CURIOUS FILM DIRECTOR BEN FISHER TO SCREEN AT CANNES AD FESTIVAL

A deliciously dark short film directed by Curious Film’s Ben Fisher has been selected to screen at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival on Friday 22 June 2007.
Titled ‘Shmick’, the film opens with a man who’s just been stabbed. He staggers from the scene of the crime and wanders the city streets clutching his bloody wound.
The film asks the poignant question: what would you do if you were dying?
Fisher’s film is one of just 18 films selected for this year’s Straight 8 Cannes Lions screening, which attracted 131 entries globally. It’s the second win for Fisher this year, who was one of five directors selected to screen a short film at this year’s ‘Remarkable Five’ event at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival in Pattaya, Thailand in March 2007.
Now in its 5th year, Straight 8 is an experimental film event that invites entrants to shoot a three-minute film on a single cartridge of Super 8mm film. The film must be edited in-camera and submitted with an original soundtrack.
“What I liked about Straight 8 was the purist approach to filmmaking as it offered to concentrate solely on story and performance. I didn’t rehearse or have a script, just a shot list that was timed to fit the allowed length,” says Fisher.
“It was a really refreshing way of working. It forced me to think on my feet as we changed shots to fit the constantly evolving storyline. That’s what I loved about it, all the mistakes that turn into gold.”
Based in Auckland, Fisher is a formidable young director who brings an edge to everything he shoots. He finds richness in normality and intrigue in the mundane. He creates compelling visions of everyday scenarios, and is inspired by a curiosity towards life and film.

Don’t miss ‘Shmick’, which screens at the Star Cinema at Rue d’Antibes in Cannes, France at 12pm, Friday 22 June 2007.

www.curiousfilm.com
www.straight8.net