WOW Wales One World Film Festival opens in Chapter on Thursday 22 March with the regional premier of the thoroughly entertaining, Where Do We Go Now? Set in a mythical village cut off from the rest of the world where Christians and Muslims live happily side-by-side, Where Do We Go Now? shows how the women of the village band together to keep their hot-headed men from fighting. Definitely the most fun film of the festival, Where Do We Go Now? has delighted audiences around the world and won audience awards at Oslo, San Sebastian & Toronto International Film Festivals. So come along and be among the first to see it in Wales. http://www.wowfilmfestival.com/a-z-films-2012/where-do-we-go-now/

On the afternoon of Friday 23 March we have a special screening of films made by women about women’s lives in Africa. Window on Africa includes the beautiful, award-winning short, Unearthing The Pen, about a Ugandan shepherd boy who wants to go to school but can’t as his ancestors put a curse on the pen, which will be introduced by the director, Carol Salter, who used to work in Chapter.

After the screening of Framing The Other, a short film about a tourist whose comfortable ideas about taking photos of exotic tribal people in Ethiopia are shaken by her encounter with a Mursi woman, we will conduct a Q&A by Skype with the film’s director, Willem Timmers from Holland.

The final film of the afternoon is the deeply moving, Where The Water Meets The Sky about a group of Zambian women, some of whom have never seen a camera before, making a film about their lives.

Continuing in this spirit of discovery and diversity, this year there’s a distinct emphasis on films from the far-flung outposts of Asia, with two from Mongolia, the amazing music doc AnDa Union, and, the beautiful The Eagle Hunter’s Son, a Mongolian Kes with its exploration of the extraordinary relationship between a nomad boy and his eagle. There’s also Old Dog from the wilds of Tibet which works both as the story of an old man and his loyal mastiff and a metaphor for Tibet’s relation with China.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend and until the 11th of April for WOW 2012.

Director: Viktor Turin
USSR 1929
78 minutes

Bronnt Industries Kapital (Get Physical Music, Static Caravan) will be performing its live soundtrack to the classic Soviet silent propaganda film Turksib (Dir. Viktor Turin, 1929) in a Welsh premiere to mark the launch of WOW 2012 at Chapter and will travel to Clwyd Theatr Cymru and Aberystwyth Arts Centre as part of WOW.

The film (with new soundtrack composed by BIK’s Guy Bartell) was released by the British Film Institute this year as the centrepiece of The Soviet Influence: >From Turksib to Nightmail, a collection looking at the influence of Soviet propaganda on British filmmaking. The film with its new soundtrack received its debut performance by BIK performing as an electro-acoustic trio to great success at BFI Southbank’s prestigious NFT1.

Turksib describes the construction of the 1445km Turkestan-Siberia railway, stretching from modern day Uzbekistan through the steppes and deserts of Kazakhstan to Siberia, and is a picture of the civilisation of man versus the savagery of stark nature. The building of the railway was one of the great achievements of the first Soviet Five Year Plan, and the film was released in the USSR while the railway was still in construction to speed the drive for its completion. A masterpiece of scenario and editing techniques, director Viktor Turin gave the film a classical form and a rhythm that make it analogous to a symphony, fully exploited by BIK’s score, which draws upon pastoral solo psaltery melodies, Central Asian-style drones, graceful ensemble pieces, and propulsive drum rhythms to trace Turksib’s dizzying transit.

Bronnt Industries Kapital’s previous work includes a contemporary soundtrack to Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 silent film about witchcraft, Häxan, released by Tartan Films, which has been performed live throughout Europe at a number of film festivals and venues. BIK has also released the albums Virtute et Industria(Static Caravan) and Hard for Justice (Get Physical).

“Turksib is greater than Battleship Potemkin and [The End of] St. Petersburgbecause the director chose a more exalted theme. He showed us men and women; a nation throwing themselves with the fullness of the old revolutionary spirit into a constructive revolt against the uncultivated.” Bioscope reviewer, 1929

“A lyrical, humane, superbly edited masterpiece” The Guardian, 2011

“Bartell is one of electronica’s staunchest and most singular footsoldiers” The Wire

TRAILER:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seg7Kz-YYUU

BRONNT INDUSTRIES KAPITAL:
www.bronnt.com

If you are interested in booking Turksib, please contact
Email: bronntindustries@gmail.com

“I have always been a keen follower of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall from River Cottage and how he works with food and I even took some time out from work to go and volunteer at River Cottage. The experience was fascinating and extremely inspiring, giving me lots of ideas for the future.”

EthicalChef now has a stall on Cardiff’s Riverside Market on Sundays 10am – 2pm and also caters for private dining events in people’s homes during the week, as well as running monthly supper clubs in The Pot in Cardiff.

Deri’s ethos fitted well with one of the themes of WOW this year, which is Think Global, Act Rural, so we asked Deri to share one of his seasonal recipes with us…over to you.

FairTrade Parsnip Burgers

Preparation Time:10 Minutes Cooking Time:20 Minutes Serves:10
Parsnips are incredibly sweet vegetables and pair perfectly with the slight bitterness of Quinoa. Quinoa is readily available from all heath food shops and supermarkets, it acts in a similar way to cous cous being a very competitive substitute. I use it for a few reasons, because it is Fair Trade, Organic and extra yummy!

Shopping List

FairTrade Quinoa 300g
Parsnips 300g
Stock 600ml
Ground Cumin 1/2 tsp
Ground Coriander 1/2 tsp
Tumeric 1/2 tsp
Cayenne Pepper 1/2tsp

The Method

Bring the stock to the boil adding all the spices and the quinoa, leave to simmer for 15 minutes until the quinoa has soaked up all the water. At this point do taste to see if it is cooked, it must be soft to eat and have no crunch.

Peel, cut and steam your parsnips. I core them first and steam the core separately as this takes longer than the outside.

Once the parsnips are cooked pop them in a processor or mash them by hand in a mixing bowl.
Add half of the quinoa and blitz with the parsnips.

Add the pureed mix to the quinoa, give a good mix and your ready for a taste test for seasoning.
I cook in a rapeseed oil but olive oil is perfectly good.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre
www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk

Box Office: 01970 623232
Tickets: £5.25 Concessions available

Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
http://www.chapter.org/

Box Office: 02920 304 400
Tickets: £6.00 Concessions available. £30/£25 passport for whole festival.

Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold
www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk

Box Office: 0845 330 3565
Tickets: £5.00 Concessions available

Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea
www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk

Box Office: 01792 26 20 60
Tickets: Full price £5.60 in advance, £6.10 on door. Concessions available

The Riverfront
www.newport.gov.uk/theRiverfront

Box Office: 01633656757
Tickets: £4.80 Concessions available

Theatr Mwldan
www.mwldan.co.uk

Box Office: 01239 621 200
Tickets: £5.50 / £4.20

Please see the venue listings for more information on the excellent films across Wales you can still get to see.

This year’s WOW is over for Chapter and Theatr Mwldan…

“WOW did great – we were turning people away on the door for Think Global, Act Rural!” Tamsin Davies, Marketing Manager at Theatr Mwldan in Cardigan.

So don’t miss out! Book early to avoid disappointment!

Find out all the Wales One World Film Festival 2012 news here first, receive invitations to special events and great offers such as a free glass of wine before screenings and a myriad of competitions…

For the last eleven years, Wales One World Film Festival has explored the edges of contemporary global cinema and so provided an unrivalled ‘window on the world’ that gives audiences all across Wales the chance to see the best in world cinema – a passport to world cinema.

So do please come along and join us in celebrating world cinema in all its richness and diversity.

David Gillam
Wales One World Film Festival Director

Image Gallery: Download festival images by right clicking on the image you would like, or request access to images folder.

For press passes to the 2012 festival, interviews or other press enquires, please contact: Rachel Kinchin at rachel@wowfilmfestival.com. There will be opportunities for the media to interview key people involved in the festival. We’ll release this information nearer to the festival opening. If you’d like to request an interview with someone specific now, let Rachel know and we’ll see what we can do.

During WOW Film Festival, we have some special events and happenings to enhance the festival experience. This will include live music, panel discussions and Q&As. Some venues will also have special menus during the festival to celebrate global cuisine. Chapter will have a Lebanese menu to celebrate their screening of Where Do We Go Now and The Riverfront will have a Czech-themed menu with Czech beer to celebrate their screening of Surviving Life.

WOW 2012 Special Events

March

Date: Sunday 18 March
Time: 5pm
Venue: Chapter Cardiff
Turksib (U) + Bronnt Industries Kapital performing Live Musical Accompaniment. This is the opening night of WOW 2012.

Date: Friday 23 March
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Chapter Cardiff
Window on Africa (PG) With Carol Salter director of Unearthing The Pen, introducing her film.

Date: Friday 23 March
Time: 8.30pm
Venue: Chapter Cardiff
AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City (15)
With Tim Pearce & Sophie Lascelles, directors of AnDa Union Q&A

Date: Saturday 24 March
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Chapter Cardiff
Think Global Act Rural (PG)
With post screening panel discussion chaired by Steve Garrett, Sustainable Food Communities Wales, Jenny Howells, manager of the Riverside Community Garden, and Margaret Minhinnick, Sustainable Wales.

Date: Saturday 24 March
Time: 8pm
Venue: Aberystwyth Arts Centre
AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City (15)
With Tim Pearce & Sophie Lascelles, directors of AnDa Union Q&A

Date: Sunday 25 March
Time: 5.30
Venue: Chapter Cardiff
Robert Mugabe . . . What Happened? (PG)
With Simon Bright, director of Robert Mugabe . . . What Happened? Q&A

Date: Sunday 25 March
Time: 6pm
Venue: Theatr Mwldan Cardigan
With post screening panel discussion chaired by Andy Middleton, Jane Davidson, Director of INSPIRE (Institute for Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness), Kate & Ben from Real Seeds, www.realseeds.co.uk.

Date: Wednesday 28 March
Time: 8pm
Venue: Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Think Global Act Rural (PG)
With post screening panel discussion

Date: Wednesday 28 March
Time: 8pm
Venue: Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold
Turksib (U) + Bronnt Industries Kapital performing Live Music

Date: Thursday 29 March
Time: 8pm
Venue: Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Turksib (U) + Bronnt Industries Kapital performing Live Music