Portobello Film Festival BY Grace Kang

My housemates and I were looking through various online sources for activities during our first week in London and we, by sheer luck, came across this free screening for a film. Little did we know that this was the grand opening of the Portobello Film Festival which ran from 1 – 18 September. This film festival was originally created in 1996 to serve as a forum for new filmmakers and to give exposure to movies on different formats and has since then been a place where tomorrow’s films are shown today. They claim that the ideas first presented in their theatre regularly show up in the mainstream media.  

We rode the tube late at night and I was legitimately scared because it was really dark outside and I had no idea of what to expect. Where am I? If I get kidnapped, how will anyone know that I’m missing? All sorts of paranoid thoughts were running through my head. After we got off the tube, we walked a short distance to the entrance of the festival where we were greeted by a man who tried to get us to sign up for their newsletter. I looked around and I saw that a couple little stalls made of what seemed like wood, which were selling drinks and snacks. I was surprised that the area was not at all well lit. The theatre itself was an interesting space. It was almost in some sort of warehouse. There was no effort to conceal the stairs in the back or the wires and cords sprawled on the floor. The walls were painted with tons of colors and intricate designs. On a corner there was a rainbow lit sign that read “BEAUTY”. Scattered around the room were stacks of rainbow lit plugs, which also looked like cute animated faces. The seats were made of the same wood as the stalls outside and they gave an earthy, natural feel to the theatre.

The big screen was in the middle of the room, which was where they screened a movie called Ebony Road. The movie itself seemed rather choppy and had an extremely amateur feel about it, so I was surprised at how that particular film was chosen to be the premiere for the grand opening. Anyway, I feel like the look they were going for was something that was not a pristine, cookie cutter, streamlined theatre, but one where objects could be a little eccentric and unique, yet, still acceptable. It was a strong message that was reflected through the atmosphere and the people who were in attendance. I see the entire festival as a theatrical event and it was interesting to observe the people in attendance and how they were interacting with one another in this space. The experience of going to an indie film festival held in this dark, obscure, little area was really different and unlike anything I have experienced before.