IMPERFECT CINEMA is a socio-participatory film collective co-founded by Allister Gall and Dan Paolantonio way back in 2010. Our aim for the project was to enable and encourage a distinctly underground and DIY film-making culture within the City of Plymouth, where anyone could participate, and after nearly a decade (and over 600 films later), we’re still going strong!
Taking inspiration from the ideas of (amongst others) Julio Garcia Espinosa, Jacques Ranciere our shared backgrounds in DIY Punk, we have held events all over the world and directly inspired such projects as Imperfect Orchestra, Imperfect VR, and Imperfect iDocs (to name but a few!). Our current focus is our two-year residency in Stonehouse where we are working on building a community cinema, a film-makers co-operative and much much more! We make films, we screen films and explore the transformative potential of DIY approaches to cinema, community and culture making.
Q & A with Imperfect Cinema
What do you love about showing and/or making work in Plymouth?
Our amazing city is our main inspiration in everything we do. Every project we have done has been directly influenced by narratives within our City, its people, its history and heritage, its textures, pressures, frictions and opportunities! There’s no-where else we’d rather be! We’re thrilled to be working in Stonehouse for the next two years and have been warmly received by this incredible community who seem as excited as we are about our residency! After all, Stonehouse was the place where the first ever film-screenings in Plymouth were held, where the first purpose-built cinema was opened, and where cinematic pioneers such as William Freise-Greene and R.W. Paul plied their trade! It was the location of Plymouth’s first ever UK feature film premiere, the place where Gary Oldman made his big-screen debut and of course was the final place that Laurel and Hardy ever took a bow as a double act!
What can you tell us about this project, and why is now a good time to share it?
Our project draws on the rich history of early cinema in Stonehouse’s Union Street, and in particular the music halls which hosted the first ever screenings of film, which were always presented as part of Variety shows! The name of our programme takes its’ inspiration from long-gone the Palace of Varieties and Curiosities on Union Street (no not the familiar New Palace Theatre) which was the venue for the first ever film-screening in Plymouth! In true variety style we will be showcasing an eclectic, entertaining, and sometimes bewildering, array of work, both old and new, and will also premiere an initial cut of our current film venture entitled BLVD: A Work in Progress, which explores the past, present and future of Bath Street. We are delighted for our PAW event to be the one which commences our two-year Stonehouse residency!
What are you excited to see at this year's PAW, and why?
So much stuff to choose from! If we had to choose but one event it would definitely be Wayne's War of the World! Anything involving WestfordNeedles will be a somewhat dizzying and deliciously mischievous assault on the senses! Can’t bloody wait!