As we start the new year, I thought I’d clean up the site a little and start afresh. I’ll be using this journal periodically to document things I’m working on over the year. For now, I thought I’d pick a handful of highlights from 2022.
In January, I assisted the Sundance Industry Office virtually as the festival moved online at short notice due to Omicron. Though it was a shame not to be able to return to Park City in person, it was absolutely the best thing to do and it was great to be able to assist the team from afar.
In April, I went back home to see my family for the first time since Christmas 2019. Also in April, Mayhem collaborated with The Nottingham Horror Collective for a screening of Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer Body and a selection of short films directed by women that we curated.
In May, I returned to Cannes for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It felt like a genuine treat and though the festival was much quieter than in pre-Covid times, it had a fantastic line-up including Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing, and my favourite film of the year, Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun.
In October, we held Mayhem Film Festival’s 17th edition though I got struck by Covid two days before and couldn’t attend in person which was devastating. Still, I’m very proud of the programme we put together - but will remain forever sad that I didn’t get to see our screening of Kaneto Shindo’s Kuroneko with live newly-commissioned score by Yumah, which Steven Sheil spent so much time putting together.
Also in October, I launched Show Me Your Teeth, an exploration of feminism, vampirism and the representation of women in vampiric tales. I curated the season for Warwick Arts Centre as part of the BFI’s In Dreams Are Monsters season. Show Me Your Teeth included seven screenings, a panel discussion with Jennifer Handorf, Sabina Stent and Helen Wheatley, and a zine featuring specially-commissioned artworks and written pieces exploring the themes of the season.
In November, Mayhem welcomed Kier-La Janisse to Broadway Cinema in Nottingham as part of the House of Psychotic Women 10th anniversary tour organised by Matchbox Cineclub. Also in November, I headed over to Dundee for This Way Up where I sat on a panel about genre cinema with Nia Edwards-Behi from Abertoir and Andrew Partridge from Scotland Loves Anime.
Finally, in December, I attended the BIFA afterparty as a voter and got in the venue as Aftersun was awarded Best Independent Film which felt like the perfect way to wrap up the year.
I look forward to seeing what 2023 has in store. First and next stop, Sundance - I’m off to pack my suitcase.