Palmers Green's own community cinema, Talkies, is now in its second year. The enterprising venture was launched by David Williamson in October 2012 with a screening of A Man of No Ambition, a film about notable Palmers Green resident Ralph Hutchings. Fourteen months and 21 events later, Talkies will end its 2013 season with a Palmers Green double bill at the Fox on 11th December.
The evening begins with an introduction to Palmers Green Tales, a new website which is about to be launched by Jenny Bourke. Palmers Green Tales will be sharing stories gathered from current and former local residents by the Palmers Green Oral History Project - and the website will also to help gather new reminiscences for the the project.
The main feature, Dead Cat, is a seasonal quirky take on contemporary relationships in London. A lot of the filming was done in and around Palmers Green and Wood Green. Sam Bourke and Stefan Georgiou will introduce the film and take questions afterwards.
Sam and Stefan grew up in Palmers Green and Southgate. Previously they have made several successul short films, but Dead Cat is their first full-length feature. It premiered in Leicester Square at the London Independent Film Festival earlier this year, going on to win awards in the UK, Mexico, USA and Cyprus - where it opened the 2013 Cyprus International Film Festival.
Stefan says of the film: "We have had an amazing reaction to Dead Cat in festivals across the world, but as a Cypriot filmmaker, opening the Cyprus film festival and winning the Nostimon Imar award was very special to me and an opportunity that I treasure."
The story follows Michael and Kristen, who were childhood sweethearts, but haven't spoken in ten years. Thrown back together as they both begin their thirties, is there still anything between them? With nothing but a gang of dysfunctional friends as allies will they discover if this second chance is love or just nostalgia?
Talkies is more than just movies - its events includes extras such as food and drink, live music or fancy dress opportunities. David hopes that people will use to it make new connections and meet up with old friends. Films have been screened at several different venues, but mostly at the Fox in Palmers Green (English-language films) and the Dugdale Centre in Enfield Town (suitable for showing foreign-language films with subtitles).
The Palmers Green special on 11th December costs a mere £5. You can watch a trailer on YouTube and book online at Eventbrite.
