Review: Bold and abstract screenings in Leamington cinema festival

The opening night of the first Leamington Underground Cinema (LUC) Festival was anything but secret. A complete sell-out, venue staff were forced to bring more seating out in the interval.

The selection of short films, chosen especially to screen beforehand, began with The Secret Society of Fine Arts and included some of the boldest and most abstract of the whole festival, and some with contemporary dance performance and intense visual metaphor.

The feature itself told the story of an underground organisation of art terrorists, in a gripping narrative told entirely through manipulated still images. Visually, it’s one of the most breathtaking films ever made, playing heavily on a less-is-more philosophy that brings a lot to the urgency of the plot. This was made all the more engrossing by LAMP’s use of projectors (one centre stage, two either side projecting onto the walls.)

You get the feeling that the choice of screening The Secret Society on the first night of the festival is a very deliberate choice, a metaphor for LUC, itself a shadowy underground arts organisation intent on taking us all into a real life thriller.

Max Fisher