Birthday Commissions tour the Nation’s Big Screens
Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor (desperate optimists), Now We Are Grown Up
Kartoon Kings (Simon Grennan & Chris Sperandio), Hopes, Fears, 20 Years
Works from two of the UK’s most highly regarded artist duos are being shown in city centres nationwide as Now We Are Grown Up and Hopes, Fears, 20 Years, specially commissioned by Cornerhouse for its 20th Birthday last year, embark on a tour of the UK’s Big Screens. The two commissions will return to Big Screen Manchester for a one year anniversary screening, offering audiences another opportunity to see both pieces on the Big Screen, and importantly a rare and unique opportunity to see Kartoon Kings’ Hopes, Fears, 20 Years, which is exhibited on Big Screens only.
Now We Are Grown Up a film by Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor (desperate optimists) is part of Civic Life, an acclaimed moving image series, consisting of seven short films made in conjunction with local residents and community groups, and foregrounding the relationships these local communities have to the environments in which they live and work. Each of these high quality films can be likened to an intricate narrative painting, revealed to the viewer piece by piece. Now We Are Grown Up was filmed entirely on location in the Grand Hall of Manchester Town Hall with a cast of performers all 20 years of age. Perfectly positioned and synchronised, the piece is filmed in two smooth and immaculately planned takes.
The Civic Life series has met with great critical success, with Who Killed Brown Owl winning the award for Best British Short Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2004.
Hopes, Fears, 20 Years a film by Kartoon Kings (Simon Grennan & Chris Sperandio) is based around a series of 50 interviews the artists conducted with members of the public from all walks of life between the ages of 25 and 100 in 2005. Each of the people interviewed were asked just two questions requiring a single five word or less response: What’s been your single greatest hope since 1985? What’s been your single greatest fear since 1985? The collected hopes and fears have been assembled into a series of vibrant animated texts, with key words and ideas often exposing contradictions and diverse opinions.
Using the Big Screen as a video soapbox in a crowded and demanding street environment, Hopes, Fears, 20 Years presents real voices in an extraordinary way, creating reciprocity between the contemporary street and the lives of the people who use it, striking at the core of the relationship between individual lives and the recent growth of UK cities. The original soundtrack underwrites the drama of the animation, introducing suspense, narrative, humour and climaxes to the visual sequence.