Sussex Slice is a little cavern of shabby chic on Hove’s Church Road, which screams ‘boutique’ right down to the last vintage lamp, a particularly apt setting for the Brighton Fringe’s Boutique Cinema.
What Boutique Cinema promises is a kitsch evening of stylish voyeurism, and it delivers.
Wandering in is like walking into a particularly stylish friends bedroom, complete with the friends. The staff made a point to speak to everyone - which was relatively easy due to the fact that there were only about 10 people in attendance; although it obviously wasn’t due to the events lack of merit. With local beers flowing and some particularly appetising looking olives, hummus and breads being consumed, the films started around 20 minutes late (presumably leaving time for stragglers to join).
A delicious array of short films were projected onto a wall of the café, each one completely different to the one before and coming in quick succession without a break. The films were perfectly selected and jumping straight from short to short; one about a bromance between two ex-heroin addicts turned tattoo artists and the next a beautiful Brighton flash-mob style music video about a clown being bestowed with an umbrella and gaining social acceptance. And it wasn’t as jilting as it would seem, as the length and complete accomplishment of the films meant that the audience was ready for another by the time the credits were rolling.
A comfortable atmosphere meant it was easy to comment to those around during and after the films and while most were light-hearted, a couple (one short exploration of skating, gender and war in Kabul and another focusing on skiing hipsters in the Bosnian capital) left the audience with food for thought. At £5, if you had a projector, a chic setting and knew where to find some seriously professional short films, you could do it yourself - but what Boutique Cinema promises is a kitsch evening of stylish voyeurism, and it delivers.
