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News stories from Jan 2006 to 2012..

  • 12 August 2006
    Festivals

Jerusalem Not Politically Correct

  Festivals Turning Down Israeli Films Israeli filmmakers receive letter from Documentary Film Festival in Lussas, France, notifying them that because of war in Lebanon festival had changed its plan to hold special program on Israeli documentary film, decided to screen Lebanese, Palestinian films instead   Outside of Israel the war in Lebanon has given rise to an increasingly bitter dispute about how to deal with Israeli art and whether to give it…
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26 July 2010

UK Film Council to be scrapped as part of quango mass cull

Details of the surprise announcement about the axing of the UK Film Council amidst dozens of other arts quangos. 23.58 With the Facebook group inching towards 5,000 members, and the petition well over half that, the web is awash with comment and analysis. Andrew Pulver, Ronan Bennet and John Woo…
26 April 2011

Reality Capture Pitch - Calling for UK Documentary Ideas

Step2RealityTV have joined forces with Metropolis to uncover talented documentary filmmakers and reporters from the UK. Metropolis is a globally produced website and TV show, which captures real stories from around the world. We love their unique approach to factual reporting: all of their stor…
14 April 2010

Glimmer 2010 kicks off next week, featuring Herzog's Plastic Bag

THE 8th Hull International Short Film Festival - Glimmer - gets underway on the 19th of April (until the 25th) and includes a look at the work of Jeff Keen, a retrospective of a 14-year-old filmmaker and the UK festival premiere of the Werner Herzog narrated Plastic Bag. While I wonder if it is the…
  • 11 October 2007
    Training

Propellor Filmmaking Starterclass at Sheffield

Propeller TV, the national channel for new film and television talent is running a first in a series of unique and revealing master classes, supported by Skillset, to help and advise the region's new filmmaking and television talent.   This is a chance for filmmakers to expand and broaden their knowledge of the digital skills needed to work in the industry. Benefits include entry into the seminars, networking event & a cinema screening. Guest speakers fro…
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24 February 2009

Future Shorts Partner with Noah and the Whale on Innovative New Tour, Fusing Music and Film

Short film lovers Noah and the Whale will be joined by Future Shorts on their upcoming ‘Club Silencio' Tour. The tour sees the band re-inventing some of their songs in real time to Future Shorts films. After the huge success of the recent Guillemots rescore tour, Future Shorts are thrilled to be…
21 September 2007

Raindance forecast with frequent spells of cool: Iggy Pop, Jean Luc Godard & The Clash

Raindance Film Festival, now in its fifteenth year, will take place from September 25 – October 7 2007 in London. Highlights include a Jean Luc Godard retrospective, curated by the man himself, a pitching panel headed by Ewan McGregor (see below) and a jury that includes Iggy Pop, Cannes…
07 August 2006

Wysiwyg 80-80 International Filmmaking Challenge

  Eight Cities, Eight Film Crews -  Eight Features in 80 Hours Inspired by their win in this year's Cannes 24 Hour Film Challenge with Towel Talk - a four minute mystery made in four hours from concept to completion,  Wysiwyg will now run an international competiti…
  • 27 February 2007
    Live AV

Lookandlisten AV Party - This Time It's War - March 3rd

 it's nearly the end of the month, which means it's nearly the first sunday of next month, and time for another lookandlisten, the leeds live av night   this time out its war, with an evening of themed muzak and visuals loosely themed around war, or more likely how it’s a bit of a wrong do including cal.tv's john lennon george bush mashioke Imagine This (cork film festival winner, below)  
we&r…
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18 January 2006

First Renault French Film Festival set to run in March

The biggest and starriest showcase of French cinema ever seen will be presented around the UK during March 2006 - in both independent and multiplex cinemas. The Renault French Film Festival 2006 - a new fusion of two events that previously promoted French cinema in the UK - will deliver an array of…
23 September 2006

Raindance Film Festival Kicks off this Week

Wednesday sees the opening of the 14th Raindance Film Festival, with the Tony Grisoni-penned conjoined twin punk film Brothers of the Head. Other festival highlights include a Stanley Kubrick retrospective, a music documentary filmed a few days before Johnny Ramone's death, discussion pane…
17 July 2006

Glasgow Film Office's Crooks to head New Cinema Fund

Lenny Crooks, currently head of the Glasgow Film Office is set to take over from Paul Trijbits when his tenure as head of the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund comes to an end on September 18. Crooks founded the Glagow Film Fund and  has backed a number of successful Scottish films, i…
  • 09 September 2006
    Animation

Animators get paid $100 to enter competition to win $5000

Got an email through this week with one of those hard to believe offers. Register on SMS.ac, upload a Flash movie or Shockwave file of any description by September 15th and get sent a cheque for $100 - to anywhere in the world. The most popular upload by October 15th will also win a $5000 grand prize. I emailed Peter Moormeier, who sent the email through in the first place to check it out, and it's bona fide. SMS.ac claim to have 50 million users so they ca…
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28 March 2006

The Meatrix 2 Premieres in New York

The sequel to one of the web's most popular  campaign films - the Meatrix, which looks at the reality behind modern farming practices - on Wednesday night premiered simultaneously in New York and online. With over 10 million downloads, a 2005 webby award and translation into 25…
19 February 2006

Oscar Shorts Tour US Screens

  This year's Oscar-nominated live-action and animated short films are touring cinemas across America, through a partnership between Magnolia Pictures and U.K.-based Shorts International.   The two companies have teamed up to bring the films to audiences before the 78th Annual Academy Aw…
27 November 2006

CURIOSITY spreads across America on Comcast OnDemand

It all began when Filmingk started distributing this "taut and edgy thriller" about a young man who discovers a DVD on the streets of New York by doing just that.  We left copies of the DVD all over the East Village of Manhattan, with frightening results. This month Filmingk…
  • 06 April 2006
    Film industry

Sir Sean Calls 'Cut' on His Screen Career

  Sir Sean Connery has revealed that he is quitting show business for good - after he has made one last film. The 75-year-old former James Bond star is providing the voiceover for Billi the Vet, an animated film made by the cartoon company Glasgow Animation.   The production will be his final outing in the film world. "I have retired for good," he said. It marks the end of half a century in the business for the one-time milkman and male mo…
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29 March 2009

Become A Red Bull Reporter

From Red Bull's PR firm: Red Bull Reporter is a nationwide search to find the best young music & culture, and sports writers, filmmakers, photographers and presenters, giving them the chance of a lifetime: to use their skills and indulge their passions as a Red Bull Reporter. The most talented yo…
16 September 2008

POWER TO THE PIXEL returns for the 52nd London Film Festival

From the LFF's official press release: Power to the Pixel;The Digital Distribution and Film Innovation Forum in partnership with The Times BFI London Film Festival returns for three days from 22-24 October at BFI Southbank and The Royal Society for Arts. In addition to a cutting-edg…
21 July 2008

MetaFest 2008: Open Call for Online-Offline Film Festival

Juried film fest is looking for innovative, creative, entertaining shorts that bridge the best of the online and offline worlds... Show us what you've got! WHAT:                 MetaFest 2008 - a…
  • 12 February 2008
    Film

News from India : Dyke, Culture, Strike, Darfur and Lynch

So I arrived in Mumbai on the coldest day there in 46 years. It gave me a brief sense of bravado, strutting around saying, 'but it's scorching' as locals shivered in the 13 C dusk. The strutting didn't last long after I left my passport in one of the city's 55,000 taxis. Five hours and 32km later it turns up, making my first day feel at once both the unluckiest and most fortunate. Actually the taxi ride to the airport (which I took three times that day) makes it clea…
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02 April 2006

Doctor Who & Tardis Re-Materialise in Camelot

 Investment by BBC Wales in the ratings winner Doctor Who continues to grow, with a new dedicated centre bringing production for the first time under one roof, near Cardiff. Referencing ancient links between the Principality and King Arthur, Doctor Who production staff have taken to calling th…
07 February 2006

CGI Genius Gets Oscar

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present Gary Demos with an award honoring his technological contributions to the motion picture industry.  CGI BACKROOM BOY GARY DEMOS HONOURED BY ACADEMYWith a career spanning more than 30 years, Demos has received numerous accolades…
24 January 2006

Welsh Students Get FFresh Each February

Ffresh is the annual film showcase  attended by students and lecturers of the moving image, as well as industry players who could boost or kick-start careers outsde the walls of Welsh academia. Ffresh Chair Maggie Russell,Head of Talent for BBC Wales spelt out the opportunity the showcase pres…
  • 20 September 2006
    Cross media

Neuros launch Open Source TV box - users get paid to develop it

A technology company has released a TV-stereo-computer interfacing device that fully embraces the open source idealogy by encouraging end users to modify and produce its core software. Unlike most consumer hardware where the manufacturer does everything in its power to prevent users from 'climbing under the hood' the Neuros OSD will actually pay end users for their hacks, including $1000 for creating a YouTube or GoogleVideo browser, $600 for a Flickr photo…
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24 April 2006

BBC £1m Shareout To Regional Indies

  The BBC has chosen 23 independent production companies between which it will share its £1m regional development fund. The fund was launched at Broadcast's Commissioning Conference in Manchester last November. It was intended to support programme development from indies that are…
03 May 2006

Ice Age 2 Still Hot UK Box Office

  The animated sub-zero heroes in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown continued to delight audiences, remaining top of the box office charts for the fourth week running.   The second comic tale about Manny the mammoth and Sid the sloth held off Bruce Willis and his new action movie 16 Blo…
10 January 2007

The 15th Raindance Film Festival Open For Submissions

Raindance, the UK's largest independent film festival, is now accepting submissions for its fifteenth anniversary edition. They welcome shorts and features of all genres from anywhere in the world. The festival dates have been set for 26th September to 7th October 2007 and they will be accept…
  • 12 February 2007
    Music

Let Channel 4 Radio know what you think of music today

Channel 4 Radio have created a survey to find out what listeners think of the state of music today. It is a one off chance to give your opinion to Channel 4 and a chance to nab some iRiver gadgets along the way.  The survey will hopefully inform future programming ensuring we get more of what we want! The survey takes approx 3 mins and can be accessed at  http://www.myvoice.co.uk/scripts/dubinterview.dll/Frames?Quest=1260 T…
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06 January 2007

Ken Russell Walks From Big Brother House

  The 79-year-old film director Ken Russell quit the Cebrity Big Brother TV reality TV show after a row with fellow housemate Jade Goody at lunchtime today, show bosses announced. The housemates were told of Russell's departure when a laminate revealing Ken's exit was given to jour…
17 August 2006

Chavved Up and Ready to YouTube

  A home video by two teenagers entitled "How to be a Perfect Chav" is proving a big draw on the internet, attracting some 30,000 hits since it was posted on Monday. Kellie Munckton and Lucy Whiteside from Somerset posted their eight-minute guide on how to get the tracksuite…
25 September 2009

17th Raindance Film Festival premieres new Japanese films and spotlights Japanese women directors

Since 1998, Raindance Film Festival has continued in its strong support for Japanese filmmaking, with its Way Out East section the largest annual showcase for new Japanese cinema in the United Kingdom, screening at least ten recent features and documentaries annually. The 17th Raindance Festival, h…
  • 30 March 2006
    Sales

US Movie Theatre Execs Oppose Shrinking DVD Window

  Top US movie theatre chain execs have dismissed calls to shorten the period between a film's release on the big screen and on DVD, saying it would be harmful to studios, theatres and consumers.   Some studio executives, including Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger, have called for faster DVD releases to combat rising piracy over the Internet, amid slowing sales of DVDs and a U.S. box office slump. But executives from Regal Entertainm…
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01 August 2006

Principal Photography Finishes on Working Title’s Golden Age

  Principal photography has just concluded on 'The Golden Age' directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush who reprise the roles they originated in the Academy-award nominated 'Elizabeth'. Joining them are Clive Owen who plays the dashing seafare…
26 August 2009

Content Republic Sign Digital Distribution Deal With Arrow Films

From PR Sarah Cameron: Content Republic, one of Europe’s leading digital distribution companies, today announces it has signed a deal for exclusive digital rights to the Arrow Films catalogue of classics and foreign language films. The deal, negotiated by Teun Hilte on behalf of Content Republic…
19 February 2006

Oscar Shorts Tour US Screens

  This year's Oscar-nominated live-action and animated short films are touring cinemas across America, through a partnership between Magnolia Pictures and U.K.-based Shorts International.   The two companies have teamed up to bring the films to audiences before the 78th Annual Academy Aw…
  • 25 October 2006
    Festivals

British Independent Film Award Nominations Announced

The 9th British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), set to run November 29th at the Hammersmith Palais, has announced its 2006 nominations. Formed by Elliot Grove in 1998 off the back of Raindance, the awards - now under the newly appointed directorship of Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson - form one of the first dates in the ever more crowded awards calendar This year’s jury, which will be chaired by Sandy Lieberson, consists of Reuben Barnes, Martin Childs…
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10 August 2006

UK Film Fans Get Ready For the D-Cinema Revolution

  200 UK Cinemas go Digital - One of the Biggest Film Advances in Cinematic History   UK film fans from St Ives to Inverness are about to experience unprecedented film choice at the cinema thanks to the roll-out of the world's most advanced Digital Screen Network, the…
12 August 2006

CobraVision Creates A Scene At The 60th Edinburgh Film Festival

  Cobra Film Winners Premiere on the Big Screen Award-winning Cobra Beer is set to take Edinburgh by storm for the next two weeks as ‘The Official Beer of the 60th Edinburgh International Film Festival' (EIFF), with a raft of events, activities and bar promotions aroun…
01 May 2006

Truck Of Dreams Wins World Cinema Award

Arun Kumar's directorial debut feature Truck of Dreams set around a travelling rural cinema in India, has won the World Cinema Award at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival. The film's European premiere is on 3rd May 2006 at Cineworld West Quay as part of the East End Film Festival. An exte…