Written by Laurence Boyce | 20 December 2009
Posted in reviews - DVD

Now available to buy on DVD, September remains one of the most affecting and beautiful British short films of the past few years. The film beat off stiff competition from the likes Sam Taylor Wood’s passionate and impressive Love You More to walk away with the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Short Film (Live Action) to add to its numerous other awards and accolades.

The film tells the story of Marvin, a man gradually seeing his life erode as he toils away at a motorway service station. But a chance encounter means his outlook on life begins to change and a life of flipping burgers and unfulfilled dreams seems to become more remote by the second.

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Written by Anita Chaumette | 16 December 2009
Posted in news - Environment

From Anita Chaumette from the film Water Colours:

The North Sea Film Festival Amsterdam highest recognition & award goes to "Water Colours: A Touch of Fluorescence", with FIRST PRIZE, BEST FILM in the Professional Category!

Once again, the stunning imagery of the secret communication channels of fish has brought the limelight to fluorescence pioneers ‘Liquid Motion Film'. With the invaluable help of Scientific Advisors from three continents and associated directly with National Geographic/NGTI, Liquid Motion's ‘Water Colours' Series started out in pole position, as the blue-chip underwater series of the decade. This prominent First Prize - Best Film Award from Amsterdam, added to the prestigious Grand Prix de L'Institut Oceanographique awarded in France last week, puts Water Colours further on the path to global stardom. Thank you so much to our Scientific Advisors and friends for years of relentless support (and who made this possible): Dr. Charles Mazel, Mikhail V. Matz PhD., Prof. Roy L. Caldwell PhD., Dr. Ulrike Siebeck, Prof. Shaun P. Collin & Prof. Justin Marshall.

Written by Nic Wistreich | 17 December 2009
Posted in articles - Obituary

Roy Disney, nephew of Walt and general protector of Disney, has passed away. I was lucky enough to meet Roy in 2000 at the Belfast Cinemagic Conference, and it has stood as one of the more memorable encounters of my working life. I was quite nervous beforehand yet without need - he was warm and genuine in his convictions, unassuming with a quiet strength.

[Netribution, Dec 2000] Roy worked for the 'Mouse House' for over thirty years before Michael Eisner pushed him from the board [only to get his own back, pushing Eisner out in 2005 and bring Steve Jobs and Pixar back in]. Responsible for everything from Toy Story and The Lion King through to Wall*E, Roy is an unashamed lover of comedy and escapist family entertainment. In his only interview for online media, Roy talked with Netribution in 2000 about IMAX and the future of Fantasia, the problems with Dinosaur, the secrets of Disney's success, growing up in the shadow of Uncle Walt and his unfulfilled dreams of designing aircraft. He also talks for the first time about the then year's eagerly awaited follow-up to Toy Story/A Bug's Life - Monster's Inc. Roy's Irish routes are quite sincere - he owned a house near Cork where he spends a third of his year - and at the turn of the century the Disney clan found themselves in Ireland en route from France to the States

What brings you to Belfast?
Well we were asked by Shona McCarthy the best part of a year ago to become part of the festivals and over several months we found out more about it, then Shona came to Los Angeles - and she's tough - I couldn't help it really. I was really curious to come up here in any case, spend a little more time than the one day I was up here last summer.

I understand you have a home near Cork?
Yes, I've had that for about 10 years now and we try to spend 3 or 4 months there every year.

Do the Disney family have any Irish routes?
Yes, the name is actually French - it came from a little town in Normandy called Disigny, the name got corrupted and a lot of those people found themselves in Ireland on the way to the States. We have some pretty deep roots here, I married a girl named [Patricia] Daly who's older brother was the ambassador to Dublin back in '81/'82, during Reagan's years. That was the first time I came to Ireland - she was there and we fell in love, wound up buying a place and it’s a pretty solid thing here.

Interview continues...

Written by Nic Wistreich | 11 March 2008
Posted in articles

I'd forgotten I wrote this - about the earth, debt and the challenges for filmmakers - from India almost 18 months ago. But now as Copenhagan enters the last few make or break hours it seemed relevant..

"We are custodians of a miracle. For billions of miles in all directions there is nothing, nowhere like this."

On my tenth day in the jungle, the morning after the Shivaratri party, I finally met my first native monkey. Almost human size, like Hanuman , with a white body and black face, and arms long enough to give me a good clobber, he thundered in with graceful side swings over my tent to the tree above - thousands of leaves heralding his arrival like confetti. The sound at first was so great, I thought perhaps I was under attack. We looked each other in the eye and he reclined on a branch before turning to me suddenly, scowling and angry. He indicated beneath him - a pile of pink toilet paper someone had left under the tree and gave me a universal gesture with his outstretched palm: 'clean this shit up', before leaving fast with his entourage through the trees. The conversation couldn't have been clearer.

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Written by Laurence Boyce | 10 December 2009
Posted in reviews - Special Edition

Special Edition # 35 is  your special Xmas bumpercolumn with plenty (and we really mean plenty) of DVDs for you to be getting your teeth into. Laurence Boyce will point you in the right direction if you’re looking for presents or simply some ways to escape the endless rounds of Xmas television. So let’s get cracking with just what exactly Santa may put in your stocking over Christmas, especially if he were rather partial to good movies.

Star Trek (Paramount Home Entertainment) remains one of the best blockbusters of the year, thanks to an audacious script that re-writes Trek history, some strong direction from JJ Abrams and a bunch of accomplished performances. The film begins with the birth of one James Tiberius Kirk who fast grows up to be a rebel. Joining Starfleet Academy, alongside the highly-strung Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy and linguist Uhura. He also forms an antagonistic relationship with half-Vulcan Mr Spock. When a Romulan from the future arrives, determined to destroy an ‘Ambassador Spock’, these disparate cadets will find themselves on a ship called the USS Enterprise with their destinies changed forever. There’s so much to like here, from the way in which the film caters to both the old school fans and the uninitiated, Zachary Quinto’s measured performance as Spock and some really exciting action sequences. It does sometimes whiz by a little quickly making you wonder if you’ve missed something but this is a great example of how you take a classic franchise and reboot it with style and grace. The DVD is really good, with all the kinds of extras you would expect that prove to be quite interesting for once.

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Written by James MacGregor | 17 November 2009
Posted in people - filmmaker

Filmmaking has been something of a roller coaster ride for Anil Rao, but when you have received writs from Warner Bros because you made your own award-winning Batman movie (for £300 from the Prince's Trust), had your graduation film described by Total Film magazine as 'British Cinema being in good hands' and have worked with Luc Besson and hung out with Quentin Tarantino, you can probably take anything in your stride. This is the story of the rise and rise of Shooter Anil Rao and how he came to edit "Half Life" and gained access to a completely new career experience as an international film editor and film music composer to sharpen up his own film-making goals, picking up a lot of tips and new experiences on the way.

In an extensive interview with James MacGregor, Anil Rao gives an insider guide to editing world cinema features, not only bridging cultures from Europe to Asia, but also editing dialogue in Tagalog, the language of Filipinos, of which he had no prior knowledge. That didn't stop the film ALA VERDE ALA POBRE from sweeping the board of Oscar equivalents in Manila, including a best editor award for himself. Anil went on to edit further features for the acclaimed Manila-based artist, director and producer Briccio Santos, all gaining local and then European endorsement at Rome. And it all kicked off with a notice on Shooting People's Filmmakers bulletin.

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