Kate Feld talks to self-confessed “film obsessive” Jason Wood, a filmmaker – and our new Artistic Director for Film…
Jason Wood, HOME’s incoming Artistic Director for Film, might have spent the last five years programming the Curzon art house cinemas in London, but he’s no stranger to Manchester. Quite the contrary: “One of the reasons I got into film programming was because of trips up to Cornerhouse,” he says. As a lover of American independent film, Cornerhouse’s former Mavericks Festival was an annual pilgrimage for Wood in the 1990s; indeed, his own documentary on cult US filmmaker Hal Hartley was screened there. “The cinema there has been a big part of my own film education – it’s always been inspiring to me the way that Cornerhouse has appealed to cinephiles, valuing film culture over film commerce.”
Film culture certainly means a great deal to Wood, a self-described “film obsessive” who came of age in the flickering light of gritty London art house cinema, The Scala. In conversation, his enthusiasm for all aspects of the movies immediately strikes you. And after hearing him decry the lazy use of popular songs to dictate emotion in film, the endless succession of identikit Hitchcock retrospectives and the domination of a certain kind of cosy period drama in British Film, it’s clear he’s prepared to take calculated risks with his programming.
So what can we expect when he starts in February? Wood mentions live digital “film remixes”, talks drawn from his extensive contact book and retrospectives that subvert the cinematic template. And he sounds genuinely excited about the possibilities at HOME. “It’s a cross art-platform venue, so when the opportunity arises there really is the potential to have cinema screens, theatre spaces and art spaces working in complete cohesion. I envision the film programme at HOME one of the best in Europe. Five screens, really cutting edge, working with the best new artists but also paying homage to film history – looking forward and looking back.” Looking forward to it? Yes, we are.