Hot spot: Guests queing for the 4Docs party. photo by Sabine Schereck

I woke up Thursday morning with a bad case of party hangover. And it wasn’t just down to the free beer. It was the kind of mourning one feels after a night of hula hooping, limboing and ice-cream licking. Porridge and tea just feels boring in comparison.

Delicious Jersey Dairy ice-cream. photo by Sebine Schereck.

Yes, I am tooting the 4Docs horn but I can’t help it. It really was a fun night. For a gloomy Wednesday in East London people were in high spirits. This was certainly helped by our mesmeric magician Julian James who entertained the snaking queue with his mind-boggling tricks. Once inside, guests were directed to the Jersey Dairy ice cream stand, sponsored by our friends at Branchage Jersey International Film Festival . The Apple Cinnamon ice-cream was so good we began scooping it out with BBQ skewers when we lost the spoons. Decorated with home-made toffee apples, seaside rock (compliments of Mr Humbug) and self-popped corn, our seaside parlour was complete.

Going for gold: the crowd really wanted those prizes. photo by Sebine Schereck.

Supping on their Freedom Beer, guests were entertained with a programme of British short docs. Screening were ‘Pockets’ by James Lees, ‘Ma Bar’ by Adrian McDowell and Finlay Pretsell, ‘Fish on a Hook’ by Andy Glynne and ‘Eric’s Secrets’ by Lucia Ashmore. With rock in their teeth and drink in their bellies, people adopted the British spirit (making do with what they’ve got) and began creating their own entertainment. Plastic rings were taken from the stage and rocked around hips as people began demonstrating that if there’s one thing documentary filmmakers are good at, it’s hula-hooping. Who knew?! We had some superb prizes for those who demonstrated particular skill – thanks to the generous donations from Sheffield Doc/Fest, Branchage Jersey International Film Festival, Cinéphilia West, Revolver and Second Run DVD. People left with full arms and big smiles. All money raised through raffle tickets went to Open House Film Club who provide screenings for homeless and vulnerably housed people in Central London.

Record-breaking three-person limbo. photo by Sebine Schereck.

Inevitably, this debauchery lead to further games, mainly in the form of a limbo competition (good job they left a broom propped by the bar). It seems everyone’s pretty good at this too. Of course, no trip to the seaside is complete without a good round of face painting. That’s why we invited Oxfam to join us with their excellent Blue in the Face campaign, which aims to raise awareness of climate change through painting people … well … blue. To keep us in the mood throughout the night was our exquisite DJ, Lectric Lady, whose vinyl collection was like a sack of feet-twitching magic. We danced really, really hard. Well, I did anyway.

It was great to see familiar faces, including those who were instrumental in the birth of 4Docs – Peter Dale, Emily Renshaw-Smith, Charlie Phillips and Rebecca Frankel. We were also in the company of James Lees and Lucia Ashmore, whose films we screened. Other doc filmmakers I spotted were Eva Weber and Tessa Morgan, Hannah Patterson and of course the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation team where out in full force, including Jess Search, Maxyne Franklyn and Rebecca Lloyd-Evans who have all been the stars behind this rising of the phoenix.

So, with the party over that just leaves the running of the site. I hope that you’ll keep up to date with the blog for news on funding opportunities, festival deadlines and new brazen filmmakers. I also REALLY hope you get your claws into the Wiki because it has the potential to be something quite beautiful, as does the rest of the site – Watch and Win. On that note, I bid you farewell.

It's all about short documentaries. Indeed. photo by Sabine Schereck.

More photos from the night’s events can be found here