FLATPACK - THE 'SHIFTY' LITTLE FILM FESTIVAL WITH BIG IDEAS

FLATPACK opens at with Curzonora at Birmingham Town Hall on Wed 11 from 7.30pm (tickets £12), a fascinating study of the city's early days of cinema, with music from 15-piece The Destroyers.

Curzonora recalls the pioneering work of Waller Jeffs.

Born in London in 1861, he began to show animated pictures in Birmingham some 40 years later, drawing crowds of up to 3,000 people to see moving images accompanied by live music, sound effects and performing animals.

Some of the films he commissioned of local events became part of the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection but with competition increasing ('twas ever thus in any industry!), he had to cancel his Curzon Hall residency in 1912.

Jeffs was the manager of Stratford Picture House till his death in 1941, and he is now buried in Brandwood End Cemetery in Kings Heath.

Other notable festival screenings include a documentary / discussion re John 'Central Library' Madin's various architectural contributions to Birmingham (Ikon Eastside, Sun 15, 6.30pm).

And there's a rare chance to see Led Zeppelin in The Song Remains the Same (South Birmingham College, Sat 14, 4pm).

I saw this twice in cinemas when it first came out. I hated it the first time so went back to see why. But I didn't enjoy it any more or less the second time... it was just too long and boring, never mind the psychedelic effects, fantasy sequences etc.

Maybe now, having met Planty a few times, I'd like it more but I don't think I can persuade myself to lose another Saturday afternoon on dull solos.

Much more impressive is Shifty (The Electric, Sun 15, 6pm), a highly watchable low budget British movie about a drug dealer (www.shifty film.com) which I've reviewed below to help you to decide whether to see it.

And there's a hot new Swedish vampire thriller called Let The Right One In (Sun 15, Electric, 9.30pm).
This one is very, very weird and doesn't always work as I found out when I saw it in January.
But, if you liked Pan's Labyrinth, for example, here's your chance to see Birmingham's first public screening of a beautifully-shot vampire film of similar ilk...

The Electric Cinema on Station St has a weekend of screenings for children, including Paper Cinema & The Red Balloon (Sat 14, 11.30am, £5 or £3 for under 16s).

Flatpack's festival director is Pip McKnight and the programme director is Ian Francis. The festival is based at Unit 118 The Custard Factory, Gibb Street Digbeth and its website is: www.flatpackfestival.org

SHIFTY (18 tbc)
Verdict: ++++
JUST to prove that you don't need $100 million and a whole army to make a quality movie, here's one that was literally baked in a Microwave.
That's the name of a first-time film-maker's scheme which has paved the way for writer-director Eran Creevy to make a semi-autobiographical film about the insidious way that drug use and taking impacts on society.
Shooting in just 18 days and at a cost of just £100,000, Creevy has clearly marked himself out as one to watch by stamping his calling card right across the next wave of British film industry talent.
At last, here's a film which doesn't spend the first five minutes trying to impress you with every razzle-dazzle trick in the book.
Instead, Creevy lets the characters live and breathe, while allowing the plot to develop some surprising twists and turns.
Complete with a non-cliched Michael Nymanesque score, these simple ingredients are enough to generate sufficient tension to put you right on the edge of your seat by the time you think you know what's coming.
Chris (Danny Mays) returns to where he grew up and meets old friend Shifty (Riz Ahmed).
If he's got a past then Shifty has a dodgy present.
He might have four 'A' Levels, but his lack of career success is masked by a £3,000 per week dealing business.
In the mix are builder and cocaine addict Trevor (Jay Simpson) who has a wife and children.
And there's the potentially psycopathic Glen (Jason Flemyng), a bizarre cross between Villa's Peter Withe and Everton boss David Moyes.
The action takes place over 24 hours, but never feels forced.
Indeed, there's even time to visit a flat featuring an interesting twist on the nine lives of cats, and where Francesca Annis (Valerie) of all people is busy sucking on a blow pipe.
Creevy's climax is a delicious mixture of twist and stick.
Yes some things happen which you are expecting, but in an unexpected way.
And, although the script's major blot is that it resorts to using the C-word far too often, it is in context to a degree and doesn't stop us emphathising with all of the characters, nasty or otherwise.
Website: www.shifty film.com