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Curtain falls on inaugural Fragments Festival at Genesis Cinema

Genesis Cinema celebrated the final night of its first ever Fragments Festival on Saturday. Organised in six months, the festival was created to support under-represented artists in the film industry.

A screening of She Who Must Be Loved, an Australian documentary recounting the life and family history of Central Australian Aboriginal Association founder Freda Glynn, brought the festival to a close.

Genesis estimates 1,500 people came to watch 19 feature films and 19 shorts during the festival’s nine-day run.

In keeping with the festival’s purpose, 78% of directors involved identified as women, people of colour, disabled, and/or LGBTQ+.

Genesis Cinema owner Tyrone Walker-Hebborn said: “People got what we were trying to say. In the post-Brexit world and Trump era everything’s become divisive. Even though it means becoming fragmented, each fragment is important and beautiful in its own right. They’re greater than the sum of their parts.”

Christina Papasotiriou, one of the festival’s programmers, said: “We’ve had amazing feedback from everyone which has been extremely heartwarming, so we are looking forward to next year.”

Two E3 filmmakers were included in the festival. The Internship by Aaron Christian and Migrate Journey by Nurull Islam and Lindsay Knight were both screened during the Fragments Shorts Vol. 2 night.

The award for Best Feature, which included a £1,000 prize, went to Yonni Usiskin and Matt Shea for their film Time to Die. Walker-Hebborn presented the award during a ceremony on Saturday night, fulfilling a lifetime ambition of giving someone a giant cheque.

If you enjoyed this article you may be interested in our interview with Bow-based filmmaker Aaron Christian


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Frederick O'Brien

Fred is a writer and researcher with a background in sustainable development. His research has featured in The Independent, the Evening Standard, and the New York Post, among others.

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