The opening scenes could be straight from a trashy TV episode of Bad Girls rather than from a traditional Bollywood showpiece. In Provoked, Aishwarya Rai, a former Miss World, exacts gruesome revenge on her abusive husband and then languishes in a cold, grey English prison.

British filmmakers are to get a shot in the arm as Warp X, a new digital film studio designed to shake up the way feature films are financed and produced in Britain, launches on 23rd March. Warp X is backed by £4.5 million of funding from the National Lottery, Film Four and regional screen agencies and by using the latest digital production methods, Warp plan to make seven low budget featur…

Channel 5 and DFG are challenging emerging filmmakers to look for strong, contemporary and domestic story-lines, from both London and the regions, with emphasis on the cultural richness and diversity of Britain, for network broadcast as part of Channel 5 news. They offer support and facilities to new filmmakers to meet their brief.  

The Australian Film Finance Corporation, the government film funding body, has announced it will fund no more films until after 1st July because it has run out of money, having spent its $35 million film allocation by last December.

  A tax expert in Huddersfield is helping find funding for what he hopes will be the next big British movie. Richard Garrod, a partner at Huddersfield accountancy firm Mazars has been appointed tax adviser to the Film Production Alliance.

The Republic of Ireland's Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Cowen, T.D. has published Eire's Finance Bill 2006, his second such Bill since his appointment. Improved incentives for film investment are among the changes included.

 BOOTLEG FILM INVESTORS SOUGHTLocal producer Leofric Films plc is making a feature film set in Coventry. The film, called Bootleggers, will be made this year and the film company is looking for investors to get on board.  

Two film industry executives have announced plans to capitalise on new taxation arrangements Chancellor Gordon Brown set out in December, to launch a fund to finance a new wave of British pictures.The two executives involved are already seeking scripts in an easy to finance genre; horror.

Crusading documentary filmmaker Franny Armstrong is seeking a second capital injecttion for her latest global project, a film about global warming. She has been working on the new film with Oscar-winning Producer John Battsek for the last 18 months. The film is destined for theatrical release.