Star Wreck Studios, the guerilla filmmaking collective behind one of the most popular Finnish films of all time - and a big success story of online film distribution - have unveiled a teaser trailer for their follow up, Iron Sky, and are asking fans to help fund and produce the film.

Star Wreck : In The Pirkinning was produced by five friends in a two-room flat in Tampere with a small budget and the support of a few hundred fans and dozens of acquaintances. From the land of Linus Torvald, creator of open source (and world changing) Linux, the film is appropriately released under a Creative Commons license - Laurence Lessig's attempt to bring open source practices to other IP. The film was released in 2005 and was subsequently picked up by Universal Pictures for distribution across Scandinavia and screened on State TV in Finland, Belgium and Italy. Viewed online or downloaded more than 8 million times, Star Wreck has become, the filmmakers argue, the most popular Finnish film of all time. With virtual sets and Hollywood quality CGI effects, the films production values have been widely acclaimed, with the only criticism being that it's a Trekkie fan-film rather than an original concept.

“Iron Sky is a story about conformity: those who want to conform, those who want to make others conform, and those who refuse to conform.”
Timo Vuorensola
Iron Sky looks set to change that with an ultra-high concept futuristic space thriller. The premise is simple - in 1945 the Nazis left to the dark side of the moon, where they hid out rebuilding their forces. In 2018, they come back. A trailer appeared online this week (below) following a thirteen-part behind the scenes vlog . Under a 'Buy War Bonds' shoutout, the producers are currently inviting fans to pre-buy the DVD and a making of book in a special edition pack for €50, a kind of micro-pre-sales made popular by the likes of Brave New Films and Franny Armstrong . Tho committed to using open source principles, creating the excellent looking WreckAMovie community (currently in beta) for collaborative task management, the producers are yet to promise Iron Sky will be a free download, saying they are currently exploring all options. Tho if they make enough in micro-presales, they won't need to pre-sell any territorial rights to traditional distributions, which in theory would allow the film to  come out under a Creative Commons license. Watch this space...

The Scottish games developers behind the highly controversial yet critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City have announced first week sales of $500m, on over six million copies. The figure - with $310 on the first day - not only sets a record for video games, beating Microsoft's Halo 3, but surpasses that of any entertainment product, with the violent-crime-pays game also boosting flagging sales of the Playstation 3 and XBox consoles by up to 50% in the week.

It's a long way from Lemmings - the try-to-save-as-many-lives-as-you-can game - which brought the developers to prominence in the early 90s. Then based in Dundee and called DMA, the studio was approached by Nintendo to be part of the 'dream team' for the launch of the N64, but ended up in 'development hell' on their N64 title, Body Harvest, so turned their attention to creating the first Grand Theft Auto for the PC. It was a similar fusion of driving game with roleplay narrative, except the body harvesting aliens were replaced with more straightforward criminals and joyriders.

A series of acquisitions has left Rockstar North under the ownership of Take Two Interactive, who in turn are currently under a hostile takeover bid from video games giant EA, trying to buy them for $2billion. But the developers of Grand Theft Auto - and other controversial titles such as Bully (be a school bully) and Manhunt (be a, erm, mass murderer) are still based in the UK, with offices in in Edinburgh and Leeds.

For its blend of sex and violence in high-rendered 3D, the Trainspotting of the video-game world has received wide criticism and calls from conservative Christian attorney Jack Thompson in the US to ban the game, who even took to writing to the mothers of Take Two's executive board pleading for them to make their sons act. The ability to not just pick up prostitutes in the game, but to run them over, maim and kill them after virtual sex has caused widespread concern, especially with the game released in the same week that the new UK Criminal Justice Bill made it illegal to own images that contain "an act which threatens or appears to threaten a person's life" in a sexual context (one also wonders if this will apply to Basic Instinct and Bond film GoldenEye). 

The publishers argue that it is up to the players to decide what they do in each game - it provides the means for players to runover countless civilians, or attack prostitutes, but it is their choice. Furthermore, they say that the game has received unparalleled high critical acclaim with many reviewers describing it as the game of the decade, and some pointing out psychological maturity with the main character become increasingly unsatisfied with his brutal lifestyle as the game continues. Either way, with the breathtaking graphics pushing the genre closer to reality, the critics are unlikely to move on, any more than the film industry is likely to stand back from a sector which makes so much money, and is largely free from piracy (in consoles, at least). Steven Spielberg just last week announced details of his first collaboration with EA - Boom Blox - a kind of tennis-meets-Jenga game for the Wii (pictured).

Those concerned that the movement of the Edinburgh Film Festival from its August spot would mean a shortage of quality titles may need to hold their breath as the festival unveiled it's 2008 lineup today. There are 15 World Premieres at the festival, including Vito Rocco's My Movies Mashup winner FaintHeart, Duane Hopkins’ Better Things, Terence Davies’ Cannes Entry, Of Time and City, 90s Nostalgia piece and Sundance hit, with Ben Kingsley as a stoned shrink, The Wackness, Martin Raddich's hotly awaited Crack Willow and The New Ten Commandments, a series of short films marking the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights directed by a lineup of new filmmakers including Irvine Welsh, Mark Cousins and Tilda Swinton.

Other treats include a screening of Pixar's latest Wall-E, on the same days as its US release, Shane Meadow's Somers Town, Errol Morris' Abu Ghraib expose Standard Operating Procedure, Werner Herzog's documentary Encounters at the End of the World, the new Under the Radar strand, and masterclasses from Errol Morris, Ray Harryhausen, Roger Deakin and Brian Cox. Full press release follows.

After being inspired by John Waters’ visit to the Edinburgh International Film Festival during 2007, EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill has announced a new strand of cult films for 2008’s edition. 

Under The Radar will play host to films that ‘deploy low budgets to imaginative effect and range from being variously kitsch, gory, disturbing and hilarious.’ Casting its net wider than simply horror/sci-fi/fantasy – which the EIFF had previously catered for with such strands as Night Moves – the selection aims to ‘break boundaries of both art and entertainment, drawing in elements of experimental video and gallery art as well as subversive comedy and extreme genre cinema’.

The trailer for the 63rd festival, made up of 1,000 stills and created by O Street and Pete Dibdin is previewed below: 

One of the more promising schemes to come out of the UK Film Council in recent years, the Development Fund's programme for first-time filmmakers has made its first awards to creatives and projects reflecting the fund’s stated aims to open up opportunities for budding writers and filmmakers across the UK. The first set of awardees includes three writers who are completely new to the industry.

The programme aims to identify and support emerging filmmakers: screenwriters, writer/directors and writer, director, producer teams who have not made a feature film or who have not yet had a feature film released theatrically or broadcast on UK television, whilst also fostering talent that has already made a mark in shorts or other media.  In addition to providing financial support, the programme also includes mentors, with Simon Beaufoy, Ayub Khan Din and Pawel Pawlikowski already lined up. Details of the first six winners, whose awards averaged £10k, after the read more link.

A quick roundup of recent award winners 

We're pleased to hear that Alexander Snelling's debut feature Tantric Tourists, covered here recently, picked up the Best UK Debut at the East London Film Festival, where it had its Gala Premiere.  

Mike Rymer's 15k short Sick, dealing with mental illness, has picked up the Gold award at the 41st Houston Film Festival. Endorsed by the Samaritans, the film looks at anxiety and depression and was funded almost entirely by NHS charitable trusts after development at the Wales Screen Academy.

Meanwhile the winner of online community Filmaka 's web contest has been anounced as I Refuse to Forget by 21-year-old Nuru Rimington-Mkal. The tender tail of sensory memories of love won acclaim from Jury member Neil LaBute. Nuru will now, apparently, get to direct his own feature, funded by Filmmaka. Next year's contest, with the prize of getting a feature produced, has been announced with the theme of 'Behind Closed Doors'. 

Advertisers to start funding film and TV as WPP moves to production 

In a long-feared response to the rise of free video, Martin Sorrell's advertising giant WPP has announced plans to join forces with Hollywood stars and media companies to help finance films and TV series in which it can promote it's clients products. As both OFCOM and the European Union consider relaxing the rules preventing excessive product placement, WPP confirms that a number of trials have been successful

WPP co-produced October Road with Touchstone Television,  co-investing in production, in return for offering 'opportunities within the show' to advertisers. The series, ironically about a return to small-town American routes, got decent ratings and has been recommissioned for a second series. According to Sorrell 'significant amounts of cash' have already been invested in trial projects.

A future where the main revenue model for films is advertising has long been discussed and feared in the industry, particularly with the rise of free content and piracy. The fictional Orange Film Funding Board, behind such hits as Killer in a Phone Box and Lord of the Ringtones, has shown cinema-goers since 2000 quite what this could mean, showing remarkable prescience for ad agency Mother, behind the spots. A recent clip on the Onion News Network (America's Greatest News Source) illustrates what such content could mean for TV, in this Home Depot sponsored spot (which is also the first time we've featured video on netribution with advertising pre-roll):

Home Depot Honors Fallen Soldier By Giving His Mom Free Power Drill

Meanwhile Nokia, has launched a competition with Spike Lee in a more imaginative (and honest) use of their cash - getting users to shoot and upload footage which Lee will cut into a short film. What's most interesting about the contest is that it was created in response to in-house research by the Finish company that by 2012 one quarter of all their users will be wanting to shoot and edit fiilms, on some level. 

Hopefully this vast new generation of filmmakers will be media-literate enough to spot  the suspect influence of brands on culture. Just picture it, 2001 A Space Odyssey sponsored by Norton AntiVirus, IronBruMan and Eternal SunnyDelight of the Spotless Mind? Post your 'if-brands-funded-movies' suggestions in the comments...

From Sam Goldblatt of the 48 Hour Film Project: 

The 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) will tour to Edinburgh for the first time ever in 2008.  Over the May 16-18 weekend, Filmmakers from all across Scotland will compete to write, shoot and edit a short film in just 48 hours.  All films will be screened at The Cameo on May 20 and 21. The 48HFP is the world's oldest and largest timed-film competition and takes place annually in over 60 cities around the world with more than 30,000 filmmakers competing to win the title of "Best 48 Hour Film of 2008.

The winning Edinburgh team will be invited to attend the Filmapalooza Awards Weekend (held previously at South by Southwest and Cinequest).  The winning 48 Hour Film of 2007 is being screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and the same is expected for 2008. Filmmaking teams of all levels will meet on the evening of Friday, May 16 at The Cameo where they will receive a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue that they must work into their short film.  Teams have until 7:30pm on Sunday, May 18 to write, shoot and edit their films.

All films will be judged by Paul Dale, Film Editor for The List, and Ian Hoey, General Manager of The Cameo, and awards will be given in several categories.  "We're excited to be playing host to this challenge," says Hoey.  "I'm sure it will not only be a keenly contested competition but great viewing entertainment as well."

Learn more about The Inaugural Edinburgh 48 Hour Film Project at The Brass Monkey (14 Drummond Street, Edinburgh) on Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30pm with a free screening of The Best 48 Hour Films of all time. To see selected 48 Hour Films, go to www.48.tv.

Registration for the competition is £45 and now open to anyone and everyone at www.48hourfilm.com/edinburgh.

The films selected for the official competition at the 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) were unveiled at midday today in Paris.  They included the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, as well as the latest film from two-times Palme D'Or winners the brothers Dardenne. No British films were featured, but the Hollywood friendly out of competition slot includes both the world premiere of Indiana Jones IV and Kung Fu Panda - as well as the latest pictures from Woody Allen and Steven Soderbergh - whose hotly anticipated Che Guevara double bill (The Argentine & Guerilla) staring Benicio del Torro missed out on the competition because of delays in editing. Sean Penn heads the Jury.

"War, Love, God & Madness is Lost in La Mancha for adults. The woes that filmmakers usually experience really do pale in comparison to what this production went through."

Just a day after reading in Variety about the UK's Human Film - previously profiled on Netribution - getting their Iraqi-set and shot feature film Ahlaam a release in Iraq, comes the news that the much awaited making-of documentary on the film, War, Love, God & Madness has been selected for Robert de Niro's Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

In the film, Ahlaam helmer Mohamed Al-Daradji, an Iraqi-Dutch national, leads us on his disturbing journey inside Baghdad where fiction and reality blur in the gritty aftermath of 25 years of dictatorship, three wars and occupation - as never seen before.

In 2004, undaunted by the volatile political, military dangers and heartbreaking chaos, after studying in the UK, Al-Daradji returned to his home, Baghdad. Stumbling upon the once vibrant streets now consumed by unemployment, hunger, poverty and madness, he set forth to make his debut film 'Ahlaam'. Challenged physically and emotionally by unimaginable brutal circumstances with no money, just hope, the camera rolls as the world unravels around the film; a young child sings for Saddam, a father grieves for his hanged son, a poet reflecting back on his time in prison, whilst a troubled friend is lost in his madness.

Over the years I've been lucky enough to visit most of the main film festivals in the UK. By far my favourite experience was the Hull Short Film Festival, back in 2003, where I saw some truely mind-expanding films from Oscar-winning master Virgil Widrich, participated in some lively debates and panels, ate great food at the unique Hitchcocks restaurant (the first person to book for each night can decide which country's cuisine the whole restaurant will eat that evening) and danced alongside Virgil at one of the infamous Hutt Street parties.

So when Laurence Boyce, DVD reviewer for Netribtion and one of the most passionate and committed people about short films in the UK (he watches several thousand a year) was made director, we were very excited here and Netribution is delighted to be a partner of the festival. With the vast majority of films shown online being short form, the medium will only continue to grow and develop, with festivals like Hull more important than ever.

Kicking of last night (15th April), treats include the presence of the UK's hottest short director - Simon Ellis - in attendence for a BAFTA masterclass and trawl through some of his favourite shorts. Ellis made his first short, Thicker than Water, for a fiver, and last year saw his short film Soft (pictured) pick up 30 awards at pretty much all of the top film festivals . It only missed out on an Oscar nomination after a middle-of the night screening on Channel 4 made it ineligable for the awards.

Internationally acclaimed 16mm short filmmaker Ben Rivers will be presenting a retrospective of his work, and three programmes of India shorts will showcase some of the riches of talent coming from the world's most productive filmmaking country. Further screenings from the brilliant Slack Video, Creative Partnerships, Propeller TV, and the London Short Film Festival are joined with panels from Film and Festivals magazine and Netribution (yay), where we will run a follow-up to the Never Mind the Celluloid event from Leeds Film Festival 2004 - which has even made it to the pages of Wikipedia! Other events include four competitions - Hull, Yorkshire, UK and International - and a full screening of this years BAFTA nominated and winning shorts and animations. Yorkshire writer-director Sue Everett and producer Rob Speranza lead an in-depth masterclass, Anatomy of a Short Film, on making shorts from start to finish, while filmmaking collective EXP24 run a workshop on making shorts without a camera.

It sounds great, and I strongly recommend you download their brochure and get yourself over to Hull. You can also see some trailers and previews at ITV's website .

Excellent-looking competition, submitted by Holly Barnes Thomas of the Society of St James:

The Society of St James, Southampton's local homelessness charity today launches its own film competition, The Home~less Movie Competition, open to the general public and to its service users and residents too.

The film competition asks only that the film be about homelessness and run no longer than three minutes. Holly Barnes-Thomas, the competition's creator explains: I really wanted to create an opportunity for people, especially the Society of St James' residents, to express themselves about homelessness. It's a great chance to raise awareness of the hardship of homelessness and help people to understand what its really like.

"It's a great chance to raise awareness of the hardship of homelessness and help people to understand what its really like." Holly Barnes-Thomas The competition is unusual in that it is open to national filmmakers as well the charity's service users and will offer a ‘buddy' system to link up people who have experienced homelessness with filmmakers.

The competition is also supported by local, award winning filmmaker, Alys Hawkins who produces animated short works from her railway arch studio in Southampton.

The competition will be judged by a panel of professionals in the fields of homelessness and film, with a glitzy awards ceremony in December.

For more information on the competition, rules or entry please contact Holly Barnes-Thomas on 023 8063 4596 or holly@ssj.org.uk .

"Now Showing" — The Lost "Art" of the Film Poster.

Over 40 world-renowned creatives were given the task of creating their own interpretation of a Cult, Classic or Obscure film poster from the past. The result is "Now Showing", an art exhibition paying homage to more than 70 years of film, through the form of Prints, One Off Screen Prints and Sculptures.

The show opens on 29.05.08 / 6.30pm, at the COSH Gallery, Berwick Street, Soho, London.

 Please see www.wearitwithpride.com for more details:

(Thanks to Bill Friend from Raindance):

Who Shot Darth Vader? Kelvin Pike did. And that's not all he shot...

Kodak Masterclass with Kelvin Pike hosted by Raindance Film Festival

For this Spring 2008 edition of the Raindance Kodak Masterclasses we welcome veteran cameraman Kelvin Pike BSC whose work includes 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Dr. Strangelove, and Heaven's Gate.

Kelvin will speak about his filmmaking career and show us examples of his work giving us a behind the scenes look at what it was like working on some of the most iconic films of the 20th Century. And yes don't worry, we've made sure to save some time for all your questions about Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas.

The Raindance Film Festival is probably the UK's leading independent film festival, and is currently looking for submissions for 2008. Here's what they submitted to Netribution:

We want you to be a part of it! We are currently accepting submissions from ALL OVER THE GLOBE.

Have a fantastic short film? The next-big-thing-feature?

Represent your corner of the world and send us your work!

For our Film Festival Toolkit, email toolkit@raindance.co.uk for a quick and comprehensive look into Raindance!

For more information, feel free to contact us at 44-207 287 3833. 

A critically acclaimed Pakistani film exploring the relationship between liberal and fundamentalist Muslims has been released across cinemas in India. It is the first Pakistani film to get a wide commercial release in India in over four decades. Khuda Kay Liye (In the Name of God) focuses on the lives of Muslims after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

Officially, India and Pakistan have banned each other's films since going to war in 1965. But in recent years, the two countries have made exceptions. In 2003, Pakistani film Khamosh Paani (Silent Waters) had a limited release in India. In 2006, Pakistan allowed three Indian films to be shown.

From the brilliant Global Voices website , comes news of three contests for vloggers around the world. Two are on Spannish sites but are open to anyone anywhere. One is for mobile movies, one to promote causes you care for and the last to report news through online video. More details and sample films from previous winners at Global Voices :

From Spain, ElPais.com brings us the Movil Film Fest, an online mobile 1 minute video contest. Although it is geared primarily to locally made movies, which they call “national”, there are no restrictions regarding nationality of the producers, although only the local films will compete for the main awards, videos from outside Spain will have their own category. All the videos have to be less than 1 minute long and have been shot with cell phones or PDAs, what they call mobile communication terminals. There is time until April 21st 2008 to submit a video...

The second contest is a worldwide contest based on myspace.com social networking site. They are requesting for youth between 14 and 24 years of age from all around the world to “Film your issue” in more than 30 seconds but less than 2 minutes. Prizes include internships at different organizations such as USA Today, The United Nations and the Humane Society, however there are citizenship restrictions and mostly the winners will have to pay for their tickets, lodging and meals during their internships, and the $5000 USD College scholarship is only valid for US citizens, making the prizes themselves less attractive for international participants. However, the winning videos would be broadcast on different networks, TV stations and websites, making street cred and bragging rights the likelier reward for the foreign participants. Already some videos have been uploaded for this contest, and participants have time until April 14th to participate in any of the several issue categories.

Another chance to win money and make a name for yourself is the citizen journalism video contest is being organized by VideoNews24.net[es] . Although it is used mostly by Spanish vloggers (video bloggers), it is open to any person who wishes to participate. The contest opened on March 1st and will run to July 31st. The top three videos will be chosen from those with more hits and highest ratings given by other users and then the winner chosen from them. The complete guidelines to participate can be found by following this link [es].

From Holler PR:

Channel 4 today announces that as part of the upcoming New Talent Month, viewers will be offered the opportunity to write an entire episode of hit teen drama Hollyoaks. For the very first time, aspiring writers have the chance to put words into the mouths of the Hollyoaks cast and see their work come to life on screen. The competition is designed to seek out the most promising new drama writing talent in the UK.

Entrants are tasked with scripting four scenes based on an old storyline and from these a winner will be selected. They will be given exclusive access to future Hollyoaks storylines, get commissioned to write a full show and work with the production team to get their script on air.  

From Mayavision:

Producers or production companies are now invited to send a rough cut of their unfinished short film to Maya Vision International, along with a completed application form. The closing date is Friday 30^th May 2008. Full guidelines, forms and more information can be found at www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/shortfilm

If you don’t have a rough cut by then, don’t worry as the Completion Fund has expanded to 2 calls per year allowing up to 14 short films to be completed under the scheme each year. The next call, 2009/I, is scheduled to open in September 2008, but full details to follow in due course.

Please pass the news on to all your filmmaking friends. We’d love to receive a bumper crop of exciting new films and look forward to seeing your entries!

The 6th Hull International Short Film Festival returns with a new name and attitude from 15th April. The debut festival from director Laurence Boyce, Netribution DVD editor, and one of the most passionate people about short film in the UK, GLIMMER will provide audiences with the very best new short films from across the world alongside numerous special events and exclusive guests, including a BAFTA masterclass with one of the UK's hottest short directors of the moment, Simon Ellis.

Highlights of this year’s Film Festival will include the Glimmer Award for Best International Short which will see directors from around the globe vie for the prize of £1000 sponsored by World Trade Centre Hull & Humber, a hub for developing, promoting and facilitating international trade and investment. Included in the programme will be the UK premiere of Ian Strang’s PIVOT a Canadian film that wryly deals with the notion of masculine competitiveness.