Cinecity 2013: My guide to being a film festival volunteer

In November, I helped out at Brighton's annual film festival run by the fantastic Cinecity team. The theme for the festival's 11th year was 'Adventures in World Cinema', so as you'd imagine, the schedule spanned global offerings from mellifluous Mexico to forward France and many film making nations in-between. The festival also payed homage to Jan Švankmajer, the wonderfully imaginative Czech surrealist filmmaker, with free screenings of his bizarre short films and an exhibition of his incredibly detailed and eclectic treasures, kindly on display for the inquisitive.

SEASIDE DINOSAUR ATTACK!

Okay, okay, so that's not strictly true.

Well, unless of course you have a very vivid child like imagination, which we all once had (I have desperately tried to hang on to mine). So when a mere excursion to buy a dress collided with a slice of my favourite film; Jurassic Park - well, I was in a momentary, somewhat abstract version of heaven.

Predating the 1086 Domesday Book, ye olde 'Brighthelmstone', or Brighton as you may know it today, is constantly surprising me. A source of many a chuckle from the myriad of weird and eccentric residents, to the open arms it provides for all forms of art and adventure, with the powerful summer city pulls of seaside and scintillating entertainment; it really is 'the place to be'. But if you need a little more convincing, here is a shining example of how even the blandest part of Brighton; the shopping mall, gets involved with the fun with a prehistoric flash-back...