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Results and Report of
THE MERSEY TEN 2008
judged by Willy Van der
Linden |
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The annual Mersey 10 Competition for film makers in the North West
IAC Region
was hosted by Preston Movie Makers and judged by the eminent Belgian
film maker
Willy Van der Linden on Saturday 15th March 2008.
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 Willy
relaxes |
Saturday, 15th March, saw Willy in Lancashire to act as judge for the Mersey
Ten competition.
Willy had started out with his wife Vera, from his home in Belgium on Wednesday,
and his intention was to take the Calais-Dover ferry, but due to prolonged
severe weather conditions all ferry sailings had been cancelled. They had
no alternative but to use the very costly “Shuttle”. At least that
is his story, because we think that he “bottled out”!!
Nevertheless, they did arrive here in Preston on Thursday afternoon, after
spending the night in Bicester. |
| On Thursday night Willy showed some of his films to members
of Preston Movie Makers, at their club meeting . After watching
Breendonk, An Irish Moment and many others, our Chairman, Jim
Whalley, performed the very pleasant task of honouring Willy with membership
of Preston Movie Makers, and presented him with a club sweat shirt.
On Friday evening we met with friends and actors from Blackburn Drama Club
who have helped Willy by providing a narrator, Andrew Smith, for some of
his latest films, and not forgetting the sound recordist, Wayne Avanson,
who has provided great sound recording facilities for Willy. We all enjoyed
a nice evening over a meal topped off with Black Sheep Bitter.
The main purpose of Willy’s visit was of course to judge the Mersey
Ten Competition. The competition is held annually and normally hosted by
a different club each year. Entries to the competition are restricted to
clubs or members within the IAC North West Region. The last time that Preston
hosted the competition in 2002, our judge was our patron, Nick Park, and
so we thought that on this occasion we also needed to find an equally qualified
judge, hence Willy Van der Linden, eminent Belgian Filmmaker. We were of
course delighted that he agreed to take on this important task. The entries
for the competition were sent off to Willy some six weeks before the competition.
This allowed plenty of time for him to make his decisions. The films were
shown to members of the two clubs that Willy belongs to for their opinions,
and I believe that he had as many as five winners at one time!! Life is
difficult!! Eventually, he came to a decision, and he provided a written
report for each film entered, including the ones which couldn’t be shown
due to lack of time. His reports are positive and always encourage the film
maker to do better next time. |
| The venue was St. Cuthbert’s Church Centre in Fulwood,
Preston. This is a new complex completed less than three years ago, and is
really an ideal location for such an event. A lot of thought has been put
into the design and layout of the hall, which provided easy access for our
less mobile guests.
Ninety-five guests attended from right across the region and they had a
marvellous evening. A total of nineteen films were shown, split into two
one-hour sessions either side of a refreshment break.
In summing up the competition, Willy said that Belgian beer is best in the
world, and so are the chocolates and pate etc, but this doesn’t mean
that everything is better in Belgium or Europe!! On the contrary, some years
ago he read in the “Daily Telegraph” that Belgium is the second
most corrupt country in Europe, and that’s maybe why Geoff Harrison
had invited him to be the judge. Geoff thought he could bribe his way to
be the winner, but Willy explained that he couldn’t afford the price!!.
So Geoff came 26th!! Willy also mentioned that his Anglomania cannot be cured,
no matter what we might throw at him. |
Willy gives his speech |
| His speech was as usual marvellous and brought the house
down.
Presentation of the prizes and certificates took place, and Willy and Vera
were thanked with gifts. A fine end to an excellent night enjoyed by all.
Willy and Vera fled Lancashire early on Sunday morning, to avoid the “hue
and cry” threatened by the losers.
We thank Vera and Willy for making the journey to Lancashire, in such atrocious
weather conditions, and hope that we can welcome them back again in the near
future.
Geoff Harrison |
Results
The Mersey Ten Competition
Rules
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Entry in the is open to all videos made by anyone - Clubs or Individuals
- within the North West Region.
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Videos entered may be on any subject.
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Videos entered must not exceed TEN MINUTES screen time. Entries which
exceed the time limit, by no matter how small a margin, will be disqualified.
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All entries must be on MiniDV tape only.
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All entries should be recorded on an otherwise blank tape and should start
within 2 minutes of the beginning of the tape.
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Each video must be accompanied by an entry form. Entrants are strongly advised
to use either Registered Post or Signed for Delivery for the transit of their
entries. If an entrant prefers to deliver his or her entry to the Competition
Officer, they may do so.
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Entries are not acceptable if they have previously been entered in any IAC
North West Competition, unless substantial alteration has been made to them.
Videos which were entered into the North West Competition, but not shown,
may be entered into the Mersey Ten Competition.
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There is no entry fee but entrants who do not intend to collect their videos
at the presentation evening should enclose adequate return postage.
However the Regional Council hopes that all entrants, if not able to be present
at the presentation evening, will at least arrange for a representative to
be present to receive any award that may be made. If there is no one to accept
an award, it may be withheld.
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All copyright material MUST be cleared by the entrant. The Competition
Officer reserves the right to require evidence of such clearance prior to
the exhibition of an entry, particularly where use is made of a solo recording.
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All videos entered in the competition will be submitted to the judge(s) for
adjudication and comment. However, the Organisers cannot guarantee that
all videos entered will be screened at the Mersey Ten Competition Presentation
Evening. The judge(s) will be asked to select a BALANCED programme for
showing within the available screen time.
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The Winner of the Competition will be awarded the STEVENSON TROPHY and shall
hold this trophy for one year. The North West Region will arrange for the
engraving of the trophy. It is the winner's responsibility to return the
trophy to the Competition Officer no later than the First of March of the
following year. One each of the following certificates will be presented
to the runners-up: VERY HIGHLY COMMENDED, HIGHLY COMMENDED and COMMENDED.
There will also be an audience vote for the best video, the winner being
awarded the Vic Williams Trophy. (Note this award will
not be given in 2008.)
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The Organisers, whilst taking every reasonable care of the videos submitted,
cannot accept any responsibility for loss or damage whilst in their possession.
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Videos will be available for collection on the night of the presentation.
Any not collected will be returned as soon as possible after the event -
provided adequate return postage was sent with the entry.
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The Competition Officer reserves the right to copy all entries digitally
onto either DVD or MiniDV for submission to the judge(s). Such copying will
in no way infringe the maker's copyright and will be done to ensure the security
of the entries, reduce transport costs and generally improve the efficiency
of the administration. Such digital copies will be destroyed on receipt of
the adjudication by the judge(s) and erased from the computer hard drive.
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