Guildhall.
April 12, 2022
SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL FILM TALENT: Meet the Nominees
Say hello to the five talented directors from the Solent region nominated for Best Local Film. Here at Making Waves Film Festival we’re all about recognising and celebrating the very best of local filmmaking talent. Read all about our official selection below and join us on April 20th at Portsmouth Guildhall to see these bold and innovative short films.
Joe Burbidge, dir. DISEMBODIED
Disembodied, dir. Joe Burbidge
After Todd accidentally decapitates his lifelong friend Marcus, he tries to preserve their friendship the only way he can think how: in the fridge.
Joe Burbidge is a director based in the Solent area. He is a self confessed “lover of the abnormal” and it’s no surprise his creative process involves indulging his weird and wacky side through the medium of film.
Benjamin Cook, dir. THE BEAST
The Beast, dir. Benjamin Cook
Trapped in a cabin nestled deep within the woods, a man struggles to cope with the demands of a creature that feeds at nightfall.
In 2015 Benjamin Cook graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a First Class Honours degree in Film Production. His graduate film went onto travel film festivals across the world. Since leaving university Benjamin has started a production house and is on the lookout for interesting and exciting creative projects.
Tim Faraday, dir. COME THE DAWN
Burdened by loss, Isaac’s journey to the evergreen takes an eerie turn to the bitter truth.
Tim Faraday is a successful actor and director with a track record of festival-selected films. He is co-founder of Square Peg Films, an independent film company who embrace their eponymous philosophy.
Nicole Barbosa Filipe and Tomás Romão Arreigota, dir. MOÇA
SAUDADE – the feeling of hurt, nostalgia and rawness caused by absence or disappearance from something or someone.
Co-directors Nicole Barbosa Filipe and Tomás Romão Arreigota are film students at the University of Portsmouth. Sharing a passion for cinema since childhood, Nicole and Tomás are determined to forge successful careers in visual arts. Nicole is currently working as an assistant editor at Bro Cinema in Portugal for her year abroad.
Jack Lucas Smith, dir. THE JAMES MODEL
James is an AI software engineer working for ARCA. Virtual assistant malfunctioning and a conversation with his boss begin to confuse James. He feels more tired than normal. Why?
Jack Lucas Smith is a film student at Portsmouth University. An aspiring director, photography and graphic art are among his many creative skills. The James Project was produced in association with Oxford University and the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Institute.
MWFF Local Films Screening & Get Networked Event
Join us on from 5pm on April 20th at Portsmouth Guildhall for our Get Networked event.
In addition to screening our Local Film Shortlist, we’ll be hosting BFI NETWORK Talent Executive Alix Taylor-Searle. Alix will talk through the upcoming call out for BFI NETWORK Short Film Production Funding and Early Development Feature Funding, which both close for applications in May. There will also be a Q&A with a filmmaker about their experiences working on a BFI NETWORK short film project.
So, if you want to know more about how your short film could make our official selection next year, come along!
Tickets: FREE (but you must book)
For more information visit our GET NETWORKED! events page: https://makingwavesfilmfestival.com/get-networked/
Book your ticket via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/making-waves-film-festival-2022-200779
April 11, 2022
ALI & AVA: ONCE UPON A TIME IN BRADFORD
Realism meets romance in Clio Barnard’s refreshing love story.
Nominated for two BAFTA’s (Outstanding British Film and Best Actor), Ali & Ava is the centrepiece of Making Waves Film Festival 2022. Written and directed by Clio Barnard, this contemporary romance is a bold move for one of Britain’s most talented and original filmmakers.
Barnard has earned widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for The Arbor (2010), The Selfish Giant (2013) and Dark River (2017). Exploring dark and tragic themes across post-industrial and rural Yorkshire with a mix of professional and non-actors, her cinematic social realism and poetic naturalism has been compared to Ken Loach and Lynne Ramsay. Ali & Ava, a feel-good romance, might seem a surprising follow up.
Ali & Ava meet in the rain. Ali is a happy-go-lucky landlord who occasionally gives his tenants’ daughter Sofia a lift to school. Ava is Sofia’s classroom assistant. Ali & Ava’s first encounter is fleeting, little more than a glance. Their second is a rain-drenched journey across Bradford as Ali offers reluctant Ava a lift home. Add a frisson of sexual tension and we have a classic meet-cute. Sounds like the start of a romcom? It is… sort of.
Adeel Akhtar’s Ali and Claire Rushbrook’s Ava are the eponymous star-crossed lovers embarking on a secret romance. A Bradford-born DJ and landlord, Ali lives in the predominantly South Asian neighbourhood of BD3 with his estranged wife Runa. He is determined to keep their separation hidden from his Bengal British Muslim family.
Ava is a teaching assistant from an Irish Catholic family. A widow whose husband was an abusive bully, she lives in the white working class neighbourhood of BD4. Her house is always open, a revolving door of children and grandchildren.
Ali loves dance music and when Ava shares her love of folk and country he thinks their friendship is over before it has begun.
“Oh that’s it, that’s it for me,” he says jokingly offering to pull the car over.
But this is a love story and it’s not long before Ali is dancing on the sofa to Sylvan Esso’s Radio next to Ava singing along to Karen Dalton’s Something On Your Mind: a headphone disco for two. It’s an extraordinary scene, a worthy addition to any list of all-time-great-romantic-movie-moments.
Of course, once upon a time comes before happy ever after and Barnard’s middle-aged protagonists have plenty of obstacles to overcome. Ava’s son Callum is fiercely opposed to her new relationship and chases Ali from the house while wielding a sword. Ali is still desperately in love with his first wife who longs for him to reveal their separation to his family. Ava still struggles with the memory of her abusive partner. Thinking he’s having an affair, Ali’s sister accuses him of running around with a “gori (white) chav.”
The history of romance in film has been rocky to say the least. With the great love stories consigned to the 20th century golden age of cinema, for many the genre is now synonymous with “fluff,” “melodrama,” and “clichés.” It is interesting then to note that Ali & Ava marks an evolution, not a departure, from the sombre reflection of Barnard’s early work. While Barnard treads fearlessly onto romantic ground with Ali & Ava, she retains her trademark social realism.
“If you’re brave enough to climb up, you’ve got to be brave enough to climb down,” says Ava with practised patience to Sofia who gets stuck on the school climbing frame.
If you’re brave enough to show the love, you’ve got to be brave enough to show the pain. Such is the thesis of Ali & Ava. While the film leans into pain and trauma, it never dwells. Romance is tempered with reality and, in Barnard’s words, “joy becomes an act of defiance”. Nowhere is this clearer than when a group of schoolchildren throw stones at Ali’s car as he drives Ava home. Ali quickly wins them over by turning up the stereo in his car and encouraging them to sing and dance along.
As Ali & Ava cultivate space for love in their complicated lives, it becomes apparent that love is a choice. It doesn’t negate the pain, it isn’t a miracle cure. Sometimes choosing love is the more difficult choice. Barnard reminds us it’s the right one.
After all, she chose love when she decided to make a diagetic romantic musical set in Bradford. With its euphoric soundtrack, Ali & Ava is a love letter not just to its titular characters but to the city. Bradford is beautifully shot by Judy cinematography Ole Birkeland with twinkling lights, less a post-industrial wasteland waiting for the Conservatives to level up the North; more a city of hope. Unlike most romantic films the central couple don’t exist in a vacuum and neither does the film. As Ali and Ava are woven into the fabric of their community so is Barnard’s filmmaking, inspired by, made with and for the people of Bradford.
It feels important, during a time of divisiveness fuelled by politicians, Brexit polls and world events, to celebrate love and kindness. To be reminded that within the ordinary everyday we can find the most extraordinary capacity to love.
Yes, Ali & Ava is a love story. It’s also more than that. With exquisite writing, sensitive direction and mesmerising performances, Barnard’s film reminds us that the language of love is universal. More than ever we need a language we all speak to connect us and although happy ever after might not be guaranteed (no spoilers here), once upon a time is today. Love is a choice.
Making Waves Film Festival will present a special screening of Ali & Ava preceded by a Wave Makers Q&A with Score Composer Harry Escott, winner of the Best Music British Independent Film Awards 2021. Thursday 21 April at 7pm, No 6 Cinema, Portsmouth. Book online via No 6 Cinema.
By Sophie Thomas

April 5, 2022