From the Inside is composed of four short films all devoted to the personal life of each film's creator.

Paddy Jolley's The Drowning Room is a domestic drama with a difference. The characters eat together, pet the family cat and fight just like normal families except they conduct these mundane acts of daily life underwater. Inspired by a conversation Jolley had with his own family in which he felt he was drowning in a lack of understanding between generations, the film reflects his feeling of both proximity and distance in the actors' heavy, laboured movements and muffled sounds.

TJ Wilcox's Garland for Ireland: Ann / Ara Tripp is a five minute glimpse of two characters who Wicox felt influenced his life. Ann is his stepmother who had her life snatched away at a young age whilst Ara Tripp is a transsexual who climbed a pylon in a demonstration for equal rights. The films are narrator-less and subtitled adding to their chilling appeal.

Rosalind Nashashibi's Hreash House looks at a close-knit extended family based in Nazareth, Israel. The three generations share meals at a huge table and the children share beds but otherwise, the family are surprisingly a picture of normalcy in every way.

Finally, Mircea Cantor's Double Heads Matches documents a Romanian match-making factory that agrees to a request by the artist to make 20 000 boxes of double-headed matches. Some of the work is tackled easily by the machines used for making normal matches but the complexity of producing double-headed matches means that the workers must abandon technology and do much of the labour themselves, dipping and packing the matches by hand. A treatise on modern technology or an homage to phosphorus? Perhaps only the filmaker knows.

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The screening of some of Mike Mills' best music videos had Chapter's audience bouncing in their seats and singing along to tracks from artists as diverse as Yoko Ono, Pulp and Air.

While it's tough and rather unnecessary to pigeon-hole Mills' style, each video moves with the pace of its musical soundtrack and tells a story from start to finish. Most include the band or artist, be it in person or in cartoon/doll form and invariably text is spliced into the moving images in an almost subliminal way.

Kelly Thomas, a member of the audience at Chapter, commented: "My favourite is Air's Kelly Watch the Stars. I love the song and I hadn't seen the video for it before. I'm definitely going to seek out some more of Mills' work, his ideas are really simple but great to watch."

Catch onedotzero's Extended Play 05 presentation at Chapter:
Sunday 30 October, 3.30-5.00pm

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Scriptless / Utopia is a collection of three short films curated by Jelle Bouwhuis, an art historian from Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum.

When Edi Rama, mayor of Albanian capital city Tirana, decided to launch an initiative that involved painting the exterior of municipal housing in the city, little did he know his decision would spark so much discussion. The mayor, clearly familiar with Mondrian's views on the same matter, thinks that colour radiates a progressive energy. Anri Sala, the artist who put together Dammi I Colori, cuts deftly between blocks of colour and commentary from the mayor with striking effect.

Next up is Grand Littoral from Valérie Jouve. This piece follows a number of protagonists who meander up and down a hill, seemingly in search of some utopia that is unknown to the audience. Bewildered but interested faces filled Chapter as the film's characters wandered, occasionally pausing but not reaching any visible utopia.

The final part of the screening, Sarah Morris' Los Angeles portrays Hollywood as weird but definitely not wonderful. Assorted film stars flash toothy grins at cameras and march down red carpets with identikit poise whilst a strong electronic soundtrack alludes to their robotic tendencies. Chapter's audience gasped as they watched collagen injections and teeth-whitening procedures and chortled whilst watching Brett Ratner undress in the back seat of a car without once removing his mobile telephone from his ear. Cracking stuff.

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Dubbed a "remix of the Vietnam War experience", Eddo Stern's twenty-three minute mash-up of computer game footage and MIDI soundtracks left the audience at Chapter somewhat dumbfounded. Intense scenes of warfare complete with buckets of blood made for a startlingly emotive and absorbing screening.

Gaming fans would have recognised many of the clips incorporated into the film but non-gamers alike were glued to the digital macabre. Jenny Madison, a self confessed 'gaming novice' commented: "Normally I hate all that guns and violence stuff but seeing it made into an installation like Vietnam Romance just shows how realistic they are and how good the graphics have become."

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It's been five years since the WDA launched its @Wales Digital Media Initiative and in that time, this specialized business development programme for innovative, high growth early stage businesses has helped to support more than 500 Welsh and international companies.

As part of its own growth, @Wales has recently moved to new offices in Saint Line House, a custom-converted building upgraded to the highest standards of digital media technology, in the heart of Cardiff Bay.

On Saturday, May You Live in Interesting Times delegates were offered a sneak preview of Wales' new digital media hub, which can house 25 companies at any one time (Custom Communication being one of those). Each of the companies resident in the facility has access to its powerful server network, a fully-equipped multimedia conference room as well as the on-site library. There is also a kitchen in each office and a café on the third floor and WiFi runs throughout the entire building.

Basheera Khan, editor of Ping Wales, has recently been accepted into the @Wales programme. Her company is based in Swansea but she intends to use a desk at Saint Line House two days a week. "There is a lot going on in the IT world in Cardiff. This will allow me to keep in touch with it," he says.

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Just as the writer of Doctor Who was signing copies of a new book for fans in a nearby bookshop, the message "Bad Wolf," a reference to the latest Doctor Who series mysteriously appeared on the Stefhan Caddick's electronic storyboard sign outside.

Next a local Big Issue seller was given a helping hand with a message that read, "Big Issue for sale here. Please buy one." But it was a mock-ominous message to the city as a whole that had most Saturday morning shoppers amused. It read, simply: "Good Morning Cardiff. Big Brother is watching. Look behind you."

Caddick's industrial-sized performance piece has been one of the hits of May You Live in Interesting Times. Generating international interest and a mention on leading tech blog, Engadget, the sign allows people around the world, not to mention local passers-by, to text any message to the screen which displays it for Cardiff City Centre to see.

And while many of the messages seem fairly obvious, the concept has a lot of Cardiff still guessing. "It's a strange novelty, that’s for sure. I thought it was something to do with the rugby," said Mrs Williams, one of thousands who passed the sign today.

Want to to send your own message to Cardiff. Text 07929 461727 now....but hurry. The Exhibit ends on Sunday night.

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"What's going on?" an elderly lady walking past the National Museum and Gallery asks as she watches a tall figure dressed head-to-toe in black run past, shouting into a radio and breathing heavily. You'd be easily forgiven for mistaking this for some sort of covert operation. Instead, the woman had stumbled upon the third of six instalments of Blast Theory's Can You See Me Now? "That's odd," she says as the dark-clad figure scurries back into view.

Inside the museum, gamers sit at computers controlling a character that moves around the virtual space whilst being pursued by the real life 'runners' outside who track the movement of the virtual players using satellite equipment.

"Oh no!" shouts gamer Tom Bailey, 10, "He said he's coming after me! Run!" Stationed at the next computer is Beth Davies, 38, who lets out an exasperated sigh when she is 'seen' by a runner. "I've been here for half an hour," she admits, "It's incredibly addictive. I'm going to play it from my home computer later." Our discussion is cut short as Beth's next game begins and her eyes fix excitedly upon the screen in front of her.

Can you see me now?
Saturday 29 October 5.00-7.00pm
Sunday 30 October 11.00am-1.00pm / 2.00pm-4.00pm

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Before boarding the boat I wasn't entirely sure how Jen Hamilton and Jen Southern's Ebb and Flow Boat Trip could possibly use Global Positioning System technology for an audio experience on a boat. But it worked, even with a few technological problems.

Princess Royal, the Water Bus used for the performance, took its passengers from Mermaid Quay, out for a close inspection of the barrage and through Penarth Marina to enter the River Ely. Grebes, herons and moorhens provide a visual stimulation for the audio tour.

The recordings played by Hamilton and Southern consisted of soothing elderly voices, played at specific points in the journey. The voices chatted about the area in an "in the old days" kind of way, infusing the tour with a sense of personal referral and identity that a script recited by an adolescent Saturday tour guide could never achieve.

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Bata-ville: We are not afraid of the future takes 42 former shoe-makers on a coach trip to the Czech Republic where they come face to face with machines capable of performing the jobs they used to perform at the Bata company’s now defunct factories in Cumbria and Essex.

The vision of Bata's founder was not only to become "shoe-makers to the world" but also to provide his workforce with an ideological village to live in. This included everything from their housing to amenities like shops, cafes and entertainment complexes, all of which bore the Bata brand logo. The result was close-knit Bata-employee families in 30 countries around the world.

The demise of the company in the UK led artists Pope and Guthrie to explore one of Bata's famous comments: "We are not afraid of the future." The exploration takes the duo and their coachload of shoe-makers on a pilgrimage to Zlín in search of the spirit of Bata. Northerners and Southerners abandon their preconceptions of each other as they discuss Bata’s utopian vision and its relevance today in their home towns which now have in common government regeneration agendas.

Asking almost everyone they meet whether they are afraid of the future, Pope and Guthrie present their subject matter in a whimsical but provoking manner.

Chapter
Sunday 30 October, 11.00am-12.15pm

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A set of creative, if typically grumpy, video casting teenagers from Bridgend, South Wales; the brains behind BBC Wales' innovative social media programming, and an eclectic selection of artists debating civil versus civic imagination.

TenantSpin, the Liverpool-based community Internet broadcast network, can definitely be relied on for variety of content.

In the first of two sessions hosted and netcast by TenantSpin at Canton Labour Club, a somewhat camera shy group of Bridgend's Y.I.K.E.S.T.V were interviewed about the social and personal value of their local programming by artist Fee Plumley before turning her attentions to two of TenantSpin's own stars, Mavis Thomas and John McGuirk.

TenantSpin was launched to give residents of a Liverpool high-rise block a community voice and its programming ranges from serious shows on banking and finance to the downright bizarre.

"We did a version of the Blockbuster game show and the Korean [media] went overboard for it," says Mavis. Last year's most popular netcast show was on the paranormal.

TenantSpin's whole ethos is dedicated to demystifying the media and empowering everyday people to have their say.

"Anyone can do it," says Mavis. "We have a blind lady who's involved and she want's to get into doing sound for the shows. She's very intelligent and I know she can do it."

See more TenantSpin on www.tenantspin.org

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A couple of children smash the windows of an abandoned car. A couple more children join in, this time with more vigour. Their parents and neighbours stand outside their houses, ignoring the mindless destruction going on around them, gossiping and drinking tea. Soon, a gaggle of children are ripping the car to pieces, jumping on its bonnet and tearing up the interior. The parents continue to sup their tea without a care.

This is Mike Stubbs’ award-winning Cultural Quarter in which a housing estate in an unspecified British urban town is viewed through the glare of a surveillance camera.

Weighing in at just ten minutes long, the film highlights the difference between reality and its representation and calls into question the ethics of surveillance itself.

"It's an urban jungle," comments the narrator, as the children's merciless assault continues.

Chapter
Saturday 29 October 6.00-6.10pm
Sunday 30 October 1.00-1.10pm

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Black jacket buttoned-up and black wheeled-suitcase in tow, Michelle Teran could have been just anybody, wandering around the Central Station area on this grey Cardiff afternoon. Little did passers-by know, concealed in her clothing was a video scanner and a mic, picking up tit-bits of signals being broadcast by surveillance cameras and being screened on the back of the case she tugged along behind her.

A policewoman, oblivious to the technology hidden away, asks Michelle whether she is looking for the station. "No," she replies blankly whilst her audience chuckle behind her. Similarly, a child who spots the TV screen in the back of her case yells "Mad woman!" She is used to this by now.

Michelle led her spectators from The Hayes to a Riverside housing estate with regular pauses to tune the equipment. Michelle remained anonymous throughout. What did grab the attention of strangers was the Pied Piper-like group of digital followers who traipsed a few paces behind her, fixated on the suitcase.

Catch Michelle Teran again:
Saturday 28 October, 7-8pm, Cardiff Bay.

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Viewing the world through the eyes of an avatar that towers above the ground at 50 feet tall is an altogether more useful experience than you might initially think. Visitors to Artstation's open studio at Chapter were today treated to a preview of their Artmap, a computer generated landscape in which a lifelike avatar navigates the terrain seeking digital art projects which are scattered across the environment.

"What we're doing represents two levels," explained Anne Hayes. "There's the public and ourselves as artists and Artmap shows the contributions both groups make to a landscape."

The project allows users to re-size and control the avatar, directing him to the various art projects at the touch of a button and a couple of minutes spent on the simulator are more than enough to demonstrate the potential practical uses of such technology. "We’re working with organisations including the Forum for Wales and the Wales Tourist Board" says Anne. The possibilities, it seems, are endless.

ArtMap open studios will take place during the Festival at Chapter Studio, Canton on:

Saturday 29 October, 9-10am / 12.30-1.30pm
Sunday 30 October, 11am-1pm / 2-3pm

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You expect to see many a strange sight in Cardiff city centre on a Friday night. You do not however, expect to see what appears to be an old fashioned fantasy role game playing out on the side of a church.

But that is exactly what is happening right now and will be happening on both Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October between the hours of 8pm and 11pm.

Chris Evans, the artist behind this Dungeons and Dragons style creation, explains that such games are easy to produce but were left behind when 3D animation came in. "They are now only played as historical games. No-one has worked to develop them further."

Tonight, the reaction of passersby in Cardiff is one similar to that of the victims of jokes in such programmes as Trigger Happy TV. People stop, look at the screen, look around to see if they're being watched, pause to look at the screen for a little longer, and eventually walk on.

"It's really random," says passer-by Huw Roffe as he and his mates try to make sense of the "screen".

If they're lucky, they can probably score themselves a magic key or sword down Caroline Street. Then they'll have the tools to truly handle txt Adventure.

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Situated in the midst of Ninian Park football stadium and a buzzing commuter route on one side, and a huge ad featuring Gavin Henson and fellow Welsh rugby stars emblazoned on the other, local artist Andy Fung's 48-sheet billboard poster is certainly an unusual addition to Cardiff's traditionally grimy Leckwith Road.

Whilst Fung's work appears to be computer generated at first sight, it is actually hand-drawn. The piece will be in its place until November 7th.

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The home of Welsh rugby is no stranger to allusions of militaristic campaigns and the marshalling power of the masses; be it the roar of a rugby crowd cheering on Wales, the exorting adulation of a big rock concert audience - but never before has Stadium's atmospherics been so dominated by the command of one single snare drum.

As the curtain-raiser for the Festival, Tim Davies' Drumming video installation on both screens of the stadium's scoreboards created a cacophonic crescendo in the eerily empty stadium. Over 10 minutes, the rhythms sweep down across the pitch before rising, row by row, through the red and green tiered seats towards the roof and open sky.

Drumming will be staged today at the Millenium Stadium from 7-8pm and Saturday from 6-7pm. So get in touch with your inner beat box and come bear witness to the power of the drum.

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Stefhan's Variable Message Sign is now in place near Hayes Island outside the Old Library. You can post a message on the board by texting your messages to this number: 07929 461727

Messages are limited to 144 characters in length.

The intention for the project is to encourage members of the public to find a new use for these signs, which usually carry mundane but important traffic and road safety information. Instead the VMS will carry text messages, which by their nature are often deeply personal.

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Jonah Brucker-Cohen of coin-operated fame has an interview he did with Germany based gaming artists //////////fur//// up on gizmodo! It's definately worth the read.

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The second part of the preview article on the Festival is now up on Digital Lifestyles.

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