Archives for posts with tag: Northern Quarter

Mad Lab Film Fest

On the Hunt: arrows drawn

“I need film-makers,” I said to Hwa Young at our last meeting. “No problem,” she replied. “We’re holding a Short Film Fest at Mad Lab on Friday 2 Sept, come along and you’ll meet some of the directors and producers.” Fantastic!

So, at 17:30 I logged off, locked up and skipped down Oxford Road towards the Northern Quarter. The Film Fest started at 6pm and would go on until the stars popped up in the sky and the drunks stumbled around in the gutter.

First we watched some music videos and then some fascinating short films. I was particularly struck by a black and white film shot in Manchester called Voices. The writer/producer/director, Mat Johns from Zero Facility Films, was sitting on the floor behind me and when the film finished I congratulated him and was amazed to find out that he had produced it in 24 hours from start to finish. I gave him a copy of the Peripheral Vision PDF and we exchanged contact details.

Then, by sheer good fortune, the enigmatic Michael Barnes-Wynters, of Doodlebug fame, sat down next to me. I first met Barney at the Noise Lab launch in 2009 when I was scouting around for interesting events and people for the Just the Ticket project. You can see a tiny video of me at the launch here.

Baekdu

By 8pm our stomachs were rumbling and we headed off to Baekdu (by Shudehill Station), a Korean restaurant. It was full to brimming and we had to wait to get a table. We love the chef there: he always takes such care over his cooking and often presents the food himself with a huge smile. It was absolutely delicious. Here’s a photo of my chicken Bibimbap with an egg on top:

Baekdu dish

Manchester Digital Laboratory

Today I had a meeting with Hwa Young at Manchester Digital Laboratory (Mad Lab). I always enjoy the walk to the Northern Quarter. It’s nice to wander around the back streets behind Piccadilly Gardens looking in the windows of all the alternative shops.

Mad Lab have also submitted a bid to the IACL Fund. Hope they get theirs too.

Hwa Young and I discussed ways in which we can work together to provide WEA’s learners with wizard ways in which to learn about new technologies. Mad Lab do exciting things with arduino circuit boards and robots and blue screens. They also run courses in film making and creative writing, and they have various clubs such as Girl Geeks and Friday Freelance club, where for a fee of £5 you can sit with warm-blooded human beings, make eye contact and engage in conversation, rather than sit at home alone all day. Bargain.

If both, or either of us get our bids then we will be working together closely over the coming months. Even if we don’t, we’re still going to share learners and courses and ideas.

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