The Festival was founded in 1970 by the late Leslie Rodgers of Chailey to give
amateur filmmakers throughout Sussex an opportunity to show their productions and
have them appraised by a panel of eminent cinematographers from outside the county.
It was the first county festival, but the idea has since been copied by Surrey, Kent
and others.
The early festivals were held in the Big Hall of the Martletts in
Burgess Hill, but declining attendances forced a move to Wivelsfield Village Hall
in 1981. In 1998 the venue was changed to the Adastra Hall to benefit from a more
central and easier accessed location and improved lighting facilities, but in 2002
it reverted to Wivelsfield village hall following complaints about the Adastra’s
acoustics and also building work going on at the site, restricting access. For a
great many years the Festival Chairman was David Heath of Burgess Hill who was known
in ciné circles as ‘Mister Sussex’. He retired in 1991 and was succeeded by Reg Townsend
from Brighton, an ex-
There have been enormous technical changes over the thirty years. At the first
festivals many of the entries were on standard 8mm cine film with soundtracks on
separate tapes, the reel—to—reel tape recorder being linked to the cine projector
by various ingenious devices to keep them in sync. By the late seventies super 8mm
film had become universal with the soundtrack on a magnetic stripe down the side
of the film. This ensured perfect synchronization, but sound was still only added
when the film was otherwise completed. The eighties were the heyday of the single
sound cine camera which records sounds at the same time as pictures and let amateur
film makers and actors begin to collaborate in producing short feature films. 1988
saw the first video entry and videos have now almost eliminated films. Amateurs can
now achieve nearly all the special effects seen on television.
But through all
these developments one aspect has remained constant. The Festival entrants may be
amateurs, but their entries have never been amateurish. The stock image of home movies
as never ending views of family on beach with the camera wobbling all over the place
has no relevance to these productions. Apart from a high standard of picture and
sound, the comedies and dramas are well acted and scripted while the documentaries
and travelogues have been researched and have genuinely interesting commentaries.
Obviously there are limits; amateurs can’t employ thousands of extras, or wait six
months for a pregnant giraffe to give birth, but within these limits they are thoroughly
professional. If you don’t believe it, come to the next festival and see for yourself.
Richard Mercer.
