Dancer and choreographer Dianne Reid met Smith when she was called in to choreograph some scenes for a play in which Smith was the lead. The scenes involved childbirth and lovemaking. “It occurred to me that if Mel was going to do those things, she’d need to be out of the wheelchair,” Reid recalls. “I asked her ‘can you do that?’ and in response she made this slow descent to the floor. There was such virtuosity and intensity involved in coordinating the movement. I can remember watching and then saying to her ‘that’s your dance’.”
Subsequently, Reid mentored Smith under a grant and they have practiced together on average for three hours a week since. “Recently Mel told me that she always felt like she was a dancer and now she describes herself as one working with cerebral palsy,” Reid reveals.
Reid’s short film Beautiful Day documents the process of Smith dancing for the first time out of her chair and is just one of the remarkable films featuring in this year’s Digital Creatures, the Fringe Festival’s showcase of short films, animation and digital art.
To say that the films are diverse is an understatement. Fringe Producer for the Creative Program Aneke McCulloch agrees. “There are probably six different types of animation alone – there’s even a film clip from a band called Quintessential Dolls. It’s really exciting – it’s Digital Creatures second year and we’ve almost doubled the size of the program. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this continues to grow in the future and hearing this year’s feedback. It’s definitely worth making the trip.”
Digital Creatures screens in the Dining Hall at the Little Creatures Brewery from 6pm every night and there’ll be information about each entry – so you can enjoy a brew and a flick at the same time. The movies run silently, but if you’re after sound you can borrow headphones from the bar-staff.
It’s this laid-back environment which in part drew Reid to the idea of exhibiting in Digital Creatures. “I like the idea that people are relaxing and the film comes to them,” Reid explains. “It also means that people who wouldn’t necessarily see the film otherwise will get the opportunity to watch it.” Reid and Smith are also performing a 50-minute show called Unbecoming during this year’s Fringe, so Digital Creatures serves a dual role. “It’s a bit like a short for a main feature elsewhere,” laughs Reid.
The prizes are awesome too. Judged by a panel of Fringe, MIFF and Little Creatures reps, the winning entry scores a cash prize and will be screened again in the Little Creatures Dining Hall come summer. “At the moment, any entry is on rotation amidst 21 films,” McCulloch explains. “The winner of that prize will receive more of a feature screening season.”
Beer, food and film is definitely a winning combo. “The feedback from last year’s Digital Creatures was good,” says McCulloch. “For a lot of people, it was interesting and unexpected, particularly if they were walk-ins. Other people who heard about it through our program made the trip specifically and got to enjoy some food and beer while they watched the film.” Get your art on with a beer – why wouldn’t you?
BY MEG CRAWFORD
