Oli Smith’s Weekend Life Premiere

By John Freeman on November 6, 2008

Following the success of London-based Hectic Peelers recent night of Raindance Shorts, the group is presenting another night of renowned short movies.

The main attraction is the portmanteau film Civic Life, a septet of short films showing life around the UK by the film making duo Desperate Optimists, namely Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, whose first feature film Helen is currently showing at the London Film Festival.

Each part of Civic Life varies in genre from murder mystery to comedy and drama but all are made up of a single uncut take of between five and 17 minutes and were filmed with the help of local people across the length and breadth of the country. A Desperate Optimist will be in attendance to introduce the film and do a Q&A afterwards.

In addition, award-winning comic book artist Oli Smith (creator of Hazy Thursday) will introduce the theatrical premiere of his first short film Weekend Friends and will be available to answer questions and sign copies of his comic book prequels to the short film at the bar.

• Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB 7.30pm, 11th November 2008 More info at: www.roxybarandscreen.com

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.