York and City Screen team up for film showcase

Posted on 3 March 2015

The University of York and York City Screen will join forces this month to host three evenings of films, stand-up comedy and an exhibition.

York’s Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders (C2D2) and the Department of Theatre, Film and Television will present films and comedy around the theme of health, including how individuals and society perceive health issues, and topical subjects such as the transmission of disease and terminal illness.

Taking place at York City Screen on the evenings of Thursday 19, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 March, films created by academics at the University in partnership with artists and directors both local and further afield will be screened alongside commercial feature films.

On Thursday 19 March, Mind and Body: different takes on disease will feature two short films and the critically acclaimed French film Untouchable. Also on the bill are Jane’s Story, a short animation depicting a teenager dealing with a disability, and Voice by Choice, a short comedy exploring the limitations and misunderstandings arising from not being able to use your own voice box. The Department of Theatre, Film and Television’s Dr Sandra Pauletto will introduce the two locally produced and directed films, followed by a Q&A.

On Thursday 26 March from 6pm, Health, Mind and Body: Three New Short Films, will feature a second screening of Jane’s Story, followed by the critically acclaimed Transmission contemporary dance piece. Preceded by a short introduction and Q&A with both films’ producers, the evening will culminate in a screening of Tender - a moving and uplifting Australian documentary about a town’s journey in establishing its own not-for-profit, bespoke funeral service. The Department of English and Related Literature’s Catherine Oakley will introduce the film.

Comedy entertainment will take place in the Basement Bar on Friday 27 March with Your good health: cutting-edge comedy and stand-up research. Featuring talks about C2D2-sponsored research and several specially commissioned comedy sketches from York student theatre company ‘Platform’, the night will begin with a performance by ‘Lost Voice Guy’, recent winner of the BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2014.

Alongside these events, an exhibition from 26 March - 8 April outside the entrance to the screens will showcase five two-metre high images from Symbiogenesis and new sculptures inspired by viral structural symmetry from Visualisations in Mathematical Biology.

Philip Kerrigan, Outreach Coordinator for C2D2, said: “C2D2 has funded a number of impressive and well-received public engagement projects to date. These film and comedy evenings are designed to bring together a number of projects to new audiences at a new venue, the highly popular City Screen Cinema in the centre of York. The three films explore themes of disability and disease using a variety of forms, including documentary, animation and artistic performance, and communicate their ideas with humour, insight, creativity and humanity.”

Dr Sandra Pauletto, Deputy Director of C2D2 and an academic in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, said: “This is a unique opportunity to look at topics such as illness and disease from perhaps unexpected perspectives. In particular, these events highlight how humour and beauty can still be found even in the most challenging of human experiences. These positive attitudes are very powerful both as personal strategies to deal with diseases and as ways of talking about these topics to different people.

“Prepare to be surprised, to laugh, to become emotional, to learn new things and to be amazed by unexpected beauty. All of this in a few hours: don’t miss it!”

Further information:

For further information about the film event on Thursday 19 March visit: https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/York_Picturehouse/film/mind-and-body-different-takes-on-diseas and for more information about the event on 26 March, visit: https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/York_Picturehouse/film/health-mind-and-body
For the event on 27 March, visit:
https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/York_Picturehouse/film/your-good-health
Jane’s Story (8 mins) resulted from a C2D2-funded collaboration between six departments at the University of York, led by Dr Amanda Mason-Jones in Health Sciences, with local film director Nik Morris. Created from real accounts of young people’s experiences, this collaboration involved local actress Katie-Marie Armstrong.
Voice by Choice (5 mins) is an imaginative short film starring the winner of the 2014 BBC Radio New Comedy Award, Lee Ridley, exploring what speed-dating is like if you have to express yourself through a voice synthesiser. This locally produced and directed film was sponsored by the EPSRC.
Transmission was created by artist, stage designer and Visiting Research Associate in the University of York’s Department of Music, Becs Andrews, in collaboration with evolutionary biologist and Anniversary Professor in the Department of Biology, Michael Brockhurst, and Doctoral Researcher and composer in the Music Department, Jon Hughes. Sponsored by C2D2 and Arts Council England, it is a strikingly original portrayal of the evolution of disease networks through choreographed interactions between dancers mapped through dynamic video, audio and lighting technology. For further information visit: http://www.becsandrews.com/visual-art/transmission/
Catherine Oakley is convenor of ‘Rethinking Disability on Screen’, a one-day symposium exploring how cinema, TV and other visual media have reflected and shaped experiences of impairment and disability. For further information, visit: rethinkingdisabilityonscreen.com
For more information about Lost Voice Guy and to view a performance visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z66p7
Tickets for the events can be booked in-person at Box Office, telephone: 0871 902 5727
or online at: www.picturehouses.com/cinema/York_Picturehouse
The Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders (C2D2) was established by the University of York with the support of the Wellcome Trust to coordinate and maximise the impact of research into alleviating the world-wide burden of chronic diseases and disorders.