Czech Showcase

Screenings of
Auto*Mate (2009)

and Jan Kaplicky / Eye Over Prague  (2010) 
 International Architecture Showcase

London Festival of Architecture

29 June, 8.45 pm, Barbican Centre, Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS   (Auto Mate)

2 July, 7 pm, Wren Room, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD (Eye Over Prague)

see  www.czechcentre.org.uk, www.lfa2010.org for details

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Directly addressing the key theme of the London Festival of Architecture 2010 - 'The Welcoming City' - is the Czech documentary film Auto*Mate (Czech Republic, 2009) by Martin Marecek. Born out of a cultural and social project created to promote activities to make Prague a healthier livelier city, safe for pedestrians and cyclists, Auto*Mate follows the progress of the project including meetings with politicians, group bike-rides, exhibitions and debates, to capture the growth of this inspiring, city awakening initiative. This playful film essay about our automobile-obsessed society crossed the boundary of its media, turning into a social act. Screened as a part of the DocSpot documentary series at the Barbican, the film will be followed by a debate with Martin Marecek and other guests chaired by Patrick Hazard, director of the London International Documentary Festival, comparing experiences in Prague and London and discussing current trends in urbanism.

The second Czech instalment at the International Architecture Showcase is the international premiere of the documentary Eye Over Prague (Oga Spatova, Czech Republic 2010) dedicated to the late Czech architectJan Kaplicky, founder of London based architectural practice Future Systems (Stirling Price 1999 for Lord's Cricket Ground Media Centre). Featuring Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Vaclav Havel and others, the film tells the story of Kaplicky's design for the National Library in Prague. After winning the international competition, it met fierce opposition from the Czech government and the local administration and the battle began. Director of the Design Museum Deyan Sudjic will chair a debate with architect Eva Jiricna and other guests following the screening.

Both screenings are part of the International Architecture Showcase, one of the highlights of this year's LFA programme, which presents a broad spectrum of exciting international architecture projects organised by more than 30 Embassies and Cultural institutes around London. 

The London Festival of Architecture 2010, a city-wide celebration  of architecture in the capital, will take place from 19 June to 4 July 2010.  www.lfa2010.org 

Wild Target

Jean Rochefort, one of France’s finest character actors, stars in possibly his finest ever role, in writer/director Pierre Salvadori’s outstanding debut Wild Target. This wickedly funny crime-caper sees experienced and meticulous hitman Victor’s (Rochefort) fortunes change as he takes on a hot-headed accomplice, Guillaume Depardieu (son of Gerard), it shoots on to DVD for the first time ever courtesy of Second Sight Films on 21 June 2010.

Wild Target aka Cible Émouvante, one of the standout French comedies from the nineties, is now the subject of a British remake starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Martin Freeman, which is released in cinemas in June. Victor, a middle-aged professional killer, encounters young messenger, Antoine (Depardieu), when he inadvertently becomes involved during a hit. Without a son to pass on the family business, the assassin takes the naïve youngster under his wing as his apprentice. Their next assignment is Renee (Marie Trintignant), a glamorous art forger and petty thief who has conned a gangster, but Victor has softened and can’t go through with it. The unlikely trio team up and await the inevitable showdown with an unhappy client.

Wild Target features some brilliant black humour and a superb central piece from the deadpan Rochefort in one of his best performances ever. 

Title: Wild Target Release Date: 21 June 2010

RRP: £19.99 Cert: 15

Cat.No.: 2NDVD3179

Running Time: 97 min

Company K, DVD

‘Company K’, a gripping and emotion-charged story of a unit of American marines in World War 1, is being released on retail DVD by Scanbox Entertainment on July 26. 

It is based on the classic novel by William March and his own personal WW1 experiences in the trenches of Frances. March’s book has long been considered one of the greatest war novels by an American author. 

The cast is headed by Ari Fliakos, Steve Cuiffo and Joe Delafield and the film is a stark reminder of the carnage and horrors of war in the First World War trenches.

Sergeant Joseph Delaney (Ari Fliakos) signs on for service with the US Marine Corps and the unit is shipped off to the front line at Verdun, France. On arrival the unit immediately comes under attack firstly from a German biplane bomber and then from the dreaded mustard gas which is thrown at the Americans as they enter the trenches. 

Delaney is ordered to stay on his feet and move forward but when the fighting subsides he’s taken off to spend time at a hospital behind the lines for treatment to his injuries. 

Meanwhile, back in the trenches a new lieutenant arrives who soon senses the men have no respect for him. Brashly he orders one of his sergeants to take some soldiers, advance to a clump of trees and set-up a machine gun nest, despite being warned against it. 

The Germans see the men crawling across No Man’s Land and open fire, realising that the Marines have no chance of retreating back to their own lines. 

The incident subsequently turns many of the men in Company K against their officers and for them the war becomes more and more of a test of sanity and survival which comes to a head when Delaney’s best friend Private Edward Carter (Steve Cuiffo) murders an officer.

When the war ends Delaney has his own burden of guilt to bear -  a German soldier he killed in a forest when he knows he could have taken him prisoner instead. 

Delaney, Carter and their friend Private Emile Ayres (Joe Delafield) must now learn to live the quiet life as civilians but they find its not as easy as they thought it would be to leave the memories of the war behind. 

“I have watched the reactions of many men to pain, hunger and death but all I have learned is that no two men react alike and that no one man comes through the experience unchanged”

                                                                               

‘Company K’ has a run time of 103 minutes, a 12 certificate and a recommended retail price of £12.99
Bonus Features :

• Three trailers
• Five deleted scenes
• William March Documentary
• Audio Commentary with Director Robert Clem
• Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio

Airport Control Simulator

Airport Control Simulator is a casual simulator game in which players need to land the incoming airplanes on the runways. The game features 15 internationally known airports. Players operate as Air Traffic Controller and need to take in consideration the different angles of an increasing number of incoming planes, their speed and their altitude, before landing them all safely and as quickly as possible. This combination of factors makes Airport Control Simulator a very entertaining, fun and addictive game for everyone.

For a demo of Airport Control Simulator please visit our friends at GamersHell or FilePlanet.

To find out more about Airport Control Simulator and to keep up with the latest news on the game, visit www.iceberg-interactive.com.

 About Airport Control Simulator

Is the altitude correct? Which plane can stay in the air longer? What direction are other planes coming from and is a collision likely? You are in control. Land all types of airplane on your airport, until there are no more incoming flights.

As Air Traffic Controller you will experience the stress, the hectic pace and the satisfaction of landing all of your planes as safely and as quickly as possible. Avoiding collisions at all times, direct planes to their correct landing path and runway, while monitoring their fuel load closely. Your results will be strictly monitored, a score attributed and new airports unlocked – but any accident will result in your immediate firing.

Airport Control Simulator Features:

• Casual addictive game play

• 15 Different International Airports

• Realistic Air Plane Behavior

• Dynamic Weather conditions

• Complete control over the airspace

• Progressively harder levels and complex manoeuvres

Space Shuttle Mission Simulator for PC

NASA has announced quitting the space shuttle program, gamers can enjoy launching space shuttles for years to come courtesy of videogame publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer Simsquared Ltd. Iceberg announced that its hardcore simulation game for PC “Space Shuttle Mission Simulator: The Collector’s Edition”, is available at all major UK retailers and good independent game shops since this past weekend, as well as in several other European territories that release English versions. The fully localized German release is scheduled for 18 June 2010 and the French one for 15 July 2010.

The new ultra realistic and award-winning simulator game Space Shuttle Mission Simulator: The Collector’s edition is designed to provide the experience and excitement of the NASA Space Shuttle missions in extreme detail, from the first mission back in the 80’s to the newest ISS missions. So if you’ve ever wondered how it feels to be in command of the Space Shuttle, perform “space walks” and float around the ISS, while enjoying the beautiful view of our planet at dawn or sunset from space, Space Shuttle Mission Simulator is a must-have game for you! 

 

FEATURES

•       Experience the Liftoff shakes and engines roar right from the Commander's or Pilot's seats.

•       Perform mission procedures: press buttons, rotate knobs, control the General Purpose Computer and manually guide the Shuttle to a safe landing etc.

•       Perform variable-difficulty historical missions from STS-1 (the maiden flight), through secret DoD missions, and up to the recent ISS missions.

INCLUDES

•       Beautifully rendered Space Shuttle 3D virtual cockpit, Shuttle, International Space Station, Hubble, satellites

•       TrueEarth™ Global Satellite Imagery – licensed from TerraMetrics Inc. These are the same textures used by Google Earth.

•       First Person View, including Space Walks – you cannot get any closer to the ISS or Hubble than that!

•       Launch Control, Mission Control, Shuttle and Astronauts audio smart communications.

•       Three difficulty modes: from Novice which leads the "astronaut" through the tasks with context arrows and full text subtitles, to "Read the Manual and Checklists Commander!"

•       TrackIR(tm) Support in 3D Virtual Cockpit and first person view during EVA

•       Multiple-Monitor support for Matrox TripleHead2Go(tm) and Nvidia nView (tm)

•       Native support for Vuzix iWear VR920 Stereoscopic goggles + head tracking. This is the closest you can get to the NASA VR Labs where Shuttle Astronauts train for ISS missions (on compatible systems).

•       You can find more about the Space Shuttle Mission Simulator at the official website at www.space-shuttle-mission.com

Stanley Park

Stanley Park is a new comedy drama pilot on BBC Three, written & created by Leo Richardson and directed by Misha Manson-Smith (LALA Land and High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman). Stanley Park stars comedian Morwenna Banks (Saxondale) and Antonia Thomas (who played Alisha in E4's comedy drama Misfits).

Set in a south London suburb, the show follows young friends enduring the poignant and often hilarious emotional upheavals during a life-changing period. All living on the same street, it's hard to really keep secrets, and it seems everyone has something they're hiding, or hiding from.

First there's “Dirty” Debbie (Holliday Grainger), a sassy fashion designer and self-proclaimed ‘Carrie Bradshaw of Croydon’ who, from the moment she arrived to live with gin swigging, Superking smoker and serial internet dater, Auntie Pat (Sharon Horgan writer and star of BBC’s Pulling), knew the place had trouble written all over it. And she wasn’t wrong. Debbie's outfits are as outrageous as the erotic fiction she writes and no man can resist her charms but, across the road, there's competition in the form of emo, Raggedy Ann (Jennie Jacques - Desperate Romantics, Shank), who claims she was a bohemian poet in her past life.

Then there's “Bent” Ben - Ann’s fabulous, Beyonce-loving best friend who is always on hand to provide a shoulder to cry on and a constant source of advice, but who could do well to counsel himself occasionally. And who can forget Sadie (Antonia Thomas who played Alisha in E4's Misfits), waggish with a nice job, a hot boyfriend, and a Gucci bag who thinks her life will really take off since she got engaged in Pizza Express.

As the residents of Stanley Park go about their everyday lives, Harry “the hottie” winks at Debbie as she walks home and sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything and everyone in the street forever...

Join the characters of Stanley Park on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stanley-Park/115872958450682?ref=ts

Catch the first episode of Stanley Park online before it airs on BBC Three 10 Jun 2010 at 21:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj8f9