Wednesday, November 19, 2003

LEXUS IF (INSIDE FILM) AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

Gettin’ Square and Japanese Story, the people’s choice in Australian film

Winners for the 2003 Lexus IF (Inside Film) Awards were announced in Sydney earlier this month, at a prestigious event staged at Wharf 8 in Pyrmont. Hosted by Deborah Mailman, the live broadcast was followed by a celebratory party presented by Autore South Sea Pearls. Gettin' Square and Japanese Story earned the highest accolades on the night. Japanese Story collected four IF awards including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Gettin' Square won five IF awards including Best Actor, Best Script, Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.

This year's star studded awards event was attended by luminaries of the Australian film industry and supported by high profile identities from fashion, art and music. Guests included Toni Collette, Deborah Mailman, Geoffrey Rush, Stephen Fry, Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward, Claudia Karvan, Rose Byrne, Rachael Blake, Barry Otto, Helen Buday, Kick Gurry, Leona Edmiston, Sigrid Thornton, Jill Bilcock, Robert Connolly, Akira Isogawa, Sophie Lee, Peter Morrissey, The Hon. Bob Carr MP, Sarah Jane Clarke, Heidi Middleton, Peta Wilson, Gillian Armstrong, Sam Worthington and Jan Chapman.

The winner of the SHOWTIME IF Award for Best Feature Film is Japanese Story (Prod: Sue Maslin)

Sue Brooks was awarded the Animal Logic IF Award for Best Direction for Japanese Story.

Gettin' Square's Chris Nyst won the Mushroom Pictures IF Award for Best Script.

The winner for the Kodak IF Award for Best Cinematography was Ian Baker for Japanese Story.

The Autore South Sea Pearls IF Award for Best Actor was awarded to David Wenham for his unforgettable performance in Gettin' Square.

Toni Collette's powerful performance in Japanese Story earned her the Instyle IF Award for Best Actress.

The winner of the Gray & Perkins Lawyers IF Award for Best Short Film was Roy Höllsdotter Live (Prod: Trevor Blainey and Dir: Matthew Saville).

The winner of the Rising Sun Pictures IF Award for Best Animation went to Ward 13 (Prod / Dir: Peter Cornwell).

The Odyssey Channel IF Award for Best Short Documentary was awarded to Painting With Light in a Dark World (Prod: Renata Shuman and Dir: Sascha Ettinger).

Wildness (Prod: Michael McMahon and Dir: Scott Millwood) was awarded the Discovery Channel IF Award for Best Documentary.

The Yalumba Independent Spirit Award was awarded to Khoa Do for his powerful debut feature The Finished People.

The winner of the Ztudio What IF? Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay was Rie Natalenko for Heloise.

The BMG IF Award for Best Music went to Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab and 3K Short from Machine Gun Fellatio for Gettin' Square.

The winners of the Tracks IF Award for Best Sound were John Schiefelbein, Antony Gray and Ian McLoughlin for Gettin' Square.

The LaB sydney IF Award for Best Production Design was awarded to Steven Jones-Evans for Ned Kelly.

The Frameworks IF Award for Best Editing went to Ken Sallows ASE for Gettin' Square.

Jill Bilcock was recognised for her outstanding contribution to the Australian film industry as an editor, as the recipient of the Freixenet Living Legend IF Award.

Australian comedy, Crackerjack, was awarded the Film Finance Corporation Australia IF Award for Box Office Achievement.

Matthew Saville was awarded the Lexus IF Award for Rising Talent for his comic writing and directing talent shown in his short film Roy Höllsdotter Live. His short feature was screened this year at the Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide film festivals and on SBS. In June 2003, the film won the Dendy Award for Best Short Film (over 15mins) at the Sydney Film Festival and Best Original Script for Television at the 2003 Australian Writers' Guild Awards, and has been nominated for two AFI awards.

The Inside Film Magazine IF Award for Film Festival of the Year was awarded to Popcorn Taxi.

Lexus IF Awards 2003, started by Inside Film (IF) magazine and now in their fifth year, are the people's choice awards for Australian film and are recognised as a major event on the entertainment industry calendar. Deborah Mailman hosted the prestigious awards ceremony held on Wednesday November 12th at Wharf 8, Sydney.
TROY

Troy is inspired by Homer's The Iliad, it stars Brad Pitt as unconquerable hero Achilles. Director Wolfgang Petersen commented: "Brad has both the talent and the magnetism to make Achilles believable as a tremendous warrior and charismatic leader without sacrificing his humanity in the process". The film's outstanding cast boasts both rising talent and illustrious veterans.

Prince Hector is played by Eric Bana, star of Ang Lee's Hulk. Orlando Bloom, who first received widespread acclaim for his work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays the recklessly charming Prince Paris. Diane Kruger is Helen, the queen whose beauty launched a thousand ships, and Brendan Gleeson plays Menelaus, the king she left behind. The avaricious King Agamemnon is played by distinguished actor Brian Cox. Also joining the cast as Achilles' mother Thetis and King Priam of Troy are cinematic luminaries Julie Christie, winner of the Best Actress Oscar for her starring role in Darling, and Peter O'Toole, himself a seven-time Academy Award nominee and the recipient of an honorary Oscar for his contributions to cinema history. Petersen is grateful to have a cast of the highest calibre. "We're fortunate to have a blend of very talented new actors who are on the verge of becoming major stars, in the company of widely renowned established actors," says the director.

Troy will be released in the UK early Summer 2004
Filmmaking School

November 29 to 30, 2003, Raindance welcomes Dov S-S Simens – internationally recognised as the world’s leading independent filmmaking instructor – back to London for his acclaimed Two-Day Hollywood Film School™.

Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrman, Guy Ritchie, Chris Nolan, Phillipa Braithwaite and Robert Rodriguez are just a few names from a long list of phenomenally successful directors who launched their filmmaking careers after participating in Dov S-S Simens’ intensive filmmaking course. Other high-profile attendees have included Michael Jackson, Queen Latifah and Will Smith.

Over one weekend Dov will teach budding filmmakers everything they need to know about how to make a movie - from producing, directing and shooting to marketing, financing and distributing it.

Dov S-S Simens is an award-winning filmmaker with over fifteen years of hands-on experience in the independent film industry. He has taught thousands of filmmakers across the world in his trademark no-nonsense, straight-talking style - with recent graduates of the workshop going on to produce or distribute films such as Blair Witch Project, Memento, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Barbershop.

For details tel: 0207 7387 3833
Visit: www.raindance.co.uk
The Third Harry Potter

Warner Bros. Pictures is pleased is announce the summer release of the feature film of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third in the series of films based on J.K. Rowling's hugely popular novels. Academy Award nominee Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También) takes the helm as director with David Heyman, Chris Columbus and Mark Radcliffe as producers. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione return as teenagers to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their third year of study, where they delve into the mystery surrounding an escaped prisoner who poses a dangerous threat to the young wizard.

The story reunites Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson in this third film as Harry, Ron and Hermione. The cast is joined by Gary Oldman, who plays the ominous figure of Sirius Black, Michael Gambon who takes on the role of Hogwart's revered Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Julie Christie who plays the role of the big-hearted Three Broomsticks pub barmaid Madam Rosmerta and Emma Thompson as the eccentric Professor of Divination, Sibyll Trelawney.

Release date : June 2004
LOVE, SEX AND DEATH

Actor Ian Hart (Harry Potter), Ricky Tomlinson (Royale Family) and Singer Jarvis Cocker star in eight award winning short films due to be aired on Granada TV later this month.

Chris Bisson (former Coronation Street and East is East star) presents the series of short films about love, sex and death. The eight films, which were recently screened in New York as part of the Transatlantic Express, are the winning entries in the first round of digital shorts from visionary writers, directors and producers from the North West of England.

North West Vision funded the films, in association with the Film Councils New Cinema Fund. Each film was shot on location in the region using professional cast and crew, receiving support from many of our first class facilities and film friendly locations.

Alice Morrison, Chief Executive of North West Vision:

“ The digital shorts scheme is designed to encourage new, fresh, innovative and inventive ways of telling stories utilising digital technology. These eight films do exactly that and we are pleased that Granada TV is giving our North West film makers a platform for their work”.

The films will be shown on Granada TV on Friday the 14th, 21st and 28th November 2003 at 11.30pm.