CINECITY

Last night we had what was for many the biggest highlight of our Cinecity Film Festival: a screening of THE ROAD with a Q&A with director John Hillcoat and Nick Cave. John and Nick are patrons of our Festival and of course, famous Brighton residents (Hove in the case of Nick).

The evening was sold out far in advance - and the bleak, grim (but beautifully realised) film was well received by the crowd. The Q&A, hosted by our former programmer and now Curzon Head of Programming Jason Wood, was funny and informative. At one point, John asked Nick about his role in FANTASTIC MR FOX, confusing him with Jarvis Cocker. Nick replied with a smile: "I wasn't in Fantastic Mr fucking Fox!". It was interesting to learn that Ridley Scott asked Nick to write the script of Cormac Macarthy's Blood Meridian. And he passed! "I didn't want to be the guy who fucked up Blood Meridian".

And so the Festival continues with loads of great films until the 6th December. Working for a cinema that hosts a Festival means you can't see many films, but so far I was able to see THE ROAD at a press screening on Tuesday, and CODE NAME: MELVILLE, a documentary about one of my favorite filmmakers, Jean-Pierre Melville. So far, nothing has blown my mind - but on Friday I'll be seeing Mark Lewis' moving image work at the University of Brighton Grand Parade...