16mm Filmmaker Wanted Monument to Charlie Chaplin (at the National Picture Theatre, Hull)
Performance Company Kings of England require a 16mm Filmmaker for 21 days between June and August 2013. R&D, workshops and filming will take place in Hull, Yorkshire, in June / July 2013, in association with Hull Truck.
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Dates are negotiable, although the main body of the work will be divided into six days of workshop and two weekends filming.
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Editing & Post-production will take place in London (based at no.w.here lab, Bethnal Green) in August.
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Workshops and filming will engage up to twenty-four locals (young people and senior citizens) in the creation of a site-responsive film. The film will surveying the ruins of the National Picture Theatre, Hull – destroyed when a bomb detonated in the auditorium during a screening of The Great Dictator, in 1941.
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The finished film (B&W, approximately 20-25 minutes) will premiere at Hull Truck in late September, Early October 2013.
Background
Concerning a small miracle, performed in wartime: On 17 March 1941, the National Picture Theatre – a cinema in Beverley Road, Kingston-Upon-Hull – was bombed. Remarkably, each of 150 people in attendance, who were gathered for a screening of Charlie Chaplin’s film ‘The Great Dictator’, escaped - no fatalities.
The ruin of the NPT was awarded Heritage-listed status in 2007, being amongst the last extant examples of a civilian building damaged during the Blitz. The NPT is currently threatened by plans by Reid Park Properties to turn the site into apartments and retail complex. The plans have been met with opposition from the National Civilian WW2 Memorial Trust, who have proposed to turn the site into a memorial garden and education centre. In response to the site, its history, and its uncertain future - and to reconsider Chaplin’s legacy through the story of the NPT - Kings of England have issued themselves the following directive:
‘Build a monument to Charlie Chaplin at the National Picture Theatre, Hull’.
Experience and Equipment: The filmmaker should own the necessary camera equipment, light meter and tripod, and should be experienced in shooting 16mm film and negative development. Previous experience of participatory project, community arts practices and / or dance for screen is essential.
Workshops and Filming
We will also require your presence in Hull for two further weekends for filming (dates TBC)
Presentation of the film is currently scheduled at Hull Truck for:
Fees: R&D, Workshop Process and Filming: 16 days at £150 per day: £2,400; Editing | 5 days at £150 per day: £750; Total Fee: £3,150
Other costs: Film stock will be exposed at a ratio of 3/1. Stock and processing will be paid for in full, in advance, at the expense of the company. We will also book and pay for all necessary travel and accommodation.
Credits: The film will be credit to ‘Kings of England and …’ the commissioned filmmaker. If the film is shown subsequent to the Hull premieres, contexts for presentation and fees will be negotiable.
‘Monument’ will constitute the second chapter of ‘In Eldersfield’ – a ten-chapter cycle of performances exploring the critical heritage of the twentieth century. The first chapter, ‘Elegy for Paul Dirac’ was an intergenerational performance commissioned for SPILL Festival 2011, presented at the Barbican. Supported by Arts Council England, the Goodwin Development Trust (Hull), and Hull City Council Arts Unit.
Deadline for expressions of interest: 25th April 2013:
Interested parties should send an artists’ a C.V. and relevant links
(web, vimeo, youtube, if applicable) to:
peter@theperformingoffice.co.uk
Kings of England: “In Eldersfield (Chapter 1) & “I Belong to This Band!”
A busy first half of the year for K of E with two new projects:
“In Eldersfield: Chapter One: Elegy for Paul Dirac” premiered at SPILL Festival on the 22nd and 23rd. “Elegy” was performed by Rhiannon Armstrong, Simon Bowes, Max Burger, Alex Eisenberg, Bryony Kimmings and John Pinder. You can read full reports by Theron Schmidt and Mary Patterson, Matt Trueman, Diana Damian and Naima Khan. (Audience testimonies on our “Eldersfield page shortly).
“I Belong to This Band!” gigged at the final ever Method Lab hosted at slain venue greenroom, scratched at Riverside Studios as part of SHOW TiME and rounded off Annie Lloyd / Compass’s Season at Seven, in Leeds.
