Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: exciting opportunities

It's time to play the music; it's time to light the lights … After a suitably muppety intro film (timed to coincide with Chapter's Jim Henson season), the evening began with the end of an epic quest: the concluding episodes of The Sacred Chalice from friends of friends of MovieMaker Ninja Sex Party. Jon Ratigan returned with his long-tinkered-with drama Fixer, and was followed by Spring, a music video for Tiger Please by 'Gingenious' Ben Smith . Then we took time out for the much-anticipated Advertisement Broke from Dan Portillo. Finally, local art-punk heroes Kutosis presented the video for their new single Shadows and launched a contest to make a bunch more promos for their forthcoming album. Watch this space for the results.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: personal quests

After an unusually ominous intro film, Ben Reed opened the floodgates with Blue Harbour, a home-made music video for The Wave Pictures. The prodigious Efa Blosse-Mason proved herself a Real filmmaker, and was swiftly followed by James Plumb's Final Girl (both the trailer and the Virgin Media Shorts cut of the film). Then we got a look at The Real Thing, a stripped-down farce from Emma Teck. Kate Broadhurst gave us Growing Space, an animated depiction of real-life experiences, and Reka Falka Roberts documented what it was like living Life in the Shadow of Secret Police. Next came Alex Sambrook's Unnatural Selection, where Massai rocked a chicken shed with gusto, and after weeks of teasing, the audience finally got to see The Audition, Clare Sturges' deadly debut. The room was then conquered by Ninja Sex Party and their search for The Sacred Chalice, thanks to Maf Lewis. To end the night we got Chemmie, another fine music video for Joan As Policewoman from loveable misanthrope Ben Reed.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: short-term loners

Originally inspired by the recent glut of movies based on comic strips, this month's intro film had somehow mutated into a Grange Hill tribute by the night of the screening. With that out of the way, Claire Sturges unveiled the full trailer for her film The Audition after last month's tease. Next came Syrius, from the sci-fi superteam of Rhiannon Tate, Ben Sawin, James Haskin, Gafyn Holt, Martin Izzard and Steven Brown. We saw wild things in the woods during The Day I Lost My Voice, a music video for Sweet Baboo by Ryan Owen, which preceded Dig, a short drama excavated from the personal archives of director Ioan Thomas. International Man of Mystery Malcolm Boorer's latest travelogue came to us from the Brazilian city of Recife - where will he go next? Ryan Owen returned from training with Undegpedwar, a track(ing shot) by Y Niwl. The audience were then treated to a tantalising glimpse of Woyzeck, an epic undertaking by Ip Wischin and the students of IfIF International Film School Vienna. After a musical portrait of Ivan Moult from On-Par Productions came the unsettling Score, scripted by MovieMaker's own Simon Howells and executed by the Unrelated Films team. Leyla Pope smuggled in some gangster fashion with Crooks Like Us, before the ever-prolific Ryan Owen provided a natural end to the evening with Jonny's You Was Me. It had horses in it.

Flashback: an article about Chapter MovieMaker

The lovely people behind hack/flash asked me to write a guest blog about the secret history of the MovieMaker screenings. It's right here for your perusal.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: cinematic history

This month's francophone intro got things off to a breathless start, and was shortly followed by the first sneak peek of the evening: a teaser trailer for The Audition from Clare Sturges. Then it was time for the feature attraction: Wales' first public screening of William Haggar's film Revenge for a hundred years, enthusiastically introduced and narrated by his great-grandson and biographer Peter Yorke. Next came another startling discovery from the archives: AJ's unholy union of Pray for Rain by Preacher and White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi. Tensions rose with Red Letter, an expertly-shot piece of history from Edilberto Restino (courtesy of our friends at the WOW Film Festival) and the evening ended with a terrifying teaser for the appropriately-titled Final Girl, coming soon from James Plumb.

Screening: Monday 2nd May 2011

Bank holiday? Ha! 02/05 is the first Monday of the month, so we'll be in Chapter Cinema 2 watching locally-made shorts and talking about them as always. And this time, there may be cameras filming us. Here's the event page for you Facebookers.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: red light district

After a flashier-than-usual intro from your exhausted host (more from him later), the evening began with Mad Hatter and Control, a double-bill of music videos for Masters In France from Cyrus Mirza'shafa and Nic Booth. We then took a trip to the woods, where AJ unleashed his long-awaited follow-up, The Next Blair Witch. Steven Owen brought us LAFS, a music video for I Am Austin, which was followed by Tenuous Thread, an expertly-choreographed piece by Kylie Ann Smith. Poles apart tone-wise was KT Wild's Vertical Fitness, bravely recorded by intrepid explorer James Plumb. David Melkevik encouraged everyone to put their Write Foot Forward in a new exercisey initiative for creative types. Finally, it was time to see Disguised, a strange submission by Anne Siegel and yours truly for the Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Film Challenge, completed only hours before. The evening of occasionally erotic entertainment reached a rousing climax with A Heap of Trouble from Steve Sullivan.

Previously at Chapter MovieMaker: 'Do The Hand Jive'

(2011) (3 minutes)
Directed by Ryan Owen

A music video for The Voluntary Butler Scheme.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: wow factor

In a slight break from the norm, this screening featured material from both local filmmakers and those based further afield, courtesy of our friends at the Wales One World Film Festival. So, after an appropriately globetrotting intro film, our journey began with The Tyrell Seaman Story from Adam Grierson. Next came Gorelovka, a documentary from Alexander Kviria depicting episodes from the life of the disappearing Doukhobor community. Another group of hardy senior citizens starred in Do The Hand Jive, a music video for The Voluntary Butler Scheme by Ryan Owen. Finally, Philip Cowan offered Reflections on Ethiopia in his documentary. And that's all we had time for. We'll be back with our regular programming on Monday 4th April. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Previously at Chapter MovieMaker: 'The Phoenix: A Century Of Cinema'

In 2010 the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley celebrated its centenary year. On-Par Productions were invited to document the cinema's history through the stories of its staff, patrons and local residents.

Last time at Chapter MovieMaker: local cinema

After this month's intro raced through Canton, the first-round knockout came from Queensbury Rules, a drama from William Scothern. Everybody stayed to see Sunset, a music video for White Noise Sound from Ryan Owen, followed by his intense drama Sink. Darren J Coles then paid tribute to Cardiff, The Capital with a landscape film about the city. Hasta Los Cojones cried AJ with his music video for a mysterious band with no name. Finally, we watched On Par Productions' documentary about The Phoenix, another beloved cinema, in the comfort of our own beloved cinema.

Screening: Monday 7th February 2011

From 6pm in Chapter Cinema 2. Free tickets are now available from the Chapter box office. Come!

Last night at Chapter MovieMaker: pop quiz

After a longer-than-usual intro took us through New Year's Eve in Cardiff, we settled in for a snack-sized screening. First up was Autumn Leaves, a short drama from Stephen Hanks. Ellen Waddell then presented a promo for Heat Rash, an upcoming quarterly magazine and music bundle of fun (now taking subscriptions). Finally came Steve Sullivan's The Debt, a comedy about a man with heavy issues. Due to a slight shortage of exhibiting filmmakers to interview, the audience were tested about the films they'd just seen and rewarded with tasty treats. I'm pleased to report they did very well.

Previously at Chapter MovieMaker:'A Bit On The Side'

(2005) (17 minutes)
Directed by Steve Sullivan

Tony is fixated with drills of all shapes and sizes. As we follow him on his search for drills to add to his ever-increasing collection, we slowly unwrap the logic behind this strange and amusing obsession.