AESTHETICA Festival 2022.

Aesthetica Short Film Festival took place between 1 and 6 November 2022 in York, UK. Thanks to the courtesy of UAL, LCC, and David McLellan, our course leader, I had a chance to attend this year’s edition. I travelled on a train on a Wednesday and came back home on a Friday evening. I have spent three days filled up with lectures, masterclasses, exhibitions, films screening, VR experiencing, networking and socialising. Not to forget sightseeing as York is a beautiful city, with stunning architecture and extraordinary little shops. One of them has a wish dragon inside!

At the festival, thanks to the unlimited pass I had received once I arrived at the festival’s hub, I was free to attend all the screenings I wanted. I have watched short films from the categories such as Experimental, Fashion and Thriller.

I attended several interesting masterclasses and talks where panellists were specialists from the film and VR industry. 

Topics I chose were: Sustainability on a film set: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint; Directing Comedy: Context, Timing and Pacing. 

VR was an important element of the Festival thanks to the LCC’s engagement into it. I had two sessions in the VR lab where visitors had a chance to immerse themselves into various worlds and stories. 

I also attended two VR related lectures, where amongst panellists was dr Ana-despina Tudor, MA VR course Leader at LCC. The first one was about the narrative through VR while the second one touched the subject of Ethics Behind Storytelling. Both discussions were interesting to listen to, and definitely with not enough time to have their subjects analysed in depth.

It was the first ever film festival I attended and I enjoyed it a lot. I am hoping to attend next year’s Aesthetica too!