Interview: Porlock Press on Savoy Cinema, anime and upcoming screenings
We chat to Dan about one of Notts' longest-running film groups...
A still from ‘Memories’. (c) 1995 MASH ROOM / MEMORIES PROJECT
For those who don't know, who are Porlock Press and what are you all about?
Porlock Press is the name of the film club run by me, Dan K. I’ve been putting on film screenings since 2015, almost always at the Savoy, and I like to show a mix of cult film and anime.
I use Porlock Press as a platform to do three main things. Firstly, to share some of the films I love and bring them back to the cinema. Hopefully this includes a few gems which don’t get shown all that often on the big screen.
Secondly, I like to revisit some of my old favourites. For example, I’m a big fan of Satoshi Kon, and over the years I’ve been slowly making my way through screening all of his feature films. I’ve shown ‘Perfect Blue’, ‘Paprika’ and ‘Millennium Actress’, so now I have one more left to go to complete the set (‘Tokyo Godfathers’, I’m looking at you!).
Thirdly, I explore films, directors, themes and connections that I’m curious about, such as a specific micro-genre I’ve identified (and completely made up) which I refer to as ‘manchild movies’. They’re essentially studies of male arrested development, and it appears that directors love to make them. Check out ‘Bad Boy Bubby’, ‘The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser’, ‘Chuck & Buck’ and ‘The Baby’ (1973) to get yourself started.
I also love working with different illustrators and designers to commission original poster art for most of my screenings, which I hope people enjoy seeing out and about around Nottingham.
There's a big focus on anime and animation in your selections - what makes these areas of cinema so special?
Animation has a unique ability to capture strange and fantastical imagery, which really appeals to me. It can move from depicting a type of realism into something that’s heavily stylised, and then move again into total abstraction – sometimes all happening in the same scene. It can also subvert and play with the flow of time, so with enough technical skill (and budget) and a strong creative vision it can be used to achieve some properly mind-blowing results.
Nostalgia definitely plays a big part in my love for anime. In the mid to late ‘90s I was in my teens and was becoming aware of the first wave of anime (then marketed as Manga) to hit the UK on VHS. It was a potent cocktail of graphic violence, explicit content, cute weirdness and cool cyberpunk futurism influenced by things like ‘Tron’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Blade Runner’. Pure catnip to a young and impressionable mind! It’s been fun revisiting some of those films recently as somebody in their 40s, to see how they feel now.
Thinking about other types of animation, I love the sculptural qualities of stop-motion and puppetry, especially when you can sense or see traces of the maker’s hand in the work. In my student years I did the Fine Art course at Nottingham Trent University, where I made sculpture and 3D installation work, so I’ve always been drawn to that kind of stuff as well.
Last year I was able to show Phil Tippett’s ‘MAD GOD’ at the Savoy. If you don’t know ‘MAD GOD’, it’s an epic dark fantasy made using stop-motion that takes place in a kind of ruined apocalyptic hellscape. It was awesome to see Phil’s painstakingly hand-crafted world up on the big screen. We were in Screen 1, too, so being able to take in the incredible amount of detail in the creatures and environments at that scale was really special.
Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Porlock Press, and so I’m aiming to put together something special to mark the occasion
On that, there's a screening of ‘Memories’ coming up in August - what can people expect from that?
If you’re not familiar with ‘Memories’, it’s an anime anthology from 1995 presented by Katsuhiro Otomo, the genius creator and director of ‘AKIRA’. It’s made up of three self-contained episodes that are all based on his own short stories.
Each episode has a distinct visual character and emotional tone, and genre-wise they range from sci-fi to comedy to political satire, with a pinch of deep space horror thrown in. If you asked me for the elevator pitch for ‘Memories’, I would probably say something like: “It’s Katsuhiro Otomo presents ‘The Twilight Zone’!”
The whole thing looks and sounds gorgeous thanks to the huge team of world-class talent involved. Animation is handled by two top-tier studios, Madhouse (who also worked on ‘Death Note’, ‘Ninja Scroll’ and ‘Paprika’, to name a few) and Studio 4°C (‘The Animatrix’, ‘Mind Game’), and directing duties are shared between Kōji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura and Otomo himself. I almost forgot to mention that the first story, Episode 1: Magnetic Rose, is scripted by Satoshi Kon – there’s the Kon connection right there!
The soundtrack has everything from opera and smooth saxophone (by Yoko Kanno, composer of the ‘Cowboy Bebop’ OST), manic jazz-funk with a sly nod to John Barry’s iconic James Bond scores (at least to my ears) and an electronic take on orchestral and marching band music. All of this is bookended by an absolutely banging title/credits theme from Japanese techno producer Takkyu Ishino.
‘Memories’ does share some general themes with ‘AKIRA’, such as a use of science fiction and commentary on topics like corporate bureaucracy, environmental disaster and government control, but it definitely stands alone as its own thing.
I’m so excited to be bringing ‘Memories’ back to the cinema in Nottingham, it really is a beautiful film. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s regarded as one of the greatest animated anthologies of all time.
I love seeing my next film up in lights when it goes on the Savoy marquee - that’s the moment when it all becomes real
You're one of several great film clubs based at Savoy Cinema. What makes it such a great place for these sorts of screenings and events?
I’ve always had a great experience putting on films at the Savoy. Paul and the team are an absolute dream to work with. They put their trust in me and allow me to do my thing, which I’m very grateful for. Whether that’s showing an independent cult film from ‘90s Australia or a massive cultural touchstone like ‘AKIRA’, they’re always really supportive.
The cinema itself is beautiful. If you don’t know the Savoy, it’s an old Art Deco building that’s nearly 90 years old. I think it’s the only remaining pre-World War cinema left in Nottingham, if I remember correctly. The prices are very affordable, and it still has a traditional marquee front (movie times and titles added with plastic letters while standing at the top of a set of ladders!). I love seeing my next film up in lights when it goes on the marquee - that’s the moment when it all becomes real.
There’s a good variety of programming there, too, with new releases as expected but also repertory titles from the in-house team and from other film clubs like you mention. There’s The Loft Movie Theatre with their long-running monthly night of classics, Dead Duck Film Club’s recent showing of ‘Oldboy’, and the Savoy have their own Films on Film season of blockbusters screening on 35mm.
What can people expect from Porlock going forward?
After ‘Memories’ I’m looking to have one more screening at the Savoy before the end of the year. I have a few ideas at the moment, so I need to settle on one and then sort out the bits of admin. It could even be something Christmassy, maybe… who knows!
Looking further ahead, next year will be the 10th anniversary of Porlock Press, and so I’m aiming to put together something special to mark the occasion. The world of Porlock usually moves at quite a relaxed pace, to put it mildly, but I want to push myself to have a busier 2025 to celebrate the big birthday.
Porlock Press is bringing ‘Memories’ to Savoy Cinema on Monday 19th August - grab your tickets now.