from Berserk Films UK short film, SAILCLOTH by Elfar Adalsteins and starring John Hurt has been awarded the highest accolade at the 15th Annual Rhode Island International Film Festival - the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short. As a result of winning at Rhode Island the film automatically qualifies for consideration for an Oscar® by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences™. 'Sailcloth by El…

UK urban drama HUSH YOUR MOUTH was awarded top prizes at Festival Bragacine in Portugal. At the Augusta Awards 2010, HUSH YOUR MOUTH was awaded the Grand prize for BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM and director TOM TYRWHITT won the award for BEST DIRECTOR. This gritty micro-budget drama featuring a largely young cast of talented new-comers has been described by critics as "a seething, stylish an…

THE MOËT BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS ANNOUNCE NOMINATIONS AND JURY FOR 13th EDITION The nominations and jury members for the thirteenth annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced today, Monday 1st November at St Martins Lane, London by Jared Harris. The Film receiving the most nominations is The King’s Speech with eight, including Best Film, Best Dire…

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…

In the heat of Bollywoods' renewal, it is interesting to read of the Fespaco Film Awards In Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, where Ethiopian Haile Gerima has continued the film's awards success, nabbing the top African film prize, for his feature Teza. It tells of the disillusionment of a young Ethiopian who returns from his studies in Germany to question his beliefs amidst a country under the brutal…

I've been searching around trying to find a feed of the Oscars. Finally find an unofficial one on Justin.tv and arrive just as Heath Ledger's name is announced. There's wet eyes all over the place and for once it seems genuine. There's so much I would like to say about Slumdog Millionaire, but like all my thoughts relating to India since getting back in March last year, I've not been able to pu…

One of India's best loved film composers, AR Rahman, picked up the country's first Golden Globe, on a night which saw Danny Boyle's Mumbai-set Slumdog Millionaire take home four awards, including Best film, Best screenplay and Best director. In an evening of international success, Kate Winslett collected two acting awards, with Sally Hawkins and Tom Wilkinson completing the British grab, with C…

A day after the Film Council declared 2007 the best year for British film exports since 1995, there's a bumper crop of nominations in the 2009 Golden Globes. From the BBC : Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Thompson and Dame Judi Dench are among the British actors to feature on this year's Golden Globe shortlist... Danny Boyle, Stephen Daldry and Winslet's husband Sam Mendes swell…

Picking up Best Film and Director at the BIFAs for his Mumbai set feature, Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle, who like many fell in love with the city, referred to the tragic events of the week : "It is weird to win this at the end of what's been a terrible week. The human spirit is dominant there. They will overcome, you can bet on it." The film picked up three awards, and shoul…

Steve McQueen's Bobby Sands biopic Hunger battles it out with Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, James Marsh's Man on A Wire, Danny Boyle's LFF closer Slumdog Millionaire and Shane Meadow's Somers Town in the nominations for the Best British Feature film at the 2008 BIFA Awards. The films receiving the most nominations are Hunger and In Bruges tied with seven nominations each. Slumdog Millionai…

Alex Campbell writes in about a promising new film festival and awards run by, and for, young people (which means people under 19, apparently): "The Adders 2008 is the future for British film-making. It allows young film-makers work to be showcased to a wider audience and for industry professionals to get a taste of where the future of film-making will come from. Including live music…