Derby's biggest and best film festival returns and the Hatch'd team will be there all weekend to blog about it. Day 1 features British writer/director, Mike Hodges and a screening of his 1971 crime flick, Get Carter.
Last night, I was lucky enough to attend the opening event of ID Fest with Hatch'd comrades, Holly and Glen. QUAD's film curator, Adam Marsh gave us a run down of a bumper schedule, including screenings of classic films, Q&A sessions with some genuine legends of cinema, and industry-based workshops and masterclasses.
The first interview of the weekend was with English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist, Mike Hodges, before a showing of his visceral and enduring crime thriller, Get Carter. Glen went along to hear some of the film veteran's genuinely captivating tales:
Tonight's interviewer, Tony Earnshaw from Reel Solutions, clearly possesses an extensive knowledge of Hodges' work and asked exactly the right questions to get open, honest answers from him - often in the form of animated anecdotes.
After the famous Albert Swift attack scene from his debut film, Get Carter was shown, Hodges passionately recounted genuine tales of working on the film with Michael Caine and then again in Pulp with Mickey Rooney. He then meandered enthusiastically through engrossing memories spanning his career in television with work like World In Action, and his work in film including The Terminal Man and of course, cult classic, Flash Gordon and joked about how he refused to work with Joan Collins.
Hodges also gave the QUAD audience an incite in to his working methods and his thoughts on the pressures of a cinema system, which he suggested conflicted with his organic, instinctive directorial approach. Hodges engaged the audience, directing his answers towards them, making them feel a part of the interview, rather than mere observers.
Towards the end of the interview, there was a quick Q&A session, with one audience member asking Hodges if he'd seen the remake of Get Carter, to which he replied "No.. my son bought me a copy and when we tried to watch it, it wouldn't play... so I threw it in the bin!" with a smile.
The theme for this festival is heroes, and the event ended appropriately with Keith Jeffrey presenting Hodges with ID Fest's first 'Hero of Cinema' award.
Hatch'd Magazine will be at QUAD all weekend for to cover the festival. Stay tuned to our website for more updates on all of the exciting events.
To find out more about the festival and for a programme of events visit the ID Fest website or the QUAD website.