With so many festivals cropping up all over the land it’s becoming harder and harder for them to stand out as simply being hosted somewhere other than London doesn’t entirely cut it anymore. Which brings me nicely to a very unique festival held on the small island of Jersey that commits to bringing a diverse of films to the Channel Islands with a high enough calibre to attract international attention.
The 2009 Branchage Jersey Film Festival was brought across the channel for the launch that had the suitably stylish array of folk in a suitably green Idea Generation in Shoreditch. With the walls covered in Henry Diltz’s amazing shots from Woodstock, guests were treated to bespoke cocktails that proved far more popular then they had anticipated with a queue around the corner which could only be handled with a production line and the ice cream van giving out cones of natural Jersey ice cream (vanilla was nice, toffee was better) turned out to be a stroke of genius on 2009′s hottest day.
But amongst all the schmoozing, eating and drinking there was the small matter of the festival to talk about. Various people took to the mic to say a few things about what’s the come but the real excitement started when the venues for the screenings began to be reeled off. The festival isn’t only about what you watch but where you watch it, and the locations this year sound even better. After the opening night gala of Werner Herzog’s Encounters At The End of the World (pictured) some of the highlights include the British Sea Power performing their poignant soundtrack to the renowned 1934 fisherman film Man of Aran, The Wizard of Oz at a drive thru cinema, Sleep Furiously in a rural barn, If in a school hall and Antichrist in a hut in the middle of the woods.
The full programme, festival passes and travel details are available on the site from Monday August 24.
