Last weekend marked the annual bonanza of silver-screen goodness that is the Oxford International Film Festival. Despite being only in its second year, the festival offered an impressive mixture of features, shorts, and Q and A sessions.
Jericho’s Phoenix Picturehouse played host to the action, with films screened through the long weekend of 5-7 May. Top billed was Stephen Cookson’s Stanley a Man of Variety, a surreal drama centring on Timothy Spall’s hallucinating prison inmate. Spall himself appeared on the opening night, answering questions on his character’s fantastic journey through multiple personalities and levels of sanity.
It was a weekend for short film as well, with Oscar Isaac and Ben Wishaw starring in Lightningface and One Night in Atlanta respectively. Rounded off with a strong documentary showing, including exploration of the music scene in post-Katrina New Orleans One Note at a Time, the festival was a resounding success for filmmakers and viewers alike.
