Indie-Lincs festival serves up film gems during 3-day event

midlandsmovies • January 21, 2024

Roll out the red carpet - Independent Film Festival serves up indie gems during three-day festival


The Indie-Lincs International Film Festival is back for 2024 and will show over 40 original, independent films from across the globe at Lincoln Arts Centre on Thursday 15th, Friday 16th and Saturday 17th February 2024. Indie-Lincs is now in its eighth year and enables filmmakers and members of the public to watch films made by independent filmmakers.


During the festival, audiences can enjoy a selection of high-quality documentary, drama, and animated films, both short and feature length. The festival also includes filmmaker Q&A’s, networking events and an awards ceremony. The festival kicks off this year with a screening of BAFTA nominated feature film How to Have Sex; a powerful coming of age drama about sexual consent. It was the UK’s only entry to Cannes last year, and it won the 2023 Un Certain Regard Award.


This year’s film selections include comedy/feature film: A Kind of Kidnapping (UK), a Tarantino-esque farce about a kidnapping gone wrong; Discontinued (USA), a sci-fi drama about a depressed millennial who discovers that the world she knows is just a simulated version of reality that is being shut down.


Short films include the atmospheric UK drama Black Dog, documentary film The Last Video Store, and Ukrainian animation Morrow. A popular part of the festival is the selection of comedy short films shown on Saturday evening which include Falling Out (UK), an LGBTQ focused comedy about a bickering couple, and horror/comedy Hide Your Crazy (USA), a film about overcoming one’s personal demons for love.


In addition to films screenings there will be a number of industry talks. Guest speakers include the director of recent hit TV show Archie Paul Andrew Williams, well-known film and TV actors Pauline Lynch (Trainspotting) and Robin Laing (Band of Brothers) and Philip Hoile the Head of Distribution and Acquisitions at Bulldog Films. For those interested in the more technical aspects of filmmaking, cinematographer Jack Shelbourn will be demonstrating how to get the best out of the Arri Alexa; the film industry’s leading digital camera.


The festival is run by local filmmaker, and Lincoln School of Film and Media Senior Lecturer, Dr Mikey Murray, with a team of volunteer coordinators. Mikey said:


“Our festival is very much open for those in the community to attend and we pride ourselves on our welcoming atmosphere. If you love film, it’s a great place to not only see films you wouldn’t ordinarily get a chance to, but to meet others and discuss what you’ve watched. There is great camaraderie at the festival. This year we’ve introduced new judges to the festival who will bring their expertise and unique perspective when choosing our award-winners. Members of the public can also vote for their favourite film.”


This year’s judges include: Jeremy Wooding (creator of Peep Show), renowned film academic Professor Mette Hjort, and the previously mentioned industry guests.


Indie-Lincs is an International film festival that champions low and micro budget feature length and short films. The high-quality programme of independent films are bolstered by friendly networking events where industry guests, actors, filmmakers and the audience can all be found together discussing their work and the programme of films.


The festival is open to all. Day and weekend passes are available. Day tickets are £12 (£7 live pass) and a full Weekend pass costs £20 (£12 live pass). Age restrictions apply. Call 01522 837600 or visit www.lincolnartscentre.co.uk


To find out more about Indie-Lincs visit: www.indie-lincs.com

By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
On the 24th of April, the Midlands Art Centre opened its doors to Gobby Flicks Productions for a night of live comedy. Proceeds were raised towards the production of new short comedy films, directed and written by women.
By midlandsmovies April 25, 2025
Ti West’s The House of the Devil makes a wonderful companion piece to his film The Innkeepers. Both maintain the director’s referential approach to horror, incapsulating it in a slow burning 90 minutes that manages to build and maintain tension while cheekily winking to the audience and showing the mechanisms behind the scares.
By midlandsmovies April 21, 2025
Read the full list of nominees for the Midlands Movies Awards 2025
Show More