Buzzes from BIAFF 2007 - part two

Gala Dinner

The Gala Dinner that night was at High Rocks Inn - in a vast ancient barn done up as a smart restaurant. Its height meant that for the first time in years you could hear people at your own table over the background noise of all the other conversations. We have never yet found any dull dinner partners at these events. BIAFF delegates are an interesting crowd.

Alan Whippy	Willy Van der Linden	Etienne Van der Linden	Linda Gough	Val Ellis

The master of ceremonies was Alan Whippy, whose marvellous voice commanded attention. Willy Van der Linden made the formal toast to the IAC. His wife, Vera, could not come with him but his brother, Etienne, did. He claims to have been very nervous, but that certainly did not show. Willy and Etienne handed out Belgian chocolates to everyone. IAC Chairman, Linda Gough, responded - starting in Dutch (!). Her closing joke was being quoted all next day: "If a man in a forest is speaking and there is no woman to hear him ... is he still wrong?"

Then IAC President, Val Ellis, presented Fellowships of the Institute to outstanding IAC enthusiasts and film makers:

Annabelle Lancaster	Peter Coles	Ken Wilson	Michael Gough	Alan Atkinson

She apologised for mislaying the notes prepared by David Newman, Fellowships Officer, but her off-the-cuff comments were greeted with warm laughter and applause. Those receiving their Fellowships can now add FACI after their names: Annabelle Lancaster, Peter Coles, Ken Wilson,Willy Van der Linden, Michael Gough. The last three were FACI(M) indicating a master moviemaker. Michael Gough was already a fellow for his Institute work but wanted to earn a second for his film making.

Reg Lancaster as Chairman of the IAC's UNICA Committee presented the UNICA Gold Medal to Alan Atkinson in recognition of all his work for amateur film making in Britain and with more than a nod to the enormous success of Extinction Event at UNICA 2006.

Darren Lalonde	John Astin	Derek Mathieson	Pat Adcock	Mrs. Caseley	Kay Bamford-Burnell

Gala Show

On Sunday it was back to the High Rocks Inn - to find that in the small hours the SERIAC wizards had transformed it. The hall was divided by a black curtain with a screen on either side of it. Two projectors linked to a single source presented the image. It sounds bizarre but worked extremely well. It meant no one was more than 20 rows from a screen - a big advantage over some long, thin venues. Reg Lancaster acted as Master of Ceremonies and his image was video'd live and put on the screens which meant we did not have to peer at a distant figure. That system really came into its own when the prizes were awarded ... we could all see in detail the smiles and occasional tears in the eyes of the winners as IAC President Val Ellis presented their trophies. The day began with the new minute-movie contest. This used a knock-out formula. 16 entries had been selected by the preview judges to take part. They were drawn in pairs and after each pair had been shown the audience voted on the one to stay in play for the next round. In the next round the remaining 8 films were played against each other in pairs and so on. By the time the winner was found we had seen it four times - quite a test for a 60-second film. It was Mike Shaw's Remote Control which took the prize. All the top films - International Standard winners and Special Prize winners - were shown. There were some sombre and deeply touching films - but there were also charming comedies and documentary offerings. Michael Slowe was raving about the photography in Silence After the Day at lunchtime, but even by the afternoon tea-break there was argument about whether or not we had yet seen the absolute winner.

After the last film had been shown there was no doubt. The 2007 Daily Mail Trophy belonged to Karin & Bernhard Hausberger's A Rather Different Year. Bernhard made an emotion speech after receiving the Daily Mail Trophy. (Click to see it.) Many people told me they would recount the story to friends and family undergoing similar life-threatening situations ... for the message is one of hope. By fighting his cancer, filming it, making fun of it and through his sheer determination, Bernhard beat his cancer. A former teacher himself, he now takes the film round schools in Austria, Germany and Switzerland giving a two hour presentation to discourage young people from smoking.

Sunday Night

That should - apart from a massive amount of clearing up by the SERIAC team - have been that.

But to our delight about 70 delegates had chosen to stay at the hotel for one more night, so Sunday evening became a hilarious party. The Hausbergers talked to everyone and plied us all with Schnapps. Romy Van Krieken from the Netherlands - a final judge for BIAFF 2006 - made an impromptu speech about what a great event it had been. Photos were taken, people drifted into the lounge and most of us went to bed far too late for our own good.

A great end to a very upbeat and happy event.

- Dave Watterson

• To read about the top film makers and their winning movies - click here.
• To read part one of this report - click here.

Page updated on 09 May 2007

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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