Last weekend (18th-19th Sept) saw a hugely successful inaugural Hackney Film Festival take place in East London. The non-profit event is set to be an annual fixture, aiming to celebrate the work of Hackney based artists and provide a platform for local film heads. Short film and animation screenings began on Saturday at the classic Dalston Rio Cinema at 3.30pm running through until 6.30pm, followed by an evening of live audio-visual performances from 7.30pm-2am at The Others in Stoke Newington. More film and music video screenings took place at The Drop in Stoke Newington on Sunday afternoon. The event directors were overwhelmed by the high standard of film submissions, and the final shortlist screened was hugely impressive.

Synthetics was asked to play at two events – the live audio-visual evening on 18th and a festival fundraiser gig at Korsan Bar a month previously – alongside an awesome A/V line-up: The Light Surgeons (performing True Fictions), Quayola (performing PTA), Tom White,(performing MOILING), Joe Catchpole, The K E R N S, Alex Sedano, Triggerset, and Blinkin Lab.

The fundraiser gig was more of a party VJ/DJ jam, whereas the live A/V event on the 18th was geared towards the discerned viewer, with sofas and chairs arranged to watch the performances. There was a big triple screen set up which The Light Surgeons and Quayola had optimised their sets for – and I’ve never seen so much technology arranged on 3 workbenches to make it happen. The venue was packed and Synthetics’ visuals received some very warm comments. It was a privilege to play alongside such industry heavyweights.

Once the video documentation has been collated it will be posted online.

Thanks to all involved and roll on next year!