On Sunday July 19th at 6pm we will be premiering a new eleven minute piece of music. This piece of electronic optimism will be a rescore to a WWII government fitness campaign called ‘4 and 20 Fit Girls’. This short film is a public record of a keep fit class from 1940 which has been preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive.
We have been working on this with Live Cinema UK who have been supporting artists, and cinemas until the time comes when live performances can happen again. Over the next month, Live Cinema UK are selecting two short archive films for us to create an alternative score for, we will have two weeks to create an alternative score for that film. We have accepted the challenge and our first alternative score will be for eccentric 1940s exercise short ‘4 and 20 Fit Girls’ (1940, 11 mins) available for free on BFI Player, which will be premiered as a watch party and a live chat on Sunday 19th July at 6pm on Mixlr.
Our second short film title will be announced shortly, with the second watch party premiere scheduled for Sunday 2nd August at 6pm.
The scores and films are completely free to watch and listen to, any donations will be gratefully accepted and 100% will go towards supporting independent cinemas currently closed where we would in other circumstances be performing this re-score live. We have selected three independent cinemas in the East Midlands and Yorkshire: Broadway (Nottingham), Derby Quad, and Showroom Cinema Sheffield who as registered charities will receive any donations viewers are able to make, which can be sent via Paypal. Live Cinema UK are taking no money from these events and 100% of proceeds will go to the cinemas.
This project has been produced by Live Cinema UK, supported by Arts Council England and Film Hub North, part of the BFI Film Audience Network”. We send a massive thanks to Arts Council England's Emergency Response Fund, and Film Hub North for supporting us financially to do this.
Now! Dig out your sweatbands, put July 19th in your calendars, and read below for how to get involved.
Instructions
1. Load up ‘4 and 20 Fit Girls ‘on BFI Player (FREE) - https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-4-and-20-fit-girls-1940-online
2. You will need two devices - phone, tablet or computer. One device to play the film from (make sure this is muted). You also need to make sure the film is paused at 0:00 (very important, otherwise there might a lag) . If your system is prone to buffering, test it out before hand.
3. The other device will play the soundtrack and be available for live chat and Q&A on Mixlr - http://mixlr.com/haikusalut/ The link will take you to our Mixlr page. It will tell you when we are on air. If you are listening via smartphone click ‘Listen Live’. If you are listening via laptop click' ‘Press to Play’.
4. There will be one song while we wait for everyone to join, and then a short introduction. You will be counted in to press play on BFI player on your other device.
5. We’ll introduce the tracks in the chat box on Mixlr, and answer any questions.
6. Have a lovely time!
7. Donate to support Live Cinema UK independent cinema partners who are unable to open during lockdown - https://www.paypal.me/livecinema