3rd September 2007

Watershed 25 Birthday event: The Cult of The Amateur — is today's internet killing our culture? Author Andrew Keen in a round table discussion

Chaired by Watershed's Head of Programme Mark Cosgrove with special guests including Ana Kronschnabl & Hazel Grian

Friday, 7 September 7pm W3

Watershed opened its doors in 1982 to capture that shift in media at the point when satellite was beginning and Channel 4 was just starting up. Arguably, it is only really recently with the explosion of the web that we are beginning to realise what a Media Centre might actually be or mean. So what does the growth of the web mean for consumption of culture and for organisations like Watershed? As part of our birthday celebrations, we are delighted to welcome self-proclaimed ‘antichrist of Silicon Valley’ Andrew Keen, author of recent web 2.0 polemic The Cult of the Amateur — How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy. Keen, who maintains a blog himself, argues the web is inhabited by second-rate amateurs deluging us with ‘everything from uninformed political commentary, to unseemly home videos’ — and that the rise of blogs, wikis, social networking sites and podcasts — are swiftly destroying our culture. To cyberspace enthusiasts, Keen isn't just a heretic, he is an apostate, himself a pioneering dotcom entrepreneur who some see as embittered by the failure of his start-up company. Keen will discuss the implications of his thinking, the impact of the web on culture and consumption and views on the future with special guests including award winning filmmaker Ana Kronschnabl, CEO of digital media consultancy FluffyLogic, founder of plugincinema.com and also co-author of ‘PlugInTurnOn: A Guide to Filmmaking for the Internet’ and writer/director Hazel Grian (Licorice), who has been working on a number of gaming and interactive narrative projects including the successful Alternate Reality Game ‘Meigeist’ and the hit online show ‘KateModern’.

The Cult Of The Amateur by Andrew Keen is published by Nicholas Brealey and will be on sale on the night. With thanks to Festival of Ideas.
Tickets available from Watershed Box Office: £5.00 / £3.50
Watershed 1 Canon's Road Harbourside Bristol BS1 5TX Tel: 0117 927 5100

Watershed and Bristol Silents present: Pandora's Box PG

World premiere performance of a newly commissioned score from composer Paul Lewis.

Saturday, 15 September 7.30pm at Colston Hall Bristol

Hosted by Paul McGann

Presented in association with the BFI and Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto with thanks to Colston Hall.

Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora) PG
Dir: G. W. Pabst Germany 1928 2hrs 12mins

Adapted from the controversial plays of Frank Wedekind, Pandora's Box, starring the legendary Louise Brooks as young temptress Lulu, is one of the greatest films from the silent era. Unleashing unruly desires, Lulu wreaks havoc on the lives of wealthy newspaper editor Dr. Schön, his handsome but hapless son Alwa, and the desperately lovelorn Countess Geschwitz (cinema's first unequivocal lesbian). Bristol Silents have been working on producing this special event with Watershed over the past two years and the specially commissioned score, by composer Paul Lewis, will be performed by members of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

Lewis describes his approach:
‘The score is operatic and the melodies full-blooded. In spite of this I am scoring it for a relatively small orchestra as I believe this gives greater intimacy and a closer connection with the individual characters.’

This gala screening of Pandora's Box is a truly unique project, as the film has never had an orchestral score on this scale, and even those familiar with the film will experience it in a whole new way. Pandora's Box is presented in a restored print courtesy of the BFI.

Following this world premiere of the film with its new score in Bristol, we're delighted that the event will then be presented at Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone, Italy (6 – 13 October 2007)

Tickets: £20.00 full / £16.00 concessions
To book tickets please contact Colston Hall Box Office (0117) 922 3686 / colstonhall.org Colston Hall, Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR