MMU animator’s short film to be screened at Cornerhouse

MMU artist-in-residence Kate Jessop, 27, will see her short film ‘When the Telescope Came’ screened at Manchester’s Cornerhouse this week, thanks to a £4,000 Arts Council grant.

Kate graduated from MMU in 2002 with a BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation and has since returned to the University on the Setting Up residency scheme, which helps artists’ bridge the gap between the world of art and the creative marketplace. It is the first time the scheme, which traditionally supports designers, has supported a film maker and Kate is the first artist-in-residence in the animation department.

Her film, an adaptation of Diana Syder’s poem about a woman who tries to stop the stars from coming into her house, will be screened at the Cornerhouse on Thursday 4th October as part of Spoken Image, an evening of short adaptations for National Poetry Day. The grant Kate received from the Arts Council enabled her to employ Adela Jones and Cerrie Burnell, also MMU graduates, as performer and narrator on the film.

Kate comments: “My work tends to combine a range of analogue and digital techniques, including live action as well as drawn sets and animation. Recently I’ve been working with Comma Press in Manchester, which publishes short stories, and they put me in touch with Diana as thought my style of film would suit her style of writing. It’s been a great project to work on and I’ve made a number of new contacts in the industry.”

National and international success

She continues: “I’ve also worked on two other poetry adaptations this year, one by Helen Clare for the Huddersfield Literature Festival and another by Simon Armitage for the New Islington Festival, and have been involved in the Salford Film Festival and Exposures Student Film Festival.”

In addition to running workshops and technical demonstrations in animation at MMU, Kate is the co-founder of Girls on Film, which pioneers new women film makers, performers and musicians in the city. Kate’s work has also appeared internationally, with her short film ‘Desires’ being screened in Paris and Berlin this year and due to be shown in Barcelona and Canada next month.

Tickets (£3.50/£2.50) for Spoken Image, which runs from 6.30pm, are available from the Cornerhouse Box Office on 0161 200 1500.

Kate’s film Desires can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5KKfxIhS0