<p dir="ltr">Plymouth’s museum The Box and archive aficionados Compass Presents have collaborated to produce a programme of short, culturally rich treasures, compelling in content and chosen specially to connect local audiences to their communities, landscapes and histories.</p> <p dir="ltr">A marine theme runs through the first weekend of films at Tinside Lido with ‘Jaws’, ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’, and ‘Bait’ (20 – 22 August). Two short films by Devon based filmmaker Amanda Bluglass will be shown in advance of ‘Jaws’ and ‘Bait’. These are ‘Beneath 360’ which is a unique perspective on the art of high board diving, featuring Plymouth's own Olympic gold medallist and world champion, Tom Daley, and ‘Ray, A Life Underwater’, an affectionate portrait of octogenarian Plymouth diver Ray Ives, exploring his salvaged treasures and philosophical outlook.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Emerging filmmaking talent will be celebrated with award winning short films by final year <a href="https://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/courses/ba-hons-film-screen-arts/overview">BA (Hons) Film and Screen Arts</a> students. ‘Joseph’ by <a href="https://adaptshowcase.com/ceri-louise-prowse-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ceri-Louise Prowse</a>, which has been paired with ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ is a short film about Joseph, an inquisitive robot, embarking on a journey of self discovery across a seemingly deserted island. Ceri won the ‘Best Art Direction’ award at the BA (Hons) Film &amp; Screen Arts end of year show, <a href="https://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/posts/class-of-2021-award-winning-talent-in-film-and-digital-media">joining other award winning students to come out of the Class of 2021.</a> </p> <p>Accompanying ‘Bait’ is <a href="https://adaptshowcase.com/jacob-bamford-elsdon/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jacob Bamford-Elsdon</a>’s 15 minute short ‘Can You Hear The Choir’, which follows a man pursuing answers from an enigmatic priest who hides a secret from the pit of hell. Jacob won the ‘Best Directing’ award at the BA (Hons) Film &amp; Screen Arts end of year show with his psychological religious horror.</p>

<p dir="ltr">‘Out’ by <a href="https://adaptshowcase.com/matthew-falle-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matthew Falle</a> will be shown before ‘Thelma and Louise’, which features three LGBTQ people who have come to a crossroads to confront their identity while struggling with the mental and physical pressures of coming out. The 15 minute film won Matthew the ‘Best Writing’ award at the BA (Hons) Film &amp; Screen Arts end of year show. </p> <p><a href="https://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/people/chris-bailey">Chris Bailey</a>, Senior Lecturer on BA (Hons) Film &amp; Screen Arts, said, "Throughout the pandemic, we are absolutely thrilled with how our students have responded and worked to produce work of such excellence. We are incredibly proud to be able to collaborate with Plymouth Arts Cinema to share these films with a public audience and hope that it helps to inspire others to explore and develop their creativity in the city."</p>

<p dir="ltr">This short film programme has been made possible with support of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK.</p> <p>The full programme of Open Air Cinema events can be found <a href="https://plymouthartscinema.org/whats-on/open-air-cinema-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the Plymouth Arts Cinema website.</a></p>