Here is my report of my visit to the Film Convention in Blackpool 18th – 20th of November 2022.
Last year I was very happy to be there with my Super8database right hand; Greg Perry. You can see a video from it from my previous article: Video From Blackpool. I am very happy we got to meet in person for the first time, and even during a pandemic that made travel much harder.
This time it was just me who could go there. But as each year passes I have gotten to know more and more of the regulars, so it was a blast to go there again.
I arrived at the hotel Thursday afternoon, and went right into several of the organizers and other well known faces.
It was great getting to talk to them again. And for me this is what the convention is all about: Sharing the joy of film for a whole weekend!
Every Friday a feature film is shown. It has usually been a 16mm film, but this year a 35mm projector was used. It was a rather small projector for 35mm, and was said to have been made for the armed forces and was specified to fit into a submarine.
The film we saw was “A Stich in Time”. A British comedy from 1965. It had some similarities to a jerry Lewis movie, and I realy enjoyed it.
Saturday has a film show running for several hours. The audience bring films to show, both on 16mm and Super 8. The genres are quite varying, and once again I enjoyed it a lot.
Saturday evening it is the yearly Blackpool dinner with David and Adrian being busy bees.
There is a raffle each year. This year we brought a prize: A jigsawe puzzle with a Super 8 motif. The projector and films are mine, and it was made into a 1000 Ravensburger puzzle.
At the end of the dinner there is a film show. This year’s compilation was made by Shorty and was run by David on his magnificent Fumeo.
On Sunday it is the Film Fair. I came early as usual, and once again I had the same men in front of me in the line.
There were a lot of films this year and many attending too. A very enjoyable film fair!
There were two film shows during the fair. A flat and a scope show. Lee Mannering’s new releases were also shown. The yearly auction was lead by Bob in a well and entertaining way.
For the first time it was held a Q & A session at Blackpool, lead by Adrian. The man receiving all the questions was Ged Jones, former director at Derann. It was most interesting. I have a complete audio recording of it, and perhaps it will surface some day?
I hope to see Ged back again a later year as I am certain it is a lot more to be said.
From I came on Thursday and left my good friends at the breakfast on Monday morning I had a wonderful time. If you have the chance to be there next year I truly recommend you to attend!
By Eivind Mork