My experience of the Leeds Young People’s Film Festival…
We’ve had a number of young bloggers who have been revieving the LYFF for us. To start us off, here’s Eloise talking about the Tim Burton films she experienced!
Striped tights, rabbit holes and lots of glorious madness seems to have been a predominate feature in this year’s film festival with Hyde Park Picture House showing three of Tim Burton’s most celebrated (and in my opinion greatest) films. In light of its 25th anniversary Friday night beheld possibly the most typical ‘Burton-esque’ film ‘Beetlejuice’ in which the ghosts of a deceased man and his wife try to haunt the new occupants out of their former home. This film is a beautiful mix of horror, comedy and the dark fairy tale style that Burton is so famous for.
In a slight subversion of his usual dark gothic style, his Disney version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was shown during the ‘Mad Hatters Tea Party’ on the Saturday- because one can never see too many Burton films in one weekend. This was a family event that invited people to come to the cinema dressed up, and bring their lunch in a quaint and fun-filled fashion, with prizes for people who had gone to the time and effort to dress as their favourite characters. To conclude this spree of Burton films, ‘Big Fish’ played on Monday the 1st, a captivating adaption of Daniel Wallace’s novel for fans of storytelling and of course, people who would like to see Tim Burton do what he does best.
So with enough Burton madness to last the Easter weekend these films told in a quirky, fun style were sure to attract a youth audience, and the Tea Party in particular in which ‘Alice In Wonderland’ had an amazing turn out, with children and adults actively dressing up and taking part. This, I feel was particularly beneficial to the community as it was nice to see people of all ages coming together to celebrate the work of this director, or just to enjoy their favourite tale on the big screen.
Furthermore, it was great to see the turnout of a predominant youth audience to the other Burton films screened, showing that even though films like Beetlejuice were made over 25 years ago, they are still loved and appreciated by younger generations. In conclusion, I feel that by showing the work of such a quirky, acclaimed director, the film festival this year has really hit the target of attracting a youth audience and created an enjoyable few days, and I hope to see more director, or even genre specific film events in the course of film festivals to come.
