The best alternative music videos
- Text by Alex King
Every year Flatpack Film Festival turns Birmingham into a buzzing mecca for alternative cinephiles who scour the city’s bars, galleries, museums, pubs and other random makeshift spaces for weird and wonderful cinematic treats.
Flatpack’s definition of film stretches far beyond that used by traditional festivals and it serves up short films, animated treats, retro oddities, interactive cinema, live music and a lot of partying.
Before the Flatpack London warm up party at Hackney Picturehouse on Friday, March 6, we spoke to programmer Sam Groves for his pick of the best alternative music videos from this year’s festival.
“I always think of music videos in pretty broad terms (as you’ll see),” Sam says. “For me, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a promo for a musician or a band; it can be something much more innovative and interesting.
“This eclectic batch are taken from five different programmes, and include Japanese Animator Mirai Mizue’s brilliantly vibrant Poker, a French poem turned into a song from our family programme, a bizarre short about a pony’s daytime adventure, a choreographed dance film about Shia Labeouf, and a Grandmaster Flash music video handpicked from a Zbigniew Rybczynski retrospective.”
Poker (dir. Mirai Mizue)
From one of our animation programmes, Beyond the Realm.
En Sortant de L’école (dir. Lila Peuscet)
From one of our colour box (family) programmes, Shape Shifters.
Lesley the Pony has an A+ Day! (dir. Christian Larrave)
From a programme of shorts celebrating LGBT, camp, and queer culture, LOLGBT.
Shia Labeouf – Rob Cantor (dir. Scott Uhlfelder)
From comedy programme of shorts, Shizzles & Giggles.
Sign of the Times – Grandmaster Flash (dir. Zbigniew Rybczynski)
From a retrospective of the Polish filmmaker, Zbigniew Rybczynski: Media Pioneer.
Flatpack Film Festival runs 19-29 March in venues all over Birmingham. Catch the London warm up party at Hackney Picturehouse Friday, March 6 from 7.
Latest on Huck
Meet the shop cats of Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan district
Feline good — Traditionally adopted to keep away rats from expensive produce, the feline guardians have become part of the central neighbourhood’s fabric. Erica’s online series captures the local celebrities.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How trans rights activism and sex workers’ solidarity emerged in the ’70s and ’80s
Shoulder to Shoulder — In this extract from writer Jake Hall’s new book, which deep dives into the history of queer activism and coalition, they explore how anti-TERF and anti-SWERF campaigning developed from the same cloth.
Written by: Jake Hall
A behind the scenes look at the atomic wedgie community
Stretched out — Benjamin Fredrickson’s new project and photobook ‘Wedgies’ queers a time-old bullying act by exploring its erotic, extreme potential.
Written by: Isaac Muk
“Welcome to the Useless Class”: Ewan Morrison in conversation with Irvine Welsh
For Emma — Ahead of the Scottish author’s new novel, he sat down with Irvine Welsh for an in-depth discussion of its dystopic themes, and the upcoming AI “tsunami”.
Written by: Irvine Welsh
“Struggle helps people come together”: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Huck’s February interview — To hear more about the release of the indie darling’s first collaborative album, we caught up with her and Devra Hoff to hear about the record, motherhood in music and why the ’80s are back,
Written by: Isaac Muk
Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Egyptian-British alt-pop shapeshifter Nxdia.
Written by: Nxdia