Everyone is talking Inception

In case you're wondering this is a diagram circulating the internet with the impressive claim of explaining the intrinsic complexities of Hollywood hype machine Inception.

The latest film by Chris Nolan (of Batman Begins, Dark Knight and Memento fame) starring a maturing-with-age Leonardo Di Caprio and plethora of other up and coming Brit and US stars, plus a few reliable old hands (Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite).

Cinema goers in the UK and US are going mad for this big budget, special effects blockbuster which attempts to graspe the mantel of high-concept, high brow status in the process.

It is one of the most tweeted about topics on Twitter this week as people try to unravel the plot, and The Guardian Film Blog seems to find an excuse to write about it every day.

I saw it at the weekend with my two psychologist parents, and they were less than impressed to say the least. Plot loop holes, a lack of jeopardy and a string of too-loud-for-my-mother set pieces, in their opinion did not make up for the groundbreaking special effects and dramatic pacing. I on the other hand had mixed feelings, as did my husband. We enjoyed the spectacle but found it rather superficial. It was trying really hard to be clever, but it really was not.

That said it had more brains than the usual blockbuster and was a vast improvement on the remakes and re-imaginings plaguing cinema screens in recent years. Like a cross between Nolan's previous projects Batman Begins and Memento, it played on themes of memory and loss, but these were just a coat hanger for shoe-horning in special effects like turning a New York street upside down, and having a group of sleeping people float in a zero gravity hotel room. The effects were actually the clever bit, not the dreams within dreams, within dreams and yet another dream. Are they awake? Are they dreaming? Do we care???

But despite my own mixed feelings (and there are also mixed reviews, although mostly positive) whether the film is good or bad, it really doesn't matter. What matters is that is has got people talking about film. And coming in the week the ConDemnation government announced the axing of the UK Film Council, that can only be a good thing. My parents may have claimed not to like the film but we were all talking about it for an hour afterwards, and still musing over it the next day. My mum also said she did not sleep well the night after seeing the film and I always think that is a sign of a film that makes you think.

A few days later I saw the third in the Twilight Saga, Eclipse, and despite initially being a fan of the books and films, I found it utterly uninspiring, rather dull, and completely forgettable. Some may argue (particularly teenagers and horny housewives) that it is equally as entertaining as Inception and that it may be, but it lacks the 'stuck in the head' factor.

Inception is by no means the masterpiece everyone is making it out to be, but that is not to belittle its significance and impact. People are talking and tweeting about it, creating diagrams to explain it, and using it as a platform to discuss the power, influence and effect of dreams and the possibility of planting thoughts. It is The Matrix of the social web generation and in my book anything that gets people excited about film whilst also enabling them to talk about grand theories no matter how flawed, should be applauded.

Big Society: where's the fun?

Today I attended a YMCA youth conference in Northamptonshire in a curious attempt to network with other organisations in the county and promote my community film festival Film Northants. And although I was a little dubious that there may be too much talk about statutory bodies (that's council services to most people), and indeed the talks focused perhaps a little too heavily on these, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a really useful event and I made lots of great contacts and inadvertently picked up tips on how to get our little grassroots organisation recognised by other voluntary groups. There was however a lot of talk about 'engagement', 'participation' and the the ConDemnation's (ConLib coalition) favourite new fad The Big Society.

And like the vicar at my old middle school used to say in his weekly assembly "Now that got me thinking..."

There is an increasing wave of thought that people, rather than government, ought to be running their communties, councils, police forces and schools, and we should all just dig in and volunteer our services for free. In principle I agree that this is a great, if not somewhat misguided and idealistic, approach but I do think it misses the point. Yes people do get involved in community groups, charities and the voluntary sector to achieve a sense of 'making a difference' and giving something back to the community, but there are many other less altruistic motivations as well and so there should be.

Take for instance my own involvement in Ghanaian charity FREED UK and my founding/running of Film Northants. My volunteering for both these groups has been either accidentally or socially motivated. And by socially I don't mean a sense of 'social action' as described in the ConDemnation's policy on Big Society, but the fact that in these groups I mix with friends and do things that I enjoy and have a genuine interest in - they are pretty much leisure activities. And I think that is crucial to getting people engaged in volunteering.

Volunteering is not necessarily about about doing good but it is about doing something you enjoy with friends, that you feel passionate about. I used to play netball in a team as a hobby and now I run a film festival with a team of friends, in my eyes as a hobby. This is what all this talk of Big Society is missing. It all sounds a bit do-gooding and window twitching, and not enough about volunteering actually being a fun, social activity.

Film Northants is something that I do because I love film and I am curious about local talent. To me it is not a case of volunteering my time selflessly, it is about selfishly doing something I want to do.

And in all honesty my involvement in FREED UK came about because I fancied a trip to Ghana as I thought it would look great on my journalism CV, would be an exciting experience and I would get a good tan. Since then I have made friends at the charity and again it has become a social activity. At the meetings we chat and catch up, we go for lunch and we are invited to one another's weddings etc. Fundamentally it is not a chore and not a job.

In a similar vein, but on a slight tangent, my friends recently laughed at me for attending a resident's meeting. Admittedly I was the youngest person by about 30 years, but I went in essence because I am nosy and I wanted to know what was happening in my little area.

For those people thinking about embarking on a mission to join a charity or volunteer themselves, I would say don't. You need to fall into it almost by chance. I know from experience that when I set out to be a 'volunteer' and decided Victim Support sounded ok it never really worked for me. A great organisation, but for me it was too much paperwork and I didn't always agree with the way they ran things. I now feel guilty that they spent money training me and I only lasted 12 months.

Setting out to be a volunteer can often be short lived. Instead it may be better to get involved gradually maybe via a friend or set up something yourself.

And volunteering is such a bad word anyway, as it has connotations of onerous tasks and sickening worthiness, perhaps it should be renamed.... any suggestions?

Film Northants 2010 begins

For some the summer is the time of holidays, BBQs and sitting back with a glass of Pimm’s but for the organisers of Film Northants it is mad rush to get publicity out, entries in and a red carpet premiere organised for September. And as founder and chair of the festival my days are rapidly being filled to the max.

The Northamptonshire film festival is now in its third year and has stepped out from under the wing of the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, to set up as an independent not-for-profit group. There is a fully formed committee (rather than me running around like a loon trying to do everything) and we were lucky to be successful first time at getting funding from Northamptonshire Community Foundation.

The event is still run on a relative shoe string by volunteers but funding has enabled us to scoop Quentin Falk as awards ceremony host, and confirm Claire Youngs (2008 finalist on BBC show The Apprentice) to present the awards. We also have a £500 Jessops gift card first prize, plus the usual cinema passes and movie merchandise. Not bad considering the first year we relied on one annual cinema pass to entice entries.

We have also moved venue from Vue to Cineworld Cinemas (due to that old cliche ‘creative differences’). The benefit of the move means we have an on-site bar to hold the after show champagne reception, an in-house PA system, free parking and permission to put up a massive banner advertising the event in the cinema foyer.

But the biggest change this year has been going independent which has really allowed the festival to reach out to a wider community. The Chron has been supportive from the start but being their festival meant other rival media organisations sadly wouldn’t publicise the event. Unfortunately it is an all too familiar story in local media that local papers, magazines, TV and radio stations would often prefer to compete for, than work together, on community events.

However since becoming an indy event we have been inundated with media requests! Film Northants has appeared in radio interviews, magazine articles, website pages, school newsletters and has even been invited to a YMCA conference.

Another new thing for us this year is the launch of our own website http://www.filmnorthants.co.uk/ which is getting hundreds of hits each week, and our Facebook group which allows local film-makers to share their news, views, trailers and short films.

The winners of the past two festivals are currently out filming their 2010 entries, so it will be a tough competition. We hope to be seeing some entries trickling in over the next month, with the usual flood in the last week before the deadline of August 20.

Since things appear to be ticking over nicely, maybe I do have time for a Pimm’s after all...