Every year, Somerset House opens its’ courtyard up to film fans for Film4 Summer Screen – a summer selection of classic, cult, and contemporary film screenings. 2014 marks the 10th anniversary and to celebrate its’ special birthday, the Film4 Summer Screen is also hosting ‘Behind the Screen’ – a diverse and entertaining programme of talks, workshops and family activities.
Director Richard Ayoade talked cinematic influences, teenagers could learn the art of suspense filmmaking and the public could embark on a guided tour of Somerset House as a a film location. On 15th August THN joined director Charlie Lyne and special guests for ‘The Secret Life of the Teen Movie’; an evening of strange tales from the teen genre’s colourful past.
Lyne, director of the teen genre documentary BEYOND CLUELESS, is a teen movie connoisseur having spent months compiling footage for his documentary, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year. The film also played at Sheffield DocFest earlier this year where THN got to talk all things teen movie with the director himself. His introduction to the genre was followed by several guest speakers discussing their experiences of teen movies and what those movies mean to them.
Catherine Bray, broadcaster, editorial director of Film4 and producer of BEYOND CLUELESS, spoke on what teen movies meant to her as a teenager. Reminiscing with extracts from her teenage diary, Bray compared her critical eye to that of the experts and concluded that whilst the movies are interested in teenagers, teenagers just aren’t that interested in the movies.
Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman discussed the beauty of the 80’s teen movies; the golden age of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe and just what made them so special. Likening the teen movies impact on the second half of the century to that of the westerns of the first half, Freeman spoke nostalgically on an era where independent studios could spend £1 million on a movie like PRETTY IN PINK and watch it strike gold at the box office.
Co-director of the upcoming Edwyn Collins documentary, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS, Edward Lovelace has another, slightly different credit to his name – that of executive producer of 2012 music documentary KATY PERRY: PART OF ME. Lovelace spoke on the challenges of making a film in which your vision differs from other creatives involved and what that meant for his eventual input into the movie.
Followed by a double bill of teen movies HAIRSPRAY and SPRING BREAKERS, ‘The Secret Life of the Teen Movie’ gave its’ audience a look at the world behind the high school corridors.
There are still ‘Behind the Screen’ events taking place at Somerset House for the Film4 season – for full details visit their website
