Artists are taking over cinemas by “stealth” with short films to be screened before blockbusters such as Trumbo, Spotlight, and Hail, Caesar!
Four-to-six-minute pieces, normally seen in galleries, will play before the main film at UK cinemas from today.
The Independent Cinema Office and LUX have commissioned five international artists to make the shorts on a budget of around £10,000 each.
The Artists Cinema Projects hope to reach a new audience and provide a springboard for the next Steve McQueen or Sam Taylor-Johnson, both of whom started as visual artists before becoming top directors.
Adam Pugh, ICO project manager, said: “People won’t know what they’re about to see. It’s not going to be advertised and it will take them by stealth.
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“When you mention artists and film, many people’s defences go up ... but this way they will be able to get around that and come to it on their own terms.” The project has run previously in 2006 and 2010. After taking part in the scheme, Thai artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul went on to win the Palm D’Or at Cannes in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.
London-born, Glasgow-based Corin Sworn, 39, said her film The Goat — made with Tony Romano — about two actors travelling on a country road, played with “our need to know and understand”.
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