The Dodge Brothers and Neil Brand at BIFF 2012
The Dodge Brothers, cinema fans’ favourite country blues, rockabilly and skiffle playing four-piece have been announced as one of the special event headliners at this year’s Bradford International Film Festival in Partnership with Virgin Media, which runs from 19 – 29 April.
They will be joined on stage by one of the world’s best known silent-film accompanists, Neil Brand, to provide a live soundtrack for the classic silent film Beggars of Life (1928).
Passes are set to go on sale on 16 January for the 18 th edition of the Festival – a highlight of the annual film calendar, organised and hosted by the National Media Museum in Bradford.
BIFF co-director Tom Vincent said: “BIFF has a long and much-enjoyed tradition of including live music as part of our annual celebration of cinema, and over the years audiences’ enthusiasm for these shows has grown and grown. We’re very excited to up the scale of these events in BIFF 2012 with the long-awaited first ever gig in the North of the country by The Dodge Brothers, plus the UK’s foremost piano accompanist Neil Brand.”
The Dodge Brothers will be playing guitars, harmonica, banjo, double bass and a washboard, with Brand on piano, in the National Media Museum’s renowned Pictureville cinema on 21 April.
Neil Brand is a celebrated silent film accompanist and composer who regularly performs to screenings at London’s BFI South Bank (formerly the National Film Theatre).
The Dodge Brothers features Mike Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals, banjo), Mark Kermode (bass, harmonica, vocals), Aly Hirji (rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Alex Hammond (washboard, snare drum, percussion). Their music has an authentically American tang – lead guitarist/vocalist Mike Hammond was raised in Alabama, USA – but with a strong British perspective from Culture Show presenter and film critic Mark Kermode.
Other highlights for BIFF 2012 include a brand new European Features competition as well as regular programme strands – the Shine Short Film competition, Widescreen Weekend and Uncharted States of America.
In addition to screening classic large format films, Widescreen Weekend will celebrate the 60 th birthday of Cinerama – this unique three-projector system demonstrated the world’s first widescreen films when unveiled in 1952. The National Media Museum’s Pictureville Cinema is now the only public cinema in Europe to have a Cinerama screen.
Details of further special events, star guests and an incredible variety of films will be revealed in the coming weeks. Individual tickets are due to go on sale in March.
Festival passes (£65, £60 concessions) and tickets for Beggars of Life + The Dodge Bros and Neil Brand (£16, no concessions) will be available from 16 January from www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/biff , or the National Media Museum box office: 0844 856 3797.
xx - posted on 23/05/2012 13:13:28
