Written by Nic Wistreich | 24 February 2010 | in Awards

While BAFTA was making history on Sunday with all four directing awards going to women, Yorkshire based Mohamed Al Daradji's Iraq set feature follow-up to Ahlaam became the only British film* to take any awards at the 60th Berlinale. Following its success in Sundance, Son of Babylon - a road movie that looks, with 'humor and lightness' at reconciliation and healing in post-Saddam Iraq - took the Amnesty International Film Prize Award and The Peace Prize Award.

Al-Daradji said "I would like to thank the juries who are honouring SON OF BABYLON with such prestigious awards for the film and my country, Iraq. I would like to dedicate this award to our IRAQ'S MISSING Campaign. I hope through these awards we will  be able to give answers to my main character Shehzad Hussen who for the last 22 years has been searching for her husband and also for my sister whose husband disappeared 5 months ago."

During the Berlin Film Festival, ‘SON OF BABYLON’ had five fully sold out screenings with standing ovations, resulting in the film being in the top five for the audience choice award in the Panorama section. The producers of the film have pledged that both prize awards, which total 10,000 Euros, will go directly to the IRAQ’S MISSING campaign as they aim to communicate the extent of the genocide.

*actually an 8-party UK / Iraq / France / UAE / Eqypt / Palestine / Netherlands co-production

Written by Nic Wistreich | 24 February 2010 | in UK Film Council

New features from Peter Mullan, Paul Andrew Williams, Hideo 'the Ring' Nakata, Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh, artist Gillian Wearing, Neil Marshall and James 'Man on a Wire' Marsh have all received production finance from the UK Film Council.

The latest details of production and development finance has been released with perhaps its strongest slate of productions since inception. Other production highlights include the sequel to East is East (West is West), a doc on the life of cinematographer Jack Cardiff (interviewed here by Stephen Applebaum), a reworking of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock and Morag MacKinnon's second feature in Lars von Trier's Scottish Advance Party Trilogy, Donkeys (the first being Andrea Arnold's acclaimed Red Road).

The development awards include new work from Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, Lee Hall, Nick Hornby, Conor McPherson, Jeanette Winterton, Hanif Kureishi, Noel Clarke, Simon Beaufoy, Danny Huston, Paddy Considine, Frank Cotrell-Boyce, Michael Winterbottom, Christopher Hampton, Matt Greenhalgh, Stephen Fry and Tony Grisoni.

Africa United

Marking the feature film directorial debut of Debs Gardner-Paterson, Africa United is the extraordinary story of three Rwandan children who run away from home in a bid to take part in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Football World Cup in Johannesburg. On their epic 3000 mile journey they gather a "dream team" of displaced kids through whose eyes we witness an Africa few have ever seen. Written by Rhidian Brook. A UK/Rwanda/South African co-production produced by Mark Blaney, Jackie Sheppard and Eric Kabera alongside co-producers Mark Hubbard and Lance Samuels.
Funding awarded: £500,000 (production)

Attack the Block

The writer-directorial debut of Joe 'Adam and Joe' Cornish, about a gang of south London teenagers defending their tower block against an alien attack. Produced by Nira Park, James Wilson and executive produced by Matthew Justice, all for Big Talk Pictures.
Funding awarded: development (Big Talk slate); £1,094,239 (production)

Written by Nic Wistreich | 19 February 2010 | in Animation

Coalition of the Willing is a collaborative animated film and web-based event set in our 'post-Copenhagen' world exploring the role of the Internet. Directed and produced by Knife Party, it brings together a network of 24 artists using a range of different filmmaking styles and techniques including the likes of Decoy, World Leaders, Foreign Office and Parasol Island.

Like a moving jigsaw falling into place over many weeks, the film has a staggered online release. From 3rd February 2010 the script for the film has been fully available on the site. The completed animated sections will be uploaded in 6 different ‘waves’ 2 weeks apart, over a 12-week period, as they are finished by the contributing artists.  Each wave of uploads will introduce 3-5 new sections of the film. The film’s staggered release and the online forum will allow the site to be a crucible for debate on the issues it raises, and allows the audience to collaborate in re- defining the argument even as the film is being made. The film will be complete by mid-April 2010.

Written by Sofija Trenchovska | 12 February 2010 | in Festivals

from Sofija Trenchovska at AsterFest:

The new, sixth edition of our newest festival in the Macedonian country, as well as in the region and beyond, is dedicated to the professional film (documentary and fiction) culture and emphasizing its affirmation, popularization and valorization towards the audience.

VI Int'l Film Festival ASTERFEST: ODYSSEY 2010 (Deadline for Entries: 15 March!)

Written by Nic Wistreich | 07 February 2010 | in Environment

One of DogWoof's two Oscar nominated documentaries (the other - Burma VJ) goes on release this week following a Stella McCartney-hosted cleb-packed premiere tonight..

Written by Suchandrika Chakrabarti | 05 February 2010 | in Festivals

From the LFF press office...

Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron announced today that The 54^th BFI London Film Festival will take place from Wednesday 13 October through Thursday 28 October 2010.