LONDON 2nd November 2005: This evening's TCM Classic Shorts award ceremony for film channel TCM was hosted by Radio Times Film Editor Andrew Collins, attended by Dame Helen Mirren, Gurinder Chadha and Michael Caton Jones and held at the National Film Theatre where £10,000 of prize was awarded. Gurinder Chadha, presented TCM Classic Shorts first prize to Happy , the director of Jane Lloyd a unique short film which used no dialogue to tell its story. Ms Chadha spoke highly of the four minute-long piece saying: "It was inventive storytelling that had you hooked from the first minute. I found it poignant and moving. It has stayed with me."
Dame Helen Mirren, Gurinder Chadha, Kate Winslet, Julian Fellowes, Alan Rickman, David Morrissey, Rhys Ifans and Stephen Woolley were on the panel of judges involved in choosing the top three films from six finalist, themselves singled out from 459 competition entries. Kate Winslet was also highly complimentary about Jane Lloyd saying it was "brilliantly composed and beautifully edited" and that she found it "very artistic" and "an effective use of the genre".
Second prize went to Endgame directed by Andrew Greener and this gritty interpretation of the troubles in Northern Ireland particularly caught the eye of Oscar-winning screenwriter, Julian Fellowes : "Endgame - a clear head-and-shoulders winner for me. Beautifully constructed, well thought out, well acted, genuinely surprising but, above all these things, involving and interesting. My attention never strayed and I fully expect to see this team crop up on the big screen".
Hattie Dalton took third prize on the evening for her entertaining comedy The Banker which starred Michael Sheen and Lisa Faulkner . Director and producer Stephen Woolley comment on the film: " "Really well made, hilarious comedy. I was impressed by the confidence with which this clever idea was accomplished and the extreme professionalism throughout the production, not least of all the excellent performance given by Michael Sheen."
TCM's sixth annual competition has proved that there is a phenomenal standard of young film makers trying to make their mark in a difficult and competitive industry. As with most years this was an extremely close run competition and the teams involved, including the other three finalists, should take comfort from this.
The winners along with the three runners up: The Clap , directed by Geoff Lindsey ; Ashes , directed by Corinna Faith and Special People , directed by Justin Edgar are to be broadcast on TCM as part of the Classic Shorts weekend on 5 th and 6 th November.
TCM Classic Shorts is one of the most prestigious and valuable short film competitions in Europe with £10,000 prize money on offer. The competition has grown in stature and exposure in the six years it has been running and continues to attract attention from the film establishment. Over the years the competition has discovered some of the best new talent in the UK in recent years, last year's winner Nits showed as part of the Quinzaine des Realisateurs during the Cannes Film Festival whilst two previous finalists, Brown Paper Bag directed by Michael Baig Clifford and About A Girl directed by Brian Percival, both followed up their TCM Classic Shorts success by winning Best Short Film BAFTAs.
Further information visit: www.tcmonline.co.uk/classicshort and for further information about The Times bfi London Film Festival, please log on to: www.lff. org.uk
TCM (Turner Classic Movies) , a Time Warner company, launched in Europe in 1999. The channel draws on an extensive library of timeless movies presenting them in a contemporary style. The channel is available via cable, satellite and digital terrestrial and reaches over 9.6 million UK households. In 2004 TCM was the 3 rd highest rated movie channel.
For more information please contact Ann Rosen, TCM Tel: 02076931117 ann.rosen@turner.com 2nd November 2005
|
