Story:Edgar Lowman
Cheap Thrills Film Festival is in its fifth year and has grown rapidly thanks to Martin Currie, a Burngreave resident of 20 years. It began in 2011, after Martin’s team won the short film competition ‘2Weeks 2Make It’.
His team so enjoyed their creative efforts that they decided to use the prize money to make more videos. However the majority of the ideas they came up with were for short films, locally shot and set in the present day. They found that they did not need a great deal of financial backing, and so ‘Cheap Thrills’ became the driving philosophy.
As Martin explained, “We take the zero budget philosophy seriously, not paying for or charging for anything. We even give away the popcorn.” He went on, “I called it a festival as a joke, Sheffield being home to so many very serious and important film fests. We are local, hand-crafted, not at all serious, and very, very unimportant.” They screened the shorts in the unassuming chapel within Burngreave Cemetery. The reception from spectators was overwhelmingly positive and subsequent events have only been more rewarding.
Each year a small team of hard workers bring the show together. “Janet Currie and Clare Burnell do a lot of preparatory work and try to interest Sheffield’s sometimes lazy press with a genuinely positive Burngreave story. Steve Pool provides constant support and essential technical rig, and Peter Applerock has been with us from the start.”
While the festival has in the past received a small number of entries from overseas, this year it was deluged with over 320 internationally-made films spanning 42 countries. While it’s positive to have the message of Cheap Thrills spread so far, films from local residents take priority, and he “intends to run an event later in the year, showcasing some more of these wonderful films”. Although with such a mass of creative talent, he tells me he’d like to “have a little nap first”.
For the 2015 event I arrived at the cemetery early, while volunteers were still busy setting up decorations and refreshments. I was greeted by a large paper fox, lit from the inside to wonderfully contrast with the approaching dusk. Various other animals had also been brought to life in lantern form by Burngreave artist Patrick Amber, and hung around the chapel to complement the high ceilinged 1860s architecture, softening the contrast of bright screen to blackened surroundings. It was a marvellous scene.
I just managed to find space on a pew, next to a couple who had travelled from London for the event. There was a mix of short films – some animated, some live action, all showing ingenuity in overcoming the lack of budget. A favourite of mine was a simple live film, shot in the maker’s garden, where the ordinarily unexciting movements of snails were given life through the sounds of hooting steam trains and the clatter of wheels on tracks as they sped past one another.
Comedy ensued as a particularly large snail chuffed through the frame with a low honk, straight over another. This was one of the highlights for me, with the audience thoroughly entertained by such a simple film. A zero budget film could produce as much laughter from the crowd as a big budget movie.
The whole evening really showcased the Burngreave community at its best, bringing the occasion to fruition simply for the fun of it. With artists, filmmakers and volunteers all playing equally important roles, it’s just one example of the area’s progress in the right direction. It’s heartening to see such a diverse population coming together as a creative collective for a night of cheap thrills .
