Renowned fashion talent Diane Pernet recently celebrated the 12th chapter of her internationally acclaimed 'A Shaded View on Fashion Film' festival (ASVOFF). Due to the current pandemic, the sartorial spectacular was broadcast on-line from the 6th to the 9th of October. Streaming from California’s FNL Network, the four day event saw over 40 short films, 68 #LockdownHomeMovies, 11 documentaries and an ‘Industry Tea Zoom’ talk series featuring an array of international talents. The celebration attracted names such as Pulp Fiction’s Oscar-winning screen writer Roger Avary, Gossip Girl’s costume designer Eric Daman, art director Tim Yip and actress Maria de Medeiros. Despite ASVOFF not having a physical presence, its virtual substitute was one of the most comprehensive to date and held no punches within its portfolio of visual decadence.
“First and foremost, this edition of the festival is about returning to the very essence of what ASVOFF is all about. By that I mean supporting talented, passionate young creatives who need and very much deserve a spotlight,” Pernet explained. “We all know that opportunities are hard to come by this year, so my focus has been on trying to support the independent voices in fashion and film – those who are inevitably at the sharp end of the crisis – by giving them even more space in the programme than usual.”
“Although its delivery had changed, ASVOFF’s raison d'être hadn’t - with the film festival’s mission continuing to give a voice and an international platform to emerging visual and fashion talents. This philosophy was reinforced through Pernet by featuring six student films as well as a collaboration with emerging student artist and designer platform, Art’s Thread – a network itself with over 300,000 active followers. The pandemic also inspired her to commission ‘#LockdownHomeMovies’, which saw an array of independent artists directing short films during the lock-down.” – Charles Daniel McDonald
“We’ve all heard the word ‘resilience’ far too much recently, but this roster of young and young-at-heart visionaries are the very embodiment of the word in my opinion,” Pernet continued. “From stylised funeral tributes for a family member who perished while the filmmaker was in confinement on the other side of the world to outrageous kitsch excesses of an imperial catwalk, the talented individuals who make up ASVOFF 12 are nothing if not defiant, and proof to me that we will overcome this surreal period of science fiction that we’re living through.”
Within its main offering, ASVOFF’s complete programme saw screenings for Jean-Paul Gautier’s final couture show (Gianluca Matarrese & Guillaume Thomas); Marée Noire, a surreal short film which was part of a series for Marine Serre’s S/S 2020 collection (Rick Farin & Claire Cochran); 'a coming-of-age Spaghetti Western film' entitled Spirit of Freedom (Molly Ledoux for Spencer Phipps) and Catholic Fairy tales - an extravagant imaginary 3-D catwalk which was part fantasy, part carnival and all talent. Maybe, with all this fledgling talent waiting to sprout during these darker days, the world actually isn’t that bad – especially within the realms of Pernet's vision for fashion film.
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