With Mother's day having just passed and it being International Women's Day it's the perfect time to highlight this unique short that shows the nightmare we'd live in if our mothers weren't the superheroes they are and phoned it in instead. The iMom from Ariel Martin on Vimeo. This sic fi/horror short from Ariel Martin depicts an age where parents skirt away from their responsibility as parents and instead place it in the hands of an automaton. iMom. Testimonials from parents seem too good to be true and you have to wonder if it is as the film goes on. Definitely worth a watch if you have a spare 15 minutes. This film makes me glad to have been born when I was and really appreciate that my mother didn't leave me alone with a robot that could malfunction ...
For those who missed my brief coverage of Flatpack last year it's a festival which takes over venues across Birmingham every March. Drawing in people from far and wide with a mixture of films, performances, contraptions and surprises, and has been described as “magnificently eclectic” (Time Out), “joyously inventive” (the Guardian) and “the UK’s most creatively curated film festival” (the Independent). I went last year as a little bit of an experiment as I had only just heard about it and I immediately fell in love with it. Now entering it's 9th year as a festival the latest one looks to be a treat. The kind of work they put on depends upon the project, but recurring themes include animation, music, artists’ film, archive discoveries, offbeat shorts for kids and live cinema. They're firm believers in creating a sense ...