Close-Up Film Features

Latest Film News

Visual Arts Commission - call for submissions

Due to an overwhelming rush of last minute responses we have decided to extend the deadline for our Visual Arts Commission.

The new deadline for submissions is 5pm, Tuesday 21st March 2006. Interviews will be held on 28th March 2006.

Please note that the commission is not restricted to artists based in the South East region. Apologies to those of you who have rushed to meet the prior deadline of the 7th March, if you wish to resubmit please feel free to do so, if not we will keep your current submission on file and accept this as your final application.

Visual Arts Commission - call for submissions
We are inviting submissions from an artist or artist group to create a digital artwork or moving image piece in response to the fit-out of the space.
To apply, artists must have a track record of delivering high quality work. The winning commission will receive £4,250. This fee is to cover artists' fees, materials, and installation costs. Lighthouse will provide support to the artist in the development of the work, where appropriate.

For more information go to http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/opportunity/arguscomm.htm

Bournemouth Screen Academy Launches

The official launch of the new Bournemouth Screen Academy will feature three days of events, visitors' talks and master classes. These begin on 15 March 2006 with a special lecture at 4pm by Stephen Deutsch, Professor of Post-Production at
Bournemouth University. Stephen will be talking about the meaning of the music in Stanley Kubrick's acclaimed movie 2001 - A Space Odyssey and will be giving a
glimpse of the score originally composed for it. Also on 15 March 2006 at 6pm is a talk by Chris Landreth, the internationally renowned US computer animator, who will screen and discuss his film Ryan which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Other events include a screening on 16 March 2006 of Peppermint, an award-winning film by graduates Gabby Morton Jones and James Fair who will be discussing the film and its route from script to award, and talks on 17 March 2006 by screenwriter Alan Plater and film producer Huw Penallt-Jones. In addition, throughout the three days short live action and animation films written and produced by students of the Academy will be shown on plasma screens on both campuses as a celebration of Bournemouth's achievement of Screen Academy status.

Report courtesy of South West Screen

Art House Distribution in Trouble?

All of us here at close-up film love our films; many of us enjoy more obscure titles from countries all over the globe. Films that rarely get an outing at the cinema, never get shown on TV and pass by unnoticed in the mainstream media. But for those of us who love independently produced offerings from across Europe, experimental Asian films and arty films that are an acquired taste there are the specialist distribution companies that seek out these films from festivals and local production companies.

Our desire to be cinematically challenged has been sustained by the likes of Wellspring, a company that has pursued films that would normally require an infinite amount of patience and Internet surfing in order to watch. The bad news for cinephiles has been the announcement that Wellspring, as we know it, is due to cease. Blame has been attributed to the Weinstein Company who took over operations at Wellspring but failed to continue in acquiring films that he Wellspring team had marketed and distributed in the past, fearing the sense of the unknown that comes with dealing with foreign, non genre and experimental productions.

What is worrying is the trend that seems to be taking place with the closure of similar specialist distribution companies. Wellspring has joined a list of companies -- like The Shooting Gallery, Lot 47 Films and Cowboy Pictures -- that faded away following a run at creating a business distributing art house films theatrically. Companies such as Sony Pictures Classics, Zeitgeist Films, Strand Releasing, New Yorker Films, First Run Features, and Kino International are the select few still following a similar strategy. One has to wonder if these companies will go the same way.

Wellspring has been responsible for releasing films such as Tarnation, The Beat that my Heart Skipped, Unknown White Male and the majority of Tsai Ming Liang’s films. The burden of financing the theatrical release of an independent/foreign film has hit the smaller distribution companies hard and highlighted the growing problem of providing an important alternative to the Hollywood product to cinemagoers in the West. It can only be hope that the other companies manage to stay afloat in the torrid ocean of art house distribution.

Daniel Laverick (News Editor)
daniel@close-upfilm.com

World Cup Year - Football Film

It had to come, we all knew it; with the world cup comes the inevitable football film, riding on the wave of football fever that sweeps across the nation. This year sees a partnership between North Western production company ‘Tubedale Films’ and Sweden’s ‘Gota Films’ (first Sven, now we make films together!). Filmed in both Sweden and Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium, the film, entitled Offside, follows a fictional team of losers as they face relegation from the professional football leagues. The signing of an out of shape and drunken former legend provides the catalyst for change in the clubs fortunes as they play for their survival. Liverpool legend Ian Rush makes the obligatory footballer cameo appearance as himself that I’m sure will attract a few scouse supporters into the cinemas upon its release.

Obviously a tale of plucky losers coming good, Offside will follow the well-trodden path made by other such sports films like Up n Under, When Saturday Comes and Bend it Like Beckham. We do like making our sports-comedy-comeback films here in the UK and this film will no doubt be successful in a World Cup year that sees high expectations placed in the nations team. As a marketable film, the backers will no doubt be on to a winner, tapping into the football madness that is due to begin in June. Aside from the impression that this film will be no different from its many predecessors is the partnership that has formed to facilitate its production. Chris Moll, head of funds at North West Vision was quoted as saying:

“We are delighted to be supporting this Swedish UK co production through Merseyside Film and TV Fund (MFTVF), (Objective One Funding). We see these sorts of international co productions as a way of developing the feature film sector on Merseyside and look forward to working with Tubedale Films and other Liverpool companies in this exciting area”

Recent opinions of many in the industry have pointed to international collaborations as the way forward for the UK film industry, especially as the funding problem still hasn’t been addressed. Transnational co productions with the UK accounted for a large chunk of the box office takings in Britain last year, highlighting the possible financial benefits to seeking foreign partnerships.

It has been reported that the shoot went smoothly and the film is due to be promoted at Cannes.

Daniel Laverick (News Editor)
daniel@close-upfilm.com

FREE KIDULTHOOD SCREENING & Q&A THIS THURSDAY

There will be a free screening of Kidulthood followed by a Q + A with the cast (including Jamie Winstone and Noel Clarke) on Thursday at 8pm at Cineworld Wandsworth.

If you would like to go along you will need to take with you the current edition of the free CLOSE-UP FILM e-newsletter. You can get this by subscribing here and you will need to print it off and present at the cinema on Thursday. Please note – tickets are on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

Kidulthood is released in cinemas on Friday 3rd March and includes a full UK cast and soundtrack.

www.kidulthood.co.uk

3rd March

IMAGES OF BLACK WOMEN FILM FESTIVAL
Kilburn High Road, London Kilburn, London
Contact: Sylviane and Betty, info@imagesofblackwomen.com, 07904486952, http://www.imagesofblackwomen.com

The second London based international festival of black women and film. Screenings of feature films and documentaries along with workshops, discussions, networking and a short film competition. The festival will run from the 3rd to the 5th of March at the Tricycle cinema on Kilburn High Road.

56th Berlin International Film Festival: Round Up

News Report by Daniel Laverick

One of the biggest film festivals on the industry calendar came to an end today, 19th February, after ten successful days, screening the best that world cinema has to offer. 3,800 journalists attended, 19,000 accredited visitors came from 120 countries and over 150,000 tickets were sold to the general public. 360 films were shown in 1,115 screenings, showing a diverse range of films in a multitude of genres. All in all the 56th Berlin Film Festival was a resounding success; but what were the highlights of the last ten days?

This years festival opened with a film funded by the UK Film Council entitled Snow Cake. Directed by Marc Evans, Snow Cake was just one of the British successes in Berlin. Brothers of the Head also went down well with the festival audience and looks set to be a British success in 2006. A ‘mockumentary’ in the style of Spinal Tap (only more bizarre), Brothers of the Head tells the story of conjoined twins who decide to become punk rockers. At least you can’t say it isn’t original!

Further British success came in the form of the veteren film director Michael Winterbottom. His latest film, The Road to Guantanamo, is the controversial portrayal of three British Muslims who were held at the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Winterbottom has been quoted as saying “We just wanted to show how three ordinary young people got caught up in an extraordinary story and what it was like from their point of view”. He also described the purpose of the film as “a reminder to people that Guantanamo exists and 500 people are still detained”. Due for release in March, The Road to Guantanamo gave Winterbottom the Silver Bear award for best director at this years festival.

Other films of interest included the latest effort from experimental Swedish director Lukas Moodysson. Following up the success of films such as Together (2000) and Lilya 4-Ever (2002), Moodysson offered Container to the Berlin crowds. Moodysson’s three line synopsis describes the film as:

"A woman in a man´s body. A man in a woman´s body. Jesus in Mary´s stomach. Her water breaks. It floods into me. I can´t close the lid. My heart is full,"

A trip into unknown territory, Container received a positive audience reaction and comfirmed Lukas Moodysson’s position as a director who experiments with his medium and pushes the boundaries of the genres he operates in.

Pernille Fischer Christensen’s debut feature, A Soap, has also elicited a lot of interest over the last ten days. The revelation of yet another talent from the new generation of Danish filmmakers, A Soap impressed the Berlin judges and won the Silver bear Grand Jury prize.

Apart from the screenings and the schmoozing, the 56th Berlin Film Festival honoured a number of individuals from the film industry world for their achievements and successes. Honorary Golden Bears were given to celebrated Polish film director Andrzej Wajda and Sir Ian McKellen for long and varied career in acting. The ‘Berlinale Camera’, an award given to those who have a special connection to the festival, was given to the director of the Berlin film museum and respected academic Hans Helmut Prinzler. “I want to wholeheartedly thank Hans Helmut Prinzler for his unflagging commitment and contributions to the legacy of cinema”, Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick states. “He has provided us with thrilling retrospectives, homages and series, bringing back great moments and movements in film history.” With the 30th Retrospective of the Berlinale – “Traumfrauen. Film Stars of the Fifties” – Hans Helmut Prinzler is celebrating his retiring after 27 years at the Deutsche Kinemathek/Filmmuseum Berlin.”

This years festival saw some aggressive bidding on the part of the buyers who attended, looking out for films for international distribution. One of the hottest titles at the market was Adrift, the directorial debut of German filmmaker Hans Horn. The film has apparently been sold to Pathe in the UK with deals pending for France, Italy and Scandinavia. A Soap and Container have deals pending for release in the US and the UK and Snow Cake has been sold MK2 in France. Two days before the end of the market, most deals had already been closed and the majority of buyers were heading home. ‘A festival of high quality films’ seems to be the lingering epitaph of this years ‘Berlinale’.

The festival ended with the screening of Hans Christian Schmid’s Requiem, a film based on the true story of a Catholic girl who was the victim of several exorcisms. Described as a “Dogme style film”, Requiem achieved the intensity that comes with anarchy and improvisation with the quality that comes from intense preparation. A fitting end to the 56th Berlin Film Festiv

BERLIN AWARDS ROUND UP

Golden Bear for Best Film (to the producers)
Grbavica (Austria, BA/DE/HR)
by Jasmila Zbanic

Silver Bear-Grand Jury Prize
ex-aequo
A Soap (DK)
by Pernille Fischer Christensen
Offside (Iran)
by Jafar Panahi

Silver Bear for Best Director
Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross
Road to Guantanamo(GB)

Silver Bear for Best Actress
Sandra Hoeller
Requiem(DE)

Silver Bear for Best Actor
Moritz Bleibtreu
The Elementary Particles(DE)

Silver Bear for An Artistic Contribution
Jürgen Vogel as Actor, co-Author and Co-Producer of
The Free Will(DE)

Silver Bear for Best Music
Isabella (RC) by Pang Ho-cheung

Alfred Bauer Award
El Custodio de Rodrigo Moreno (AR, DE, FR)

Best First Feature Film Award
A Soap(DK)
by Pernille Fischer Christensen

Teddy Award
Combat

FIPRESCI Award (Competition)
Requiem

FIPRESCI Award (Panorama)
Knallhart (Tough Enough)

FIPRESCI Award (Forum)
In Between Days

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2006

29th March – 12th April

The British Film Institute is delighted to present this year's special anniversary 20th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival which will open on 29 March with an Opening Night Gala screening of Happy Endings (courtesy of Sony Pictures) at the Odeon Leicester Square - making this one of the world's largest ever lesbian and gay film events. Happy Endings, directed by Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex), is a teeming LA comedy of manners centring around love, betrayal, sperm donors and adoption acted out by an ensemble cast including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow, Steve Coogan and Laura Dern. The Closing Night Gala on 12 April will be Jan Dunn's stunning, award-winning, first feature Gypo (courtesy of Redbus). It is the UK's first certified Dogme95 film and movingly brings to life responses to questions of asylum and race, starring Pauline McLynn, Paul McGann and a transformed Rula Lenska. This screening will be at the Odeon West End. The rest of the festival will take place at the bfi National Film Theatre, plus - following its highly successful debut at last year's LLGFF - there will be a further collaboration on gay artist films at Tate Modern, this year featuring the pioneering work of writer, composer and independent film and video-maker Stuart Marshall.

The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is presented by the British Film Institute and programmed by senior programmer Jonathan Keane and Topher Campbell, Anna Dunwoodie, Del LaGrace Volcano, Brian Robinson and Kyle Stephan. The festival enjoys the support of a wide range of sponsors including Main Sponsor Accenture, Sponsor Renault UK, and Media Partners Diva, Gay Times, Pink Paper and Impact. We are also grateful for the support of Citypink, the LGBT Interbank Forum, Mayfair Cellars, Cobra, Thistle Hotels, High Life Breaks, Soho House, The Hospital, Konditor & Cook, Southopia, Heaven, Midnite Express, the Canadian High Commission, the Goethe Institute and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

This year the LLGFF Patrons' Scheme includes a highly distinguished group: Clare Balding, Andrew Corner, Lea DeLaria, Stephen Fry, David Furnish, Paul Gambaccini, Sir Elton John, Isaac Julien, Byrony Lavery, Sir Ian McKellen, Phyllis Nagy, Pratibha Parmar, Patricia Rozema, Dominic Smith and Sarah Waters.

As the UK's third largest film festival, the LLGFF offers an unrivalled showcase for the very best in European and World films, welcoming audiences of over 25,000 and playing host to more than 100 visiting film-makers and actors. It is one of the most important ways in which the bfi promotes film and video in all its richness and variety. For 20 years the festival has inspired and supported queer film-makers and viewers and it continues to go from strength to strength. This year's festival has built on this unique heritage and reminds us of the extraordinary diversity of lesbian and gay life with outstanding contributions from Japan, Argentina, Israel, Iceland, the Philippines, Korea, Spain, Norway, France, Germany, Canada, the USA, India, and the UK.

We are thrilled to present Francois Ozon's Time to Leave as one of our two Centrepiece screenings. Over the past 10 years Ozon has made an immense contribution to queer cinema and this haunting new film - starring Melvil Poupaud and the always superb Jeanne Moreau - asks searching questions about what we value and why as its successful fashion designer protaganist confronts the reality of death. The other Centrepiece screening is the stunning debut f Ligy J. Pullappallyeature of, who is a lawyer specialising in women's rights as well as a film-maker. Her film The Journey marks a first for Indian cinema as it boldly affirms lesbian desire in the face of traditional arranged marriages and compulsory heterosexuality in Southern India.

As befits a 20th anniversary year, the festival has some fun, some reflection, some nostalgia, a timely look back at how far we've come and a celebration of queer achievement over the past two decades. We're proud to present some exceptionally strong histories and documentaries: Rosa von Praunheim's provocative study Men, Heroes and Gay Nazis explores the reality of gay men involved in fascism from Hitler's era; Lizzie Thynne's Playing a Part: The Story of Claude Cahun illuminates the scandalous life of this famous lesbian photographer, author, surrealist and wartime resistance fighter (with choreography by The Cholmondeleys' Lea Anderson and a post-screening talk with Thynne); there's a winner of a 2005 Gay TEDDY award Feline Masquerade, which looks at lesbian visibility and subcultures through the stories of five generations of Swiss women; an investigation into the writer of a classic sadomasochistic novel in Writer of O; 50 years of amateur film-making in Harold's Home Movies, offering a unique insight into the private lives of gay men before gay liberation; a sobering investigation into crystal meth addiction in Meth; drag queens and transgender prostitutes fighting the police and discrimination in Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria way back in 1966; the exuberant Gay Sex in the 70s with its carefree stories of sex in a hedonistic time before Aids; and a special Shorts programme Brief Lives that honours the extraordinary stories of lesbians and gays from an earlier age.

In 20/20 Vision we offer a very special selection of films as former LLGFF programmers have chosen a favourite and emblematic film to capture the spirit of the eras during which they programmed; look out for By Hook or By Crook, Looking for Langston, Desperate Remedies and The Cockettes, among others.

This year an additional strand focuses on gay representation on television: Gay TV acknowledges the significant part television has played in reflecting lesbian and gay identities over the past 20 years with a selection of TV classics. We are especially thrilled to announce a special preview of the first episode of the upcoming BBC adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst - including an on-stage discussion with the author and his adapter Andrew Davies.

The challenges and joys of coming out and of being young feature in a number of films: About a Girl in which shy outsider Joe realises that her love of boxing and her passion for her best friend can help her find her path; the charming and witty 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous from New Zealander Stewart Main (one of two subtitled and audio-described feature films for people with less than perfect hearing or vision); French-Quebecois teenage angst in C.R.A.Z.Y.; Like Brother, a sweet tale of adolescent self-discovery in a small town in Northern France; and a 13-year-old's crush on his gay teacher in the wonderful Whole New Thing. Troubled Teens and Time in Small Pieces feature shorts made by young people, as well as charting the course of troubled, early love. A special events programme on Teen Screen Queens invites 15-19-year-olds and their friends to a clip-based discussion on how lesbian and gay teenagers are represented on the big screen. Also running during the festival will be a series of workshops with queer young people to explore how to turn their ideas into film. (All matinee screenings for under-18s are half price.)

A host of transgender films this year give voice to the many individuals and communities working to carve out - or to challenge - new ways of being: from the edgy, explicit exploration of trans identity in Enough Man, the in-your-face NYC working class, lesbian-identified, African-American The Aggressives who mix trans and gender to create something else entirely, to Bombay's hidden hijra subculture in Between the Lines: India's Third Gender, a 22-year-old's decision to surgically alter herself to fit the gender she feels inside in 100% Human, and Transparent - a poignant look at FTM parents who have given birth to children at different stages of transitioning. Plus there's Desperate Housewives' star Felicity Huffman's celebrated Oscar-nominated role as MTF transsexual Bree whose life changes irreversibly when she discovers she is the father of a son in Transamerica.

Art and culture, the experimental and the avant-garde, the sacred and the profane all receive queer expression in the festival's numerous programme strands, short film selections and special events. We're thrilled to present the British premiere of the Kuchar Brothers' fantastic Super8 films in newly restored prints In Lust We Trust; twins Mike and George first began filming when they were 12, and their films are rarely seen outside the USA. Alex Hinton's explosive three-year documentary on the growing underground queer hip-hop movement Pick Up The Mic reveals MCs and rappers who disagree about almost everything - but that's part of their strength. Keep Not Silent brings us three Jewish Orthodox lesbians in Jerusalem who choose three very different paths to express their sexuality, while Zero Degrees of Separation examines how queer relationships can sometimes blur the lines in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and Dividing Lines: Race, Sexuality and the Church offers the perspectives of three short films on family values, commitment and the church from an African-American point of view. The festival celebrates the UK journal launch of Do You Wish To Direct Me? - the fourth issue of vibrant feminist art collective Lesbians to the Rescue - with a series of events looking at performance and radical queer commitment. Reprogramming Feminism: A Queer and Present Danger is a series of events and debates looking at the role of sex and violence through a feminist lens, including Raging Women, a discussion with Baise-Moi author and director Virginie Despentes, and a visual and performative lecture presented by Del LaGrace Volcano and Beatriz Preciado on Post Porn and New Technologies of Pleasure. Doin' the Low takes a look at the controversy surrounding closeted Black men who sleep with other men while in straight relationships - the so-called Downlow brother. Activist and former advisor to Clinton Keith Boykin will be in conversation with Topher Campbell and others to discuss this phenomenon and its repercussions.

In a year in which a film about two gay cowboys has captured the world's heart and elicited a rash of Oscar nominations, there's a not-to-be-missed queer look at the Western 'I am a Stranger Here Myself' featuring such classic gems as Johnny Guitar and Calamity Jane, a special screening of Brokeback Mountain and a discussion on Reimagining the Terrain with Judith Halberstam, Professor of English at USC and author of Female Masculinity.

And, if you need a rest after all that, come along to The Letter: Knit-Alonga Bette Davis! - and don't forget to bring your wool and needles to click along to this 1940's classic.

www.llgff.org.uk

Speak Up for the Future of Film in the UK

The Government is asking your opinion on how lottery money is allocated to the arts, film, sport and heritage. Film currently receives only 2% leaving the remaining 98% to be divided between the arts, sport and heritage and the new “Big Lottery Fund for more general awards.

There are only a few weeks to make the case that the British film industry and our support for cultural film activities should get a bigger share of National Lottery money. It is critical that we all take the time to respond to a government questionnaire before the end of February when the consultation ends. If we don’t shout we won’t be heard and we could even be at risk of losing some of the money we currently receive.

Through a variety of UK Film Council programmes and investments, lottery money is giving audiences more choice; making great films; encouraging wider participation in film and the film industry and developing skills and talent. More details are contained in the downloadable fact sheet, which outlines some of the key achievements which were made possible by National Lottery money.

As an example on a regional scale, Screen South in partnership with the UK Film Council has contributed significantly to a large number of projects through its Lottery awards over the last three years. Highlights have included Phil Grabsky’s multi-award winning documentary The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Andrea Arnold’s Oscar-winning short Wasp, Jan Dunn and Elaine Wickham BIFA winning feature Gypo, not forgetting personal development and project bursaries benefiting hundreds of filmmakers. Screen South’s support of the South East region’s film festivals has broadened the range of film experiences available to the general public and the organisations emphasis on access an opportunity has opened many doors for young people and local communities.

All of this and other similar work across the country is at risk if the film sector doesn’t speak up and make the case for the public’s love of cinema. So please can we ask you to both engage with your many peers and to spare a few minutes of your and your team’s time to fill in the questionnaire. The whole process is being conducted online at:

www.lottery2009.culture.gov.uk/consultation/lo_registration/registrationform.asp

All you need to do is fill in your name and address to register, then go straight to Section 2 Film and answer the questions, you can then click skip to end.

The London Critics Circle Film Awards

Report by Carol Allen

Although there is a plethora of American film awards in the run up to the Oscars, the British awards season only kicked off a couple of weeks ago with the Evening Standard Film Awards, though they are a bit specialist in that they are limited to honouring only British films and are voted for by a small, hand-picked jury. So the season really began last week with the London Critics' Circle Film Awards held at the Dorchester Hotel on 8th February.

Though termed "London" because that's where the event takes place, it is a bit of a misnomer, in that the circle has members all over the country, all of whom are eligible to vote. Over the last decade the event has grown from what was once an informal lunch affair with wine and sandwiches to a glittering awards ceremony and formal dinner and the only film awards event, which is held in aid of charity, in this case the NSPCC. It still though has that touch of informality, where critics, film people and film fan supporters of the charity all rub shoulders together in the same room. As director Michael Caton Jones, who was one of this year's guests put it, "It's a bit like how the Golden Globes used to be when they were a party and not a pre-Oscar industry occasion."

It is also traditionally an occasion when actors and directors picking up their awards will remark on how for once critics are being unanimously nice to them. Thandie Newton, accepting the award for best British actress in a supporting role (Crash),jokingly compared her relationship with the critics as being like a marriage, a divorce and another marriage with a few one night stands along the way!

To qualify for nomination a film has to have opened between 1st February last year and 31st January this. Which means, while many of the films are the same as those nominated for BAFTAs and Oscars, there are also differences. Brokeback Mountain,The Constant Gardener and Pride and Prejudice for example, qualify for all three but BAFTA and Oscar fancied movies such as Capote, Goodnight and Good Luck and Walk the Line will not be eligible until next year's critics' awards, because they didn't open in time.

Brokeback Mountain won two of the top awards - best director for Ang Lee and Film of the Year. In terms of numbers though The Constant Gardener did better, winning four - British Producer of the Year for Simon Channing Williams, The Attenborough Award for Best British Film, British Actress for Rachel Weisz and British Actor for Ralph Fiennes, who accepted his award by video link from Dublin, where he is appearing in a new play. Pride and Prejudice picked up two prizes - Tom Hollander (best British supporting actor) and Joe Wright (British director). Best actress was Naomi Watts for King Kong. She too had to do her thank you by video link from Hollywood this time but she also asked her co-star Andy Serkis, who in my view deserves his own award for his work on Kong and indeed Lord of the Rings, to pick up the award for her in person. Best actor was Bruno Ganz for his role as Hitler in Downfall - the first time the award has gone to an actor in a non-English speaking role and beating hotly tipped nominees such as Heath Ledger and Fiennes again. Downfall also won Best Foreign film, and Ganz and his director Oliver Hirschbiegel were at the Dorchester in person to pick up their awards.

Another Critics' Circle tradition is the presentation of the Dilys Powell award, named after the late eminent film critic and circle member, for outstanding contribution to cinema. This year it went to veteran film maker Bryan Forbes, writer, director, producer and at one time production boss of Elstree Studios, who was such a leading light of British cinema in the sixties and seventies. We even saw a clip of him as a young actor in The League of Gentleman back in the fifties. Plus another featuring his still stunningly beautiful wife Nanette Newman and his old friend and colleague Richard Attenborough in Seance on a Wet Afternoon.

Forbes, who will be 80 in July, has now retired from film making, although he is still a prolific writer with a new novel due to come out later this year. Lord Attenborough however, who was there both to cheer on his old chum and to present the British Film award that was named after him to mark his eightieth birthday two years ago, has no intention of retiring from the film making arena. He starts shooting a new film next month - Closing the Ring starring fellow veterans Shirley McClaine and Christopher Plummer. Though, he confided in me after the awards, when he told his granddaughter about the new movie, impressed though she was by the eminent cast, what really thrilled her was who is going to be their co-star - twenty year old Mischa Barton of television's "The O.C", of which she is a great fan.

Full list of winners – London Critics' Circle Film Awards 2006

Foreign Language Film
Downfall (Momentum Pictures)

British Newcomer
Kelly Reilly (actress, Mrs Henderson Presents)

Screenwriter
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (Crash)

British Producer
Simon Channing Williams (The Constant Gardener)

Actress in a Supporting Role
Thandie Newton (Crash)

Actor in a Supporting Role
Tom Hollander (Pride and Prejudice)

British Actress
Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)

British Actor
Ralph Fiennes (The Constant Gardener)

British Director
Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice)

Actress
Naomi Watts (King Kong)

Actor (sponsored by Coutts&Co)
Bruno Ganz (Downfall)

Director of the Year
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

The Attenborough Award for British Film of the Year
The Constant Gardener (UIP)

Film of the Year (sponsored by H.R.Owen Volvo)
Brokeback Mountain (Entertainment)

Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film
Bryan Forbes CBE

56th International Berlin Film Festival Opens

Report by Daniel Laverick

One of the worlds biggest film festivals opens today for a ten-day extravaganza of world cinema, celebrities and film industry schmoozing. Over 350 films are due to be screened from every corner of the earth in six separate sections. The ‘competition’ section will involve international big screen films made for broad audiences, all of which are vying for the coveted Golden Bear award in best film, director and actor categories (among others).

The ‘panorama’ section deals with documentaries in both short and feature length while the ‘forum’ section, described as the most daring element in the programme, is concerned with the avant garde and experimental. The new and unconventional are the buzz words for the ‘forum’ section. The ‘kinderfest’ part of the programme was first added to the programme in 1978, attracting a diverse and cross generational audience to the Berlin film festival. The ‘German perspective’ section is specifically for new German cinema while the ‘Berlin special’ perpetuates cinemas glorious history by screening classics and conducting retrospectives of great actors and directors.

The vast array of films on show truly opens up the Berlin film festival to film lovers of all ages and cultures, providing a wide range of films in many forms and genres. This years festival looks like its going to continue the tradition of success with the world premiere screening of Snow Cake by Marc Evans at the opening and honorary golden bears being awarded to Polish director Andrzej Wajda for his work and Sir Ian Mckellen for his long and successful career in acting. The ‘competition’ section of the festival is due to close with a screening of a newly restored version of Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid with attendances from numerous members of the international cinematic royalty.

Keep your eye on close-up film for further updates on the Berlin film festival over the next week. We’ll inform you of the winners, losers and the unearthed gems that look set for success in 2006.

Daniel Laverick (News editor)

23 February
Cinéformation Advertising & Marketing
Waterside 3, Watershed Media Centre, Bristol BS1
7pm

Taking a closer look at the wonderful world of
advertising. Guest speakers will spill the beans on
what it takes to direct an ad and what the differences
are between shorts and advertisements - which could be
referred to as micro-shorts.

Cinéformation is a forum for independent film &
Videomakers offering an opportunity for writers,
producers, directors, actors, crew & enthusiasts to
meet, share ideas, screen films and foster an active
vibrant creative frenzy of film-making in the South
West.

If you are interested in being a guest speaker at a
future event please send in a viewing copy of your
film on V.H.S, or Mini DV along to:

Cinéformation
c/o Menekse Ozkutan
Omni Productions Ltd
Unit 47,
Easton Business Centre,
Felix Road,
Easton,
Bristol BS5 0HE

Free Cinema at the NFT

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Free Cinema movement, born on 5th February 1956 when a group led by Lindsay Anderson screened their films at the National Film Theatre under the banner of 'Free Cinema' and produced a manifesto expressing their new film-making concerns. In his essay ‘Free Cinema’ Anderson placed the new movement ‘in direct relation to a British cinema still obstinately class-bound; still rejecting the stimulus of everyday life, as well as the responsibility to criticise; still reflecting a metropolitan, Southern English culture which excludes the rich diversity of tradition and personality which is the whole of Britain.’ This was everything that Anderson and others filmmakers such as Tony Richardson and Karel Reisz wanted to overcome.

On Sunday 5th the National Film Theatre will be screening a selection of shorts from the various Free Cinema film programmes that followed the initial screening to coincide with a new BFI DVD box set. The Free Cinema movement went on to produce feature films as memorable as Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), the first postwar British film to have a working-class protagonist, and Lindsay Anderson’s This Sporting Life (1962), in which a rugby club is a microcosm of broader societal tensions.

Others films included: Richardson's A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), John Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963) and Reisz’s Morgan: A Case for Treatment (1966). Although never as renowned as the French New Wave, the Free Cinema movement prompted a renewal in British film culture that has influenced British filmmakers ever since. The NFT evening will be introduced by (and followed by a Q&A with) Free Cinema veteran Michael Grigsby.

Peter Fraser

http://www.bfi.org.uk/incinemas/nft/film/6236

The Intimacy of Strangers

Dir. Eva Webber, 2005, 19 mins

You used to have to make an effort to overhear other people’s conversations. Now you have to make an effort not to. With such a tagline, one could be forgiven for thinking that Webber’s short documentary, based entirely on covertly recorded mobile phone conversations, was a play to the feverish national obsession with voyeuristic entertainment. However The Intimacy of Strangers, shot as part of the Project Development Lab programme at The National Film and Television School, is far from it.

Filmed in various locations around London, The Intimacy of Strangers follows the conversations of a handful of people on their mobile phones as they discuss relationships with unknown confidants. These calls are then delicately cut together and layered to produce a film which, although still fragmented, follows an emotional narrative, which rises and falls. As we step in and out of these lives we begin to build a larger picture containing glimpses of the often touching, funny and intimate moments inherent in any relationship.

All of the mobile users are members of the public and this gives the film genuine and often powerful emotion. Many of the lines could simply not have been written and delivered any more perfectly, like the woman caught referring to the utterly baffling ‘online pregnancy test’. The skilful sound design and score also further create a sense of poignancy as they carefully lead us in and out of conversations and draw these strangers together.

Although certainly a look at the place of the ubiquitous mobile within modern relationships, The Intimacy of Strangers is also an interesting take on what can be an impersonal urban environment. We are offered, if only briefly, a chance to empathise with people we may have passed on the way to work. So, from a premise that could potentially have taken a far more tawdry route, Webber has produced a gentle paced and touching short documentary that calmly sits us down for a moment to watch, listen and think.

Reviewed by Tim Gardner

The Intimacy of Strangers, directed by Eva Weber, was made through the Project Development Lab, an advanced, one-year programme, at the National Film and Television School (UK). The film is Eva’s second documentary, building on her previous award-winning work in fiction and as a director for BBC Broadcast.

The Intimacy of Strangers was premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival. Since then, it has been invited to numerous other festivals. It has also been included in an educational DVD, commissioned by the British Council and The Documentary Filmmakers Group UK, featuring the most innovative British documentaries of recent years.

The National Film and Television School (www.nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk) is the UK's leading centre of excellence for education in film and television programme making. Since launching in 1971, it has turned out numerous world-class film and television practitioners. Among its many distinguished Alumni are Oscar-winning animators Nick Park, CBE, creator of Wallace and Gromit, and Alison Snowden & David Fine (Bob's Birthday); BAFTA-winning directors David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), cinematographers David Tattersall (Star Wars: Episodes I-III) and the Oscar-nominated Roger Deakins (Jarhead, The Shawshank Redemption) and pioneering documentarist Nick Broomfield (Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer). The School's postgraduate-post experience courses are the product of a unique partnership between Government and the film and television industry, many of whose members teach on its courses and advise on curriculum development, ensuring that the School stays relevant to the Industry's present and future needs. The National Film and Television School was designated a Skillset Screen Academy in July 2005.

NFTS Alumni honoured in 2006 Oscar Nominations

Four National Film and Television School (NFTS) alumni are among those honoured in the 2006 Oscar Nominations. This comes hot on the heels of the BAFTA Nomination for recent NFTS graduate Avie Luthra's short film Lucky.

New graduate Sharon Colman is up for the Best Animated Short Film for her student film Badgered, while celebrated animation director Nick Park has bagged a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category for Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Already a three-time Oscar-winner for his short animations, this is the first feature nomination for Park.

Composing graduate Dario Marianelli is nominated for his original score for Pride and Prejudice, while Producing graduate Soledad Gatti-Pascual is among those nominated in the Best Foreign Film category for Joyeux Noël. Several other NFTS graduates worked in important roles on other nominated films.

Made at the UK's National Film and Television School (NFTS), Sharon Colman's film Badgered - about a beleaguered badger who just wants to sleep in peace - has already won plaudits at festivals around the world since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Snapped up on graduation by leading animation studio Tandem Films Ltd, Sharon is now working as a director and animator on commercials, co-directed Jamie Cullum's Get Your Way music video, and is in the early writing stages on two new animation ideas, for which she has already developed characters. Said Sharon, "Getting this nomination is amazing and I haven't quite taken it in yet! This kind of recognition is a big thank you to everyone who believed in Badgered and helped make it happen."

Congratulating the Alumni on their nominations, NFTS director Nik Powell said, "An Oscar nomination is tremendous honour for any filmmaker, especially one who, like Sharon, is just starting on her career. The NFTS is proud and delighted that so many of its graduates have been nominated for their work, or have made important contributions to other nominated films".

Oscars Fever at the Queen’s Film Theatre!

With the 78th Academy Award nominations announced this week, the Queen’s Film Theatre in association with Stella Artois has announced a series of screenings and events to celebrate the 2006 ‘Oscar’ season.

Between 17th February and 6th March 2006, the Queen’s Film Theatre will be showing a series of Oscar-winning classic films and 2006 ‘Oscar’ hopefuls. The season will culminate on 'Oscars' Night itself - Sunday 5th March - with ‘Glitter and Sparkle at the Oscars’, a glittering evening of cinematic glamour.

Highlights of the QFT’s ‘Oscars’ season include Vincente Minelli’s romantic musical Gigi (winner of 9 Academy Awards), the 1932 Best Picture award winner Grand Hotel, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, winner of two ‘Oscars’ for its peerless musical score by Henry Mancini.

Nicola Trainor, Stella Artois Brand Manager at InBev Ireland Limited, said:
"The Oscars are an annual talking point across the globe. Stella Artois and the QFT both share the desire to get people talking about film and believe this is the perfect time of year to celebrate all that is good and great about today's international film industry. Hosting this particular season of film helps highlight how the older award-winning films have stood the test of time and can comfortably sit beside new and emerging work. Annually Stella Artois continues to encourage and reward film makers locally through film festival awards, some winners of which even go on to qualify for Academy Award consideration."

More recent Oscar contenders screening at the QFT include George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck (17th February to 2nd March), and showing exclusively at the QFT from 24th February to 16th March, Capote, which features Philip Seymour Hoffman in a mesmerising portrayal of the celebrated author Truman Capote.

‘Glitter and Sparkle At The Oscars’ will feature a screening of the Oscar-winning Breakfast at Tiffany’s, refreshments courtesy of Stella Artois, followed by laid back, easy listening sounds from Belfast club ‘Glitter and Sparkle’ DJs from 10pm-midnight. The dress code for this event is Oscar Ceremony Glamour!

Tickets for ‘Glitter and Sparkle At The Oscars’ are £8/ £7 will be on sale from the Queen’s Film Theatre box office from Monday 6th February. For further details on this and tickets for all QFT screenings, please contact the QFT box office on tel. 90971097, drop in to 20 University Square, Belfast or visit www.queensfilmtheatre.com

Oscars Fever at the Queen’s Film Theatre!

Film fans can expect the red carpet treatment at the Queen's Film Theatre,
especially during the QFT's 2006 Oscars Season, which runs from 17th
February to 6th March 2006. Pictured is Rachel Poole, recapturing Audrey
Hepburn's classic role as 'Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, which
is showing as part of the season. Further information from
www.queensfilmtheatre.com

Valentine’s at ‘Tiffany’s’ for Everyman

Charm your partner this Valentine’s at Hampstead’s Everyman Cinema Club with a screening of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and complimentary delectable treats when ordering either a bottle of champagne or twelve red roses.

Recently voted ‘one of the UK’s most romantic hotspots’ by the Independent, the Everyman’s intimate, sophisticated surroundings provide the ultimate escape on 14 February with the classic adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel. Starring Audrey Hepburn as the New York call girl Holly Golightly whose allure captivates her upstairs neighbour (George Peppard), ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ delivers chic Hollywood comedy at its finest.

As an extra sweetener, the Everyman will give a portion of fine chocolate truffles free of charge with every bottle of champagne ordered for the screening.

Teaming up with ’Henry and Williams Flower Company’, call Hampstead’s leading floral designers with your Everyman Valentine’s booking reference number and a complimentary box of Continental chocolates will be delivered with your order of Deluxe red roses (subject to postcode). As design-led specialists in their field, Henry and Williams produce truly head-turning creations with their distinctive and stylish arrangements.

Special Valentine’s Screening of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ takes place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 14 February 2006 at the Everyman Cinema Club, Hampstead (diagonally opp Hampstead tube). Tickets £10/15 – to book, please visit www.everymancinema.com or call Reception on 0870 066 4777.

Home Grown Films Storm the Box Office

According to the UK Film Council, the UK box office in 2005 saw the biggest share of profit from home grown films for ten years. In total, 34% of the UK box office revenue came from films that were indigenous productions, filmed overseas using a predominantly British crew and UK co-productions with other countries.

Such results make fantastic reading but it makes one think what a ‘British’ production actually is. Films that were regarded as ‘British’ in the collation of these figures ranged from Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit to Batman Begins (!). Other films include The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Nanny McPhee and, of course, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The cinema industry has globalised, blurring the boundaries of a films nationality and creating a cinematic spectacle that seems to have no specific identity. A Hollywood script and director, an Anglo-American crew and a cast of varying nationalities isn’t a rare occurrence in modern day filmmaking. Memoirs of a Geisha, for example, is a Hollywood film, starring actors from China, Malaysia and Japan, adapted from a novel written by an American. Pin pointing which country a film comes from has become a question of statistics and percentages, How much of the crew is British? How much was filmed in within the UK? How much of the funding comes from British companies/organisations?

A film production that is ‘purely’ British rarely becomes an international box office hit. We still have Shane Meadows blazing a trail for British indie directors, making home grown films that are both culturally and financially British. As for other ‘British’ films, I for one hope that the international partnerships continue, as the record revenue’s that we saw in 2005 can only be good for the future of film production in the UK. Hopefully, some of the money will find its way back into local film production, keeping alive a cinema that we really can call ‘British’.

What do you think about the state of British film production in the UK? Do these record box office takings mean that things are going in the right direction? Send me an e mail with your opinions or comments.

daniel@close-upfilm.com (News Editor)

BBC FOUR WORLD CINEMA AWARD 2006

On Thursday 26 January the third annual BBC FOUR World Cinema Award was held at London’s National Film Theatre. This award admirably highlights and celebrates the cream of foreign language films released in the UK between 1 November 2004 and 31 October 2005. The previous winners were The Return and Belleville Rendezvous.

The six nominees were chosen by critics, festival directors and film-school heads from around the country, with the eventual winner decided by this year’s judges: Stephen Woolley (producer and director), Jonathan Romney (critic) and Amanda Donohoe (actress). The judges were filmed earlier in the day deliberating and at the ceremony the audience witnessed some of their ruminations. The nominees were:

2046
Downfall
House of Flying Daggers
Look at Me
The Sea Inside
Tropical Malady

The evening was hosted by the always effervescent Jonathan Ross, with the award presented by BAFTA winning director of A Way of Life Amma Asante.

The award ceremony lasted an hour, and consisted of clips from the nominated films, interviews with the film-makers and choice moments from the discussion by the judges (chaired by Ross). The judges were an interesting mix which allowed overlapping perspectives. There seemed to be admiration for the style but confusion over the content of 2046. The Sea Inside was heartily disliked by Romney, feeling it was an afternoon TV movie, and Woolley thought the film did not deliver on its supposed promise of sentimental restraint, while Donohoe admitted to weeping during part of the film. House of Flying Daggers seemed to be in the running for the award due to its unparalleled visual spectacle. What was definitely agreed was that Zhang Ziyi (or Ziyi Zhang as it is now written) has had a tremendous year turning in two accomplished and very different performances in two of the nominees. The biting Look at Me was praised by all three judges but was felt by Woolley to lack the impact of a 60s Chabrol or Truffaut. Tropical Malady was admired for its ambition but was thought to be just too weird.

What is probably most interesting about this award is the films that were not nominated. On what grounds were the nominees selected? Should there have been representatives from each continent? Was the final list of nominees limited to one per country?

This reviewer (and the friends he attended with) is puzzled by the selection. There seems to be far superior films that were released over the last year. If the selection panel wanted a crowd pleaser, surely Kung Fu Hustle was a better film than the contrived House of Flying Daggers. German cinema in 2005 delivered the one-two-three punch of Downfall, The Edukators and Head-On. France did the same with A Very Long Engagement, 5X2 and Look at Me. Think about Spanish language too – Maria Full of Grace and Duck Season. What about from Far East Asia – Untold Scandal, rather than the bafflingly pretentious 2046.

Criticism aside, like any awards ceremony everyone is not going to agree on all the nominees and this particular prize has its heart firmly in the right place – the support of foreign language movies in the UK.

The excellent Downfall won the award. The judges commented on the bravery of German film-makers tackling such a horrific subject and the sheer level of detail. It is a ground-breaking movie, which is what cinematic awards should be celebrating – the pushing of the boundaries of what has gone before.

The award was presented to the director Oliver Hirschbiegel, who thanked the British audience for making it a hit and the BBC for promoting world cinema. The talented Hirschbiegel has been rightly snapped up by the Hollywood machine to inject something new into The Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake/reimagining - The Visiting, the new thriller with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig out later this year.

Hemanth Kissoon

Actor Chris Penn Dies

Reservoir Dogs actor, Chris Penn, was found dead at this Santa Monica home on 24th January.

Penn, the 40-year-old younger brother of Mystic River star, Sean Penn, was familiar on screen as the down-trodden and socially overlooked, sometimes strange but seemingly lovable background character in a wide range of films.

The son of Oscar-winning director, Leo Penn, and actress Eileen Ryan, Penn began acting when he was 12, studying under renowned acting coach Peggy Feury, closely associated with the Method School of Acting. Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, sons of actor Martin Sheen, were his classmates and friends.

He worked comfortably throughout his career in minor roles, most notably kicking of the eighties with a succession of movies aimed at the ‘brat pack’ generation, starring with Matt Dillon in Rumblefish (1982) and with Tom Cruise in All The Right Moves in 1983. However, it was as the sheltered Willard in Footloose (1984) that he really started to enter into the public’s eye, the fact that he was the younger sibling of the by now fist-happy elder brother Sean only adding to the intrigue.

His defining role is, perhaps, as ‘Nice Guy Eddie’ in Tarantino’s mould-breaking Reservoir Dogs in 1992, altogether a tougher, edgier character and one which has allowed Penn some degree of cultdom. He went on to appear in the Tarantino-Penned True Romance in 1993 and in several high profile tv shows, including Seinfeld and Chicago Hope. The turn of the decade saw him taking on comedy roles in Rush Hour, with Jackie Chan, and the big screen remake of Starsky and Hutch (2004), of which the latter his father, Leo Penn, was one of the directors on the original 70s series. In fact, Penn Snr’s resume presents an encycolpaedic summary of the history of American TV, having directed episodes of such stalwarts of American television as 77 Sunset Strip, Dr Kildare, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, The Bionic Woman, Fame, Cagney and Lacey, and Diagnosis Murder. He was also one of the directors blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

With Mother Eileen an actress too, brother Sean routinely applauded as the ‘best actor of his generation’, and other brother Michael a successful film composer in his own right, Chris Penn came from a dynastic Hollywood royalty. And yet, as many an actor before him, he battled with inner demons and had overcome a cocaine addiction but not a food addiction, despite his being a karate black belt.

His latest film, The Darwin Awards, was due to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this week, with King of Sorrow and Aftermath currently in post-production.

Many question as to why Chris Penn never enjoyed the same degree of success as his older brother, citing his unerring instinct for underplay as analogous to Sean Penn’s loud, dramatic roles. In dying so young, his potential not fully realised, he has achieved some notoriety in the echelons of Hollywood immortality.

No foul play is suspected.

Jean Lynch

Innovative job share scheme launched for women in film

LONDON: A groundbreaking initiative to help women film practitioners returning to work has been announced by Skillset, Sector Skills Council. Timeshift will provide job sharing roles on film productions for teams of eight women with an allowance paid towards child care cost in addition to their salaries. The unique scheme is a part of A Bigger Future, the UK Film Skills Strategy, a five year joint initiative by Skillset and UK Film Council, funded by lottery money and industry investment, to address creative and skills development within the film industry.

Judy Counihan, Director of Film at Skillset, said:
“Timeshift is a landmark scheme set to break the mould in film production. Skillset’s research shows that women are under-represented in the production world, especially older women. And we all know the difficulties in juggling career and family responsibilities but this is especially true for women working in film where the freelance working patterns and irregular hours can make it impossible. This scheme will help female talent fulfil their potential and help the industry hang on to the experienced and skilled practitioners it needs to go forward.”

Skillset’s and the UK Film Council’s 2005 Feature Film Production Workforce Survey found that women make up 33% of the workforce. 35% of women earn less than £20,000pa compared to 18% of men. In the higher salary brackets 30% of men earn £50k+ compared with 16% of women. This is despite women being more likely to be qualified to graduate level than men (60% compared with 39%). There were almost no women in the camera, sound, electrical and construction departments while the majority of those working in make-up and hairdressing were women.

Candidates for Timeshift should have a minimum of 3 years working experience and must apply in teams of two in the following grades:

· Production Accountants;
· Assistant Production Accountants;
· Production Coordinators;
· Boom Operators;
· Production Design Assistants;
· Costume Assistants;
· Art Department Assistants;
· Prop Buyers;
· Locations Assistants;
· 3rd AD’s;
· Assistant Editors.

For further information and to download an application form please visit: www.skillset.org/timeshift or contact Arit Eminue on arite@skillset.org

Timeshift is backed by the European Social Fund Equal Programme.

A Bigger Future addresses the skills development of all jobs across film from script development through to exhibition (screening films in cinemas), covering both new entrants and professional development for the existing workforce. For more information on all A Bigger Future film skills initiatives visit www.skillset.org/film

‘Left for Dead’ Latest News

‘Left For Dead’ will be screening on Sky TV on a new satellite station called Real TV from March (available on Sky) 2006. An on air, viewer voting competition, and has already been nominated for best feature. The film will be competing against several others to garner the top prize. More details to follow.

‘Left For Dead’ will also be part of The UK Indie Gathering to be held in Nottingham on the weekend of April 28th –30th 2006. Check out more details on this here

The new issue of "IMPACT" magazine is out on the shelves from tomorrow, and contains the latest article in their continuing coverage of our next action movie "Fixers". "IMPACT" can be bought from Borders, selected WHSmiths and all good newsagents.

‘Left for Dead’ is a martial arts action feature from Brighton’s Mod-Life. Read the article and take a look at the production diary for ‘Fixers’

CITY EYE Networking Event for January 2006
WESSEX FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE

This invaluable resource in Winchester holds over 25,000 items of local interest, covering Central Southern England from 1890 to the present day. The collections include films and sound recordings to inspire today’s filmmakers and scriptwriters and reflect the regions diverse range of filmmaking talent over the twentieth century – and a little either side! The works are both amateur and professional and include the creations of artists, students, cine club members, community and local filmmakers across a range of genres.

David Lee, Film and Sound Archivist at WFSA, will talk us through the treasures held within the archive and using examples of archive footage will provide inspiration for your current and future projects.

There is no charge to attend this event but donations to support the work of the archive will be gratefully received.

12th January 2006
7pm - 9pm

Wessex Film and Sound Archive
Hampshire Record Office
Sussex Street
Winchester
SO23 8TH

For more information and to book a place please contact City Eye on admin@city-eye.co.uk or 023 8067 7167

RELAUNCH OF SKILLSET FILM FUTURES BURSARY SCHEME

- NEW PRIORITIES
- NOW EASIER TO APPLY
- MORE TYPES OF TRAINING WILL BE COVERED

Film Futures makes grants of up to £800 to individuals with 2+ years experience in the film industry to attend training in the following priority areas:

· Business Skills
· Technical and Craft Skills
· Health and Safety

There is no deadline for applications, however your course must not start earlier than five days after we receive your application. It is also advised that applications can take up to four weeks to process.

Please see www.skillset.org/film/funding/bursaries/for more detailed information including the Guidelines and an application form.

Skillset Industry Induction Award

Everything a new entrant needs to know about the industry

Skillset is giving new entrants the essential skills and knowledge they need to survive in the industry, at a fraction of the full cost! This ground-breaking scheme is open to freelancers and employees of SMEs with less than 12 months experience currently living and working in London.

Visit www.skillset.org/induction for full details.

UK Film Council Welcomes New Tax Relief
- Boost For British Film Industry

New tax credit will enable the UK to compete in global film market bringing jobs and investment to the UK and a consistent flow of British films to UK audiences.

The UK Film Council applauded the Government's announcement of a new tax credit system for the British film industry which will support its development as the most important film industry in the world after the US.

In his pre-budget report, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed the new rate of tax relief for low budget films (films budgeted up to £20 million) will be a net 20%. For big budget films (£20 million and above), the rate will be a net 16%. Both rates apply to the UK spend of a film's budget.

The tax relief will provide a solid base for the production of independent British films such as Mrs Henderson Presents, Bend it like Beckham, Shaun of the Dead and Vera Drake and internationally, puts the UK in pole position for attracting big budget US studio films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Batman Begins.

John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council said: "Today's announcement by the Chancellor is the best news the British film industry has received for five years. It marks a new era for the future growth of our industry which operates in a highly competitive global marketplace.

It's good news for the production of culturally rich British films that promote Britain around the world. It's also good news for jobs and the economy as we will be able to attract big budget films to UK shores.

The UK has one of the most highly skilled film workforces in the world and last year film production contributed £3.1 billion to UK GDP. The new tax regime will support everything from big budget films like Harry Potter, to lower budget British comedies and thrillers, as well as films from auteur directors such as Ken Loach, Michael Winterbottom and Mike Leigh.

Audiences in the UK and abroad love British films, and the announcement will ensure that a consistent flow of British films will continue to be produced for the enjoyment of all."
This year, audiences have boosted the share of British films at the UK box office to 31%, compared to 23% last year.

The new tax relief announced will mean:

on low budget films (with production budgets up to £20 million), the tax credit level will be 20%;

on higher budget films (with production budgets of £20 million and above), the tax credit level will be 16%; this level of tax credit applies to the total amount of UK spend -
for example, for a film with a total budget of £25 million, with a £10 million UK spend, the tax credit will only apply to the £10 million UK spend; and a more flexible system allowing producers to phase tax credits taking them either at the start of production, or later when they are receiving profits from the film.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport also announced details of a new cultural test which will provide the gateway to accessing tax relief. The test for British films introduces a points system based on the content of the film, talent, practitioners and filmmakers to provide a clear definition of a British film.

Commenting on the new cultural test, John Woodward added:
"This test will be simple, clear and effective for filmmakers to use. It will mean that taxpayers' money will be spent on films delivering a cultural and economic benefit to the UK."

Shooting People Presents Best vs. Best
A collection of award-winning short films from around the globe. The world's major award-winners and best short films from the past year are brought together in this first DVD release from independent film community Shooting People's newly launched label Word of Mouth Films.

Including Oscar-nominees and winners of the Sundance, Berlin, BAFTA, Edinburgh, Montreal and other major short film prizes, Best vs. Best represents a selection of moving and brilliantly realised stories from today's most promising international filmmaking talent. These are the directing stars of the future, and promisingly for the UK, more than half of them are working in Britain.

Word of Mouth aims to put filmmakers in closer contact with their audiences, cutting out a lot of the middle management in distribution which eats up filmmakers’ returns. Half of the profits from the first run of Best vs. Best will go back to the filmmakers.

The DVD is released on Monday 5 December, for more information see www.bestvbest.com.

ANTHONY MINGHELLA HEADLINES SHOOTING PEOPLE CHRISTMAS PARTY @ KOKO

Q&A with Oscar-winning director, short film screenings and feature film previews at annual independent filmmakers' festive party - tickets available to public.

Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella (English Patient, Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr Ripley) will headline at online filmmaking community Shooting People's annual Christmas party at KOKO on Sunday 11th December, 7 pm till late.

Minghella, who has just finished editing on next feature film Breaking and Entering, will take part in a Q&A with guests along with his editor Lisa Gunning. The evening will feature screenings of short films, including this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival winner Hibernation, written and directed by John Williams, and What Goes Up Must Come Down, a brilliant animation musical from the director of Chemical Brothers' music videos, Adam Smith.

Multifloor DJ's and vision mixers will keep the dancefloor crowded, whilst a live acrobatic show, champagne give-aways, Santa with presents, a film-buff competition and free popcorn will keep guests entertained. The night will also feature a preview of the trailer for British documentary Unknown White Male, which has just been long-listed for an Oscar nomination.

SHOOTING PEOPLE CHRISTMAS PARTY - TICKET DETAILS
- Tickets £10 from December 1st onwards
- To buy tickets go to ticketweb.co.uk and click on Club KOKO or go straight here: &&http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=144666
- Koko: 1A Camden High Street, N1: Camden Town or Mornington Crescent tube stations

IFP CONFERENCE - LOCAL FILM CULTURE, GLOBAL EXCHANGE,

Institut Francais, London Nov 30th 2005

Without change in current UK policy we will lose the right to defend diversity and public values for our audiovisual industry.

UK ratification of the UNESCO Convention in the next 18 months is urgent if Culture - like the environment, the Third World and Agriculture - is to be defended against the impact of the globalised economy.

These were the global policy issues to emerge from the conference, Local Film Culture, Global Exchange, a unique event bringing together global, European and national perspectives in a forum where independent film practioners and policymakers could debate the policies we need to safeguard a broad, pluralistic film culture in the UK.

In his inspirational opening address, Stephen Woolley (renowned UK Producer and director of “Stoned”) stressed the double-bind faced by many UK producers today who want to make films which engage with UK culture and its concerns, but cannot raise the finance to do it without American distribution.

“Instead of making transatlantic films we need films which go deeper into our own culture. Go to Almodovar for Spain, Chabrol for France. The more reflective of a culture, the more exciting the film is.”

Pierre Curzi, leading Québécois actor (The Barbarian Invasions and The Decline of The American Empire) and chair of Canada’s Coalition for Cultural Diversity, tracked the success of the UNESCO Convention for Cultural Diversity, (adopted in October by 148 countries with only USA and Israel against). He signaled the urgency for individual countries and the UK to ratify the Convention, to maintain the right to develop national, cultural policy and to safeguard cultural and creative industries from homogenization in the global marketplace.

Peter S Grant, leading Canadian lawyer and author of Blockbusters and Trade Wars, showed why the market will always fail to deliver diversity in popular culture, and presented a tool kit of government policies necessary to sustain it.

In a special address and flying visit from Brussels where she is chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Film and Audiovisual Affairs, Ruth Hieronymi, argued the need for a new Television Without Frontiersdirective to protect cultural interests in the digital era.

Baroness Lola Young called for a diverse, pluralistic culture to build strong communities, to communicate nationally and internationally, and to construct understanding from within the UK.

Across the spectrum of production, distribution and exhibition, education and digital, UK film practioners gave Christmas lists of changes which would strengthen their work and transform a situation where

• Only 6% of screens are dedicated to non-mainstream programming
• Under 5% of screens are in rural locations
• Foreign language films represent 4.6% of UK box office (gross)
• 97.3% of films in distribution and exhibition (UK & Ireland) are North American or North
• 61/2 million under 12s are being brought up ignorant of UK and world cinema

Speakers included Nik Powell, Director of the National Film and Television School, Cary Bazalgette, Head of Education at the British Film Institute, Elizabeth Wood, Director of Dochouse, Ben Gibson, Head of the London Film School, Jay Arnold from Screen Yorkshire, and Linda Pariser, Cinemas Director at the Cornerhouse in Manchester.

Holly Aylett, Director of the Independent Film Parliament, said

“This is an optimistic and challenging time with the convergence of digital technologies, the internet together with the speed of global change. But it is critical to define and support public values if moving image is to function as an architect of ideas and communities, rather than a commodity alienated from its audience by the priorities of large corporations and profits to be won through the extended value chain.”

Policy recommendations will be delivered to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport later this month.

A more comprehensive document from the parliament will be available on www.filmparliament.org.uk shortly.

WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD
Opens Friday 18 November, 2005

'William Eggleston is the Fred Astaire of Southern photography' Larry Clark

Michael Almereyda (Nadja; Hamlet) captures the essence of Eggleston in this visual critical essay and portrait of the artist at work and rest. Beginning on the road with Eggleston, Almereyda moves back and forth between analysing Eggleston's photographs and experiencing the artist's life firsthand. Alcohol, close friends and music are as prominent as Eggleston's trusty Leica.

Dir Michael Almereyda, USA 2005, 85 mins, some Subs
WILLIAM EGGLESTON'S CINEMATIC GUIDE

17 November - 4 December, 2005

To coincide with the release of William Eggleston in the Real World , the ICA presents a season of films celebrating the life and work of Eggleston, pioneer of colour photography. Films include By the Ways (produced by agnes b's Love Streams company) , Eggleston's legendary Stranded in Canton and four films inspired by his work - The Virgin Suicides , Elephant , Gummo and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me . A special preview event features the premiere of William Eggleston in the Real World , plus Stranded in Canton , and anecdotes from Sean O'Hagan, The Observer; Geoff Dyer, author of The Ongoing Moment ; and Juergen Teller, hugely influential photographer and Citibank Photography Prize-winner, 2003.

ICA, The Mall, London SW1
Tickets & Information: 020 7930 3647 / www.ica.org.uk

Bradford Animation Festival - 16th - 19th November

BUY ONLINE or phone Box Office on 0870 70 10 200.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL TICKET HOLDERS MUST BE IN THEIR PLACE 5 MINUTES BEFORE THE EVENT START TIME, OR RISK LOSING THEIR PLACE

WORKSHOPS SOLD-OUT
The Digital Artistic Anatomy and Scriptwriting Workshops are now all sold-out. We still have a few tickets left for the Peter Lord, Phil Dale, Graham Jack and Clare Kitson talks though. Returns may be available on the day, 5 minutes before an event is due to start.

VIDEO CLIPS ONLINE
Watch clips from the BAF05 official selection online . More clips to be added later this week.

AUDIENCE AWARD
After you've watched all the films in competition at BAF 05, vote for your favourite from all categories to decide who wins the Audience Award.

You'll be given a voting form on arrival. Please tick your favourite film, complete the survey on the back and drop it into one of our voting boxes.

All completed surveys will be entered into a prize draw to win a framed ' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ' poster, signed by director Nick Park and producer Peter Lord.

Voting closes at 12pm on Saturday 19th November.

BAF 2005 DESKTOP WALLPAPERS
Spruce up your computer desktop with one of our eye-catching BAF wallpapers , featuring the official festival illustration by the immensely talented, Marek Jugucki.

VOTE ONLINE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMATION
Voting for the Best Web Animation award closes promptly on 19th November 05 at 12.00pm. Watch all five shortlisted films online and vote now.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMATION NOW

The Independent Film Parliament
Presents
Local Film Culture, Global Exchange

Wednesday 30th November 2005
Institut Français, London

A one-day event on policy for a thriving, diverse film culture

A government review of film policy is currently underway in the UK. Globally, UNESCO has launched a unique initiative to sustain diversity in the marketplace. This day offers the chance to debate what policy can deliver, and to offer independent feedback to the government review.

National and international speakers, active in filmmaking and policy, will lead the debate. Panellists will include Québécois actor, Pierre Curzi; cultural analyst Baroness Lola Young; author of “Blockbusters and Trade Wars”, Peter S. Grant; the director of the National Film and Television School and Acting Chairman of The European Film Academy Nik Powell; Head of bfi Education, Cary Bazalgette and Director of Dochouse, Elizabeth Wood.

What policies do we need to keep our film culture diverse and thriving?……Should festivals be the best chance to see the range of international cinema?…..Is there enough support for productions below the tax-break line?…..What role for broadcasters in a pay-to-view era?…..
Will international policy keep faith with tomorrow’s viewers? What can the moving image offer as an architect of ideas and understanding in our diverse society?

REGISTRATION: please email or contact the IFP office on (44) 207 690 0124. On-line registration available mid-October.

Ticket prices: £40 (Individuals), £75 (institutions), Concessions available.

IFP MAILING LIST: to add your name email: development@filmparliament.org.uk

1. The Independent Film Parliament

This Parliament is an excellent initiative. We need more debate to achieve a sustainable, independently-minded cinema; to focus support for home-grown production, and to promote maximum collaboration with European partners and initiatives.
Nik Powell, Deputy Chairman of the European Academy and Director of the National Film and Television School

The IFP is a consultative forum for our most innovative, independently-minded film practitioners to feed back on policy affecting film. It launched at the Cambridge Film Festival in 2003 and focuses especially on the needs of the so-called specialist/cultural film sector. This sector includes experimental film, artists film and video, animation, documentary, cross-over feature, and films whose budgets generally fall below the taxbreak line.

Patrons: Baroness Lola Young; Tilda Swinton; Sally Potter; Michael Nyman; Alex Cox

Principal Aims:
- to be a consultation partner in audiovisual matters covering film & broadcasting alongside other organisations such as The UK Film Council, The British Screen Advisory Council, The Creators’ Rights Alliance, PACT, The Director’s Guild of Great Britain, BECTU …..
- to serve the specialist/cultural film sector, addressing a wide range of film forms including artists’ film and video, documentary, student production, animation and feature film
- to feedback from different areas of the specialist/cultural sector including education & training, development & production, exhibition & distribution
- to include regional, cultural, and ethnic issues of diversity
- to archive documentation & keep debate open on future policy options with regard to UK, Europe & beyond

Organisation: The IFP is a charity led by its steering committee of industry professionals & 4 trustees:

Holly Aylett: Holly Aylett – Managing Editor, Vertigo Magazine, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at London Metropolitan University

Ian Christie: Ian Christie – Vice President, Europa Cinemas; Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, film historian

David Kelly: Producer and director of The European Co-Production Bureau
Dr Carole Tongue: Former MEP, President of Cities and Cinemas European Network, visiting Professor at London Institute and consultant on European audio-visual policy

Speed Pitching Event, sponsored by Screen South

Thursday, October 13th 6pm- 8pm

BAFTA, The Gallery,195 Piccadilly, London W.1 9LN (nearest tube: Piccadilly)

Invicta Writers Group invite you to join us for an exciting speed networking event, which is open to all screenwriters from the Screen South region .

This is a unique opportunity for screen writers based in the Screen South region to meet face to face with fund holders based in London (UK Film Council, BBC Films, RedBus, Future Films, First Foot Films and others). A chance to network and pitch projects to commissioners and find potential development partners.

Please RSVP to confirm a place as numbers are limited.

To book email Charlotte Wontner: Hopscotchfilms@aol.com

Screen South

Shearway Business Park
Shearway Road
Folkestone
Kent CT19 4RH

Tel 01303 298222 Fax 01303 298227 www.screensouth.org

Movie King's Game has UK's First Commercial Digital Screening on Digital Screen Network DSN at Curzon Soho Cinema in London

KING'S GAME, DIGITAL SCREEN NETWORK, DSN, UK FILM COUNCIL, CURZON SOHO, DOGWOOF PICTURES, DIGITAL CINEMA, ARTS ALLIANCE

At the Curzon Soho cinema last week a significant event occurred in the life of Digital cinema. Political thriller King's Game was shown from a digital Print as opposed to 35mm at the Curzon Soho cinema in London at a commercial matinee performance. The cinema has installed the digital projector as part of the Phase 1 roll out of the UK Film Council Digital Screen Network.

The industry is moving towards digital cinema as it has several advantages, such as lower print and distribution costs, and consistent quality without scratch and deterioration

Besides the Curzon Soho, King's Game is also being screened digitally at the Manchester Cornerhouse.

"King's Game" is released by Dogwoof Pictures who intend to release future titles using Digital Prints, instead of 35mm. These releases will follow traditional theatrical release campaigns, with the one difference being the new digital format proposed by the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network (DSN), which has recently begun implementation.

Anna Godas, director at Dogwoof stated that despite the DSN being at an early stage, the opportunities that it offers, are a priori better than continuing with 35mm. "A key benefit of the DSN is that using digital prints will translate as a significant saving on the overall P&A cost which will enable us to increase our spend elsewhere, and release more independent films."

As with any transition, the move to digital presents new difficulties and challenges, yet, Dogwoof has a positive view on the DSN. Godas continues: "We fully believe this is the way forward, and are more than happy to support this initiative, which we think will in the long term be beneficial to the industry in general, and that will ultimately give all audiences the opportunity to enjoy cinema beyond blockbusters."

This pioneering move to digital cinema aims to give a boost to independent cinema in the UK and it is exciting that cinemas such as Curzon Soho are at the forefront.

Currently, Theatrical releases require expensive 35mm prints for each cinema costing up to £2000 each. Digital offers a much lower costs at the same or better quality. Andy Whittaker, CEO at Dogwoof, says "The quality of the digital image we saw today at the Curzon cinema was outstanding, and the projectionists were the first ones to agree; the sound and the subtitles were of a far superior quality than a 35mm print. Digital Cinema matches or exceeds a 35mm viewing experience, and we are thrilled that King's Game has pioneered digital cinema in the UK ".

Whittaker concludes "this significant step wouldn't have been possible for Dogwoof Pictures without the help and support of Tony Jones, the Curzon Soho team, Arts Alliance Media, and the UK Film Council".

For further information, please contact Andy Whittaker, Dogwoof Pictures, +44-20-7488-0605, andy@dogwoofpictures.com, or Anna Godas anna@dogwoofpictures.com .

Web site: http://www.dogwoofpictures.com

About Dogwoof Pictures:

Dogwoof Pictures is a film distribution company specialising in independent feature films of all genres. Dogwoof Pictures aims to support new and emerging talented filmmakers and deliver smart and exciting films to an audience that is hungry for them. We bring a fresh approach to independent distribution. We are genuinely interested in film, that is why we are coming up with ideas to help the film community, and promote cinema. Headed by Andy Whittaker, founder and Anna Godas. For more information, visit the website at www.dogwoofpictures.com.

About The Digital Screen Network

The Digital Screen Network (DSN) is a scheme run by the UK Film Council (UKFC) to increase the amount of specialised film seen in the UK . The UKFC is providing 240 screens in the UK with funding to access digital cinema equipment, in exchange for the cinema guaranteeing a minimum average number of specialised (arthouse/foreign language) film shows a week. A total of £11.7 million from the UK Film Council's share of National Lottery funding is to be used to install state-of-the-art digital film projectors and related equipment in 209 cinemas across England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland , with the first cinemas in the network programming screenings later this year.

About Arts and Alliance Digital Cinema

Arts Alliance Digital Cinema (AADC) is the pioneer provider of digital cinema services. It has been selected by the UK Film Council to run the world's first digital screen network. This has dramatic implications on the way cinemas can operate and the way in which consumers will be provided for - offering improved access to specialized film. Distributors with a specialized film can use the digital screen network at a competitive price to distribute films to cinemas in digital format.

About Curzon Soho

The Curzon Soho is one of London 's premier art house cinemas. The Curzon Soho was voted as London 's Number One cinema by readers of Time Out. Showing a broad-range of art-house films and situated in London's cosmopolitan Soho district, the cinema's three screens are equipped with Dolby THX sound, ample leg-room and excellent screen visibility. 99 Shaftesbury Avenue London W1D 5DY

EVERYMAN CINEMA CLUB - 087 00 66 4777
5 Holly Bush Vale, Hampstead Village, London NW3 6TX
Diagonally opposite Hampstead Tube (Northern Line)
Venue enquiries and hire info: 020 7435 1600

Everyman introduces Free Test Screenings for new Independent Productions

Hampstead's Everyman Cinema Club openly invites its clientele to partake in feedback sessions on new independent feature films prior to their final cut, the first being a new Anglo-Indian feature 'Little Box of Sweets' on Friday 14 October .

Following its intentions to further support the independent film industry, this unique initiative provides an interactive experience for the Everyman's ever-discerning customers whilst complementing its recently launched Exposé programme to showcase productions yet to acquire UK theatrical distribution.

A debut feature for Indian-born sisters Meneka and Sheenu Das, 'Little Box of Sweets' is a simple love story set in the late 1970's in a remote North Indian village still untouched by the world outside. Inspired to write the film after the death of their father, the Das sisters wanted to capture the India they remembered whilst growing up before rapid industrial development and commercialisation began. Although not autobiographical, the characters are based on real people and location. 'Little Box of Sweets' contains a magical mix of tragedy and hope, and a rainbow of characters from different backgrounds in a small fading Anglo-Indian Community.

With acting credits including Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight Children' and Richard Curtis' 'Girl in the Café', Meneka plays the lead role in this feature which she co-wrote, directed and produced with Sheenu. Their first foray into film - an award-winning short entitled 'The Audition' - was very well-received, gaining official selection in five international film festivals, inclusion in the Bfi's 2003 national tour and was picked to open the Bite the Mango festival for Mira Nair's 'Hysterical Blindness'.

Entrance to free test screenings at Hampstead's Everyman will be on a first-come first-served basis. Comments Managing Director Daniel Broch "With such an eclectic cultural community renowned for their support of the arts, we feel our customers will gladly offer constructive criticism to upcoming industry talent."

Test Screening of 'Little Box of Sweets' takes place at 2.15pm on Friday 14 October at the Everyman Cinema Club, Hampstead (diagonally opp Hampstead tube. Tickets issued free of charge on a 'first-come, first-served' basis.

Everyman hosts Sonic Arts Network DVD launch:

'Story Without End' by 'People Like Us'

A live AV performance by People Like Us with film screenings and a DJ set by Rough Trade's Simon Russell will launch the new DVD 'Story Without End' by AV artist People Like Us at Hampstead's Everyman Cinema Club on Thursday 20 October 2005 .

Over the course of eleven years with more than ten solo albums under her People Like Us banner, Vicki Bennett has built a reputation for her recontextualisation of found audio and visual recordings. Bennett creates collages with a dark, witty and surrealistic view of popular culture. Vicki Bennett has performed in festivals and presented installations across the globe including London 's ICA and Tate Modern, The Pompidou in Paris, San Francisco Art Institute and on BBC Radio 3. As People Like Us she also produces an ongoing weekly experimental arts radio show on freeform New York radio station WFMU called 'DO or DIY'.

Presented by Sonic Arts Network and Lux in association with Lumin, 'Story Without End' uses footage from the Prelinger Archives and AV Geeks and addresses the ever-changing technologies of the 20th Century; the hopes and aspirations of these innovations being the same hopes and aspirations held today. Using narrative from the 1950 film of the same name about the development of microwave radio transmission and the transistor, 'Story Without End' explores and reappropriates the timelessness of the message; the will to find newer and faster ways to communicate.

Comments Bennett, "With promises of faster connectivity resulting in better productivity and ultimate happiness, aspirations haven't changed that much - just the method by which people try and achieve this goal. In amongst change there are always the very basic fundamental things that make up what it is to be human, the hope to be less isolated and to feel and do more. However, the more we surround ourselves with objects that plug us in, the more we can become disconnected."

'People Like Us: 'Story Without End' DVD launch' at 8pm on Thursday 20 October at the Everyman Cinema Club, Hampstead (diagonally opp Hampstead tube. Tickets £5 available from www.sonicartsnetwork.org

EXPOSURE RE-LAUNCHES:

Welcome to

CINEVILLE

Lighthouse's new monthly film industry event re-launches:

Wednesday October 12th 7.30pm at The Hanbury Ballrooms

Meet Natalie Wreyford , Development Executive at the UK Film Council's Development Fund.

Natalie will be in conversation with Lighthouse's Miranda Robinson about the key aims of the Development Fund and plans for the year ahead. Questions will be taken from the audience.

Get a chance to chat with Natalie, Miranda, other members of the Lighthouse team and