Matt Dentler from SXSW belts it out at punk-rock karaoke at the student bar.

I would like to applaud the organisers of the first Britdoc festival, which was held Weds-Fri in Oxford. I signed up to go because a) being in Oxford is nicer than being in the office b) the organisers are cool people and I’d trust them to put on a cool event c) I’d never been to Oxford before d) they asked me to be on a jury with a member of Radiohead and e) it’s the only film festival in the world to offer both croquet and punk-rock karaoke. So Radiohead guy pulled out of jury duty, but that didn’t stop it from being a great event. There were loads of aspects to Britdoc that other festivals can learn from, I offer a few:
1) Film festivals and college campuses are a natural fit. You’re always in walking distance of everything and everyone! Film-makers (not to mention film journalists) are too poor to afford five-star accommodation so if you get a high-class dorm-style accommodation, you’re set. That way everyone can stay together, have easy access to events, and also the rooms aren’t so nice that you’re tempted to lie in bed and get room service instead of going out and meeting other festival attendees!
2) As I’ve mentioned before Britdoc encouraged attendees to do a myspace-style profile before the event, which was exceedingly handy to see who was coming and how to get in touch with them before or after. And photos helped to ID people on site.
3) Mood music goes a long way – instead of silence or muzak before screenings or in festival offices, they were playing some great tunes. You’d be surprised how good "Jive Talking" sounds before a 10 am screening. And a festival trailer cut to Belle & Sebastian was inspired because I never got tired of hearing it before each screening.
4) Communal lunch and breakfast gets people talking. We ate in one of those Harry Potter-style dining halls, which meant you had to sit with strangers at least at some point, which is good for conversation. I’ve even been told that Keble’s hall was where they actually film Potter. That makes up for them serving pork pie when I wanted a light lunch.
Aside from that, it was the usual festival mix of good films and good attendees. Our jury was in charge of the British competition, and we gave our prize to Ben Hopkins’ 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep, with a jury mention to Hacked by Simon Ardizzone & Russell Michaels and a rising talent nod to Xiaolu Guo’s How Is Your Fish Today? (that one will also be in Edinburgh.)
The only drawbacks, aside from missing my life's only chance to hobnob with Radiohead, was the heat. No A/C + no fans + 90 degree heat = no fun. But that’s not the festival’s fault.

Assorted Odds & Ends:

It may be juvenile but I can’t help laughing picturing Mr. Passion Of The Christ calling someone “Sugar Tits.” Nice one, Mel.

Sitting in my garden as the heatwave continued on Sunday, I stumbled upon BBC London's Guilty Pleasures, hosted by Sean Rowley (who also hosts a club night of the same name). I’d heard of the concept but never actually heard the show before. It was soft rock heaven. I happened to tune into a Wham block, when Sean played Wham’s “Last Christmas” IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY. It made my entire afternoon. And I salute him for being braver than I am -- no matter how late or how drunken the Hot Bird dance parties got, I don’t think I ever shamed myself by putting this one on the turntable (yes, I did have the single on vinyl). Kornmann this guy is your British soulmate. You should be able to listen to the show online.