Be the first to view the 2019 selection of ‘Real to Reel’, the short film festival dedicated to craft and moving image

For the second year we will premiere the annual selection of short films about craft, produced by the Crafts Council and Crafts magazine (UK)

This year we host an exclusive double-bill premiere at The Backlot in West Perth of this year’s 33 films. We are stoked that three Australian films made the international cut, alongside submissions from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Scandinavia.

Real to Reel will premiere in Australia on Friday 2 August at The Backlot. Book now.

In the following weeks, the films will tour to Mosman Park (WA), Melbourne with Craft Victoria, Sydney with Australian Design Centre and Casula (NSW), as well as Denmark (WA) and with other venues to be announced.

The festival is a unique opportunity to witness craft in action and the narratives, passion and skill inherent in the creation of works. It provides a global perspective and again, the programme unites some unusual and perhaps unexpected tales of making – from miniatures, to replica birds’ eggs, to a human powered bakery – along with animations that bring to life fibre, wool, clay and found objects.

The 33 short films are divided across two sessions, that cover an incredible diversity of styles, people and approaches.

This year, the Real to Reel selection panel was joined by knitter and filmmaker Lorna Hamilton-Brown MBE and Gary Thomas, film programme manager at the British Council and co-director of Animate Projects.

You don’t have to be a ‘maker’ to enjoy these films. As the stories are intrinsically about connections, the power of the hand, tactility and our most basic human instinct to shape materials.

Ranging from just 18 seconds to 11 minutes, there’s plenty to inspire.

WHEN: Friday 2 August 2019

TIME: 6-9pm

WHERE: The Backlot, 21 Simpson St, West Perth

BOOK TICKETS: $60pp* (includes double bill, super comfy seats, plus a drink and canapés in the interval.) *GST Inc., booking fees apply.

Real to Reel: The Craft Film Festival is produced by the Crafts Council and Crafts magazine.

Real to Reel 2019 is presented in Australia thanks to Maker&Smith.

Associated events

Real to Reel at Camelot on Friday 9 August; Screening 1 and 2 – come to both or choose one.
Also conversations about the collaborative work of makers of craft and film will also take place. Line up will be released soon.

World renowned Hand and Lock London come to Perth to teach incredible embroidery workshops 2-12 August 2019.

Kat Evans

With These Hands

The elemental nature of creating in clay comes to the fore in this short film about ceramist Kat Evans. Her asymmetrical sculptures speak of the processes that made them: pinching, coiling and paddling. Hours of careful and deliberate burnishing create a perfectly smooth canvas for a dramatic smoke firing.

Alexis Gautier

The Shipworm and the Glory of Enkhuizen

In conversation with the Zuiderzee Museum’s blacksmith and gardener, designer Alexis Gautier uncovered stories about cross-pollination between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. He learned how a small exotic animal, the shipworm, became a disaster for the Zuiderzee’s dyke posts, and how a Dutch cabbage returned home after a long journey to the Far East.

Tjanpi Desert Weavers

Ngayuku Papa: Bluey and Big Boy

Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council that enables women in the remote Central and Western desert regions of Australia to earn an income from fibre art. Ngaanyatjarra woman Maureen Butler tells the story of her hunting dogs Bluey and Big Boy, illustrated through stop-motion animation by Jonathan Daw.