‘TWIST’

A CONTEMPORARY RE-IMAGINING OF OLIVER TWIST IN 3D, WHERE FAGIN’S GANG USE PARKOUR TO CARRY OUT THE ULTIMATE HEIST. 

CHARACTERS IN ‘FAGIN’S GANG’ TO BE HAND PICKED FROM VIDEO ENTRIES 

 

In 2012 Oliver Twist will receive a modern day adaptation. Produced by Pure Grass Films and The Salt Company, ‘Twist’ is a 3D feature film that represents the coming of age of the timeless classic Dickens novel. It’s a modern day spin that will see Fagin’s gang attempt a series of audacious art thefts using Parkour , the phenomenon that’s been gripping streets around the globe for the past decade. 

Matthew Parkhill (THE CALLER starring Stephen Moyer from True Blood) will be Directing, and Sébastien Foucan, the founder of freerunning, will be masterminding the Parkour action sequences. Foucan is most famously known for shimmying up a sky high crane in the opening action sequence from James Bond - Casino Royale

Production on the 3D feature film will start in March, 2012 and YOU COULD BE PART OF FAGIN’S GANG!

Pure Grass Films and The Salt Company are looking for actors who are also practitioners of Parkour and Freerunning (or skateboarding, gymnastics or similar). We are looking for people aged 16-24, male and female, to play the key characters in Fagin’s Gang.  

With the help of social networking, candidates are asked to submit videos, no more than 2 minutes in length, introduce themselves and demonstrate their extreme sporting skills. 

Please submit videos to the Twitter page of the film: @twistthemovie using the hashtag #faginsgang. The Top 25 entrants selected by director Matthew Parkhill,Sébastien Foucan, the Producers and VHJ Casting will be invited to London for a final face-to-face audition at London’s brand new Parkour park, L.E.A.P,on Saturday 3^rd December 2011.. At least one lucky entrant will then be selected to appear in the film as part of Fagin’s gang!

The Story & The Characters:

Oliver Twist is propelled into present day London when 17 year old Oliver falls in with a street gang in London who use Parkour to carry out daring art heists for a shady stolen goods dealer - Fagin.

Spectacular Parkour set pieces - as well as skateboarding, car chases, bike chases and sheer unadulterated energy - in thrilling 3D, are seamlessly woven with the well-known story of a boy who learns a lesson and finds a family…with a few more twists along the way.

Oliver

Oliver is 17, an orphan who has learned to live off his wits, as well as his speed, there’s not many who can catch him. When he meets the gang and starts to learn Parkour just as fast, he’s going to become an invaluable asset to Fagin. 

Nancy

Nancy, a former gymnast, is a character chameleon (she can play anything from hippy art student to Russian art dealer).

Dodge

Dodge is streetwise, ambitious and handsome in a dangerous kind of way. He likes being in charge and is an artful freerunner. 

Batesy

Batesy may act tough but he’s the baby of the group and also the gang’s computer geek. His Parkour skills are efficient, if a little less flamboyant than Dodge, but he knows how to get from A to B.       

Tom “TC” Chitling

Bigger than Batsey, and twice as cocky, full of charm and humour, TC get teased because he doesn’t yet have a “thing”, a specialised skill, what that “thing” is may be up to you. 

‘Twist’ is now open for video submissions and the ‘Top 25’ shortlist casting event will take place at London’s new Parkour Park, the L.E.A.P. on Saturday 3^rd December. 

For more information on L.E.A.P please go to http://bit.ly/fJfXm2

For all Terms & Conditions please go to http://www.facebook.com/twistthemovie

Call For Entries: The 180 Microcinema Festival 2012

Can you show the world what you can do in only 180 seconds? Spin the System, and submit to the 180 Microcinema Festival.

180 Microcinema Festival is seeking submissions for its first International celebration of short films. The selected films will be available on the web starting January 7, 2011.

Founded in 2009, the 180 Microcinema Festival seeks to celebrate and reward filmmakers across the world who embrace unique and unorthodox approaches to filmmaking. The festival celebrates the range and diversity of filmmakers in an interconnected world, emphasizing emerging technologies such as mobile devices and digital media in film production and distribution.

"We wanted to create a virtual space for a film festival where geography and physical distance would not be a constraint," says founder Vicente Nakpil-Roxas. "The films are only three minutes long, so aside from tackling a creative challenge, these filmmakers sidestep the high costs inherent in creating a full-length feature." The Festival seeks to showcase both established and undiscovered filmmakers by utilizing social media to share these films with a worldwide audience.

Filmmakers are encouraged to embrace "transmedia," a style of filmmaking that encourages interaction with the audience, specifically through the internet, social media, and online venues.

Winners will be awarded a Transmedia Development Deal worth $30,000. Roxas stated that this deal, coupled with sponsorships and crowdsourcing campaigns initiated by the Festival, will allow a filmmaker to create more projects. "The Festival enables filmmakers to hone their craft, promote their work, and interact with a global audience."

The first cycle of the 180 Microcinema Festival is seeking submissions for the Narrative category. Filmmakers and students that are at least 18 years old from every country are eligible to participate. Complete rules and requirements can be found at www.180cinema.net.

Submissions must be delivered electronically by December 15, 2011. Submissions can be made through the website, and there is a fee of $10 per film.

Selected films will be eligible for an award chosen by a jury headed by Academy Award winning producer Stefanie Walmsley ("God of Love.") Visitors to the online festival will be able to cast a vote for an audience award. Both will be presented on March 10, 2012.

Made in Prague; Film & Literature Czech Film Festival

10 – 27 November 2011

10 November 2011, Czech Cinema Gala Habermann, Prince Charles Cinema, London

11 – 13 November 2011, Riverside Studios

15 November 2011, UK Premiere of Vaclav Havel’s Leaving, The Gate Cinema

20 November 2011, silent movie Battalion + live music accompaniment, Barbican

With special guests – director Juraj Herz (Habermann, The Cremator), actor and writer Jiri Suchy (A Walk Worthwhile] and Dagmar Havlova, former first lady and actresss (Leaving)

see www.czechcentre.org.uk for details

Ø  The 15th annual festival of Czech cinema in the UK explores a rich vein of literary adaptations for the screen. Focusing on the best examples of strong literary sources matched with visionary film directors, the resulting selection offers exceptional films from the history of Czech cinema, celebrating the literary work of sixteen outstanding Czech writers.

Ø  The highlight of the festival will be the UK premiere of Leaving (2010). Vaclav Havel’s directorial debut with his own play. This intimate drama about the loss of power is full of humour and irony, and, to a certain extent, also reflects Havel’s own experience of leaving Czech presidential office.  The screening will be introduced by Dagmar Havlova, former first lady and the film’s lead actress.

Ø  A special tribute is paid to festival’s guest, director Juraj Herz whose 2010 film Habermann, (German/Austrian/Czech co-production), set in WWII and based on an actual story, addresses the taboo subject of the atrocities during the so called ‘wild transfer’ of Czechoslovakia’s German population.  Habermann is complemented by Juraj Herz’s 1968 masterpiece The Cremator, in which a professional cremator quotes the Tibetan Book of the Dead and offers deranged ideas for the salvation of the world. 

Ø  However the filmic journey through Czech film and literature starts with the silent film Battalion (1927) by Premysl Prazsky successfully evoking the life of the poor and drop-outs of Prague which will be accompanied live by Jiri Hradil’s piano music . On the other hand the art film and modernist gem Marijka the Unfaithful (1934) by Vladislav Vancura, with Bohuslav Martinu’s original score, is set in the authentic milieu of Subcarpathian Ruthenia and presents a ballad-style story of love, betrayal and guilt.

Ø  The fifties are represented by a 1959 adaptation of Jaroslav Hasek’s Good Soldier Svejk, a Czech literary treasure. This famous story of a certified idiot and compulsive teller of banal anecdotes caught up in WWI is directed by Karel Stekly. Jiri ‘Closely Observed Trains’ Menzel directed the delightful comedy Capricious Summer (1967) in which the stagnant lives of four friends are shaken by the arrival of a magician-acrobat (played by Menzel himself) and his beautiful assistant. Nobody Is Going to Laugh (1965), also representing the 60s Czech New Wave, is Hynek Bocan’s adaptation of Milan Kundera’s short story about a young university lecturer who avoids telling unpleasant truths at all costs.  The season also includes a new take by director Milos Forman (One Flew over the Cuckoo Nest, Blonde in Love) on Suchy & Slitr’s 1965 jazz operaA Walk Worthwhile (2010) as staged by the National Theatre, Prague, which will be introduced by actor and writer Jiri Suchy.

Ø  Contemporary literature will be represented by Vladimir Michalek’s Of Parents and Children (2008), the successful adaptation of Emil Hakl’s award winning novel in which a father and son provide an insight into contemporary Prague, pubs and family history.  In contrast Ondrej Trojan’s Identity Card (2010) is a retro film set in the 70s, based on the novel by popular Czech writer Petr Sabach (familiar from Jan Hrebejk’s filmsCosy Dens and Divided We Fall). The post-pubertal pranks of four boys are juxtaposed with the adult world as they deal with the totalitarian environment in their own way, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Organized in collaboration with the Riverside Studios, Prince Charles Cinema, Barbican Cinema, the UK Jewish Film Festival and The Gate Cinema.

BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ARCHIVE GALA SCREENING

WORLD PREMIERE OF

BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE RESTORATION:

The First Born (1928) dir. Miles Mander

 

Rediscovery of a stunning late 1920s melodrama

 

The BFI National Archive’s gala presentation at the BFI 55^th London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express, is the world premiere of a new BFI restoration of The First Born (1928), directed by Miles Mander. This little known, but deeply satisfying, British drama will screen at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Thursday 20^th October 2011, 7.30pm.

 

Director Miles Mander, who wrote the original stage play and co-authored the screenplay, also stars as a badly behaved aristocrat opposite Madeleine Carroll as his wife. Mander’s co-writer on the screenplay was Alma Reville (Mrs Alfred Hitchcock). The story is a late twenties melodrama of great sophistication and offers a fascinating insight into the scandalous real-life exploits of the colourful Miles Mander.

 

There are moments strongly reminiscent of early Hitchcock, perhaps unsurprising as Alma Reville was heavily involved with the preparation of the scenario. Could it be that the famous ‘Hitchcock touch’ is as much to do with Mrs, as with Mr? Audiences must judge for themselves.

 

The film is a surprisingly adult account of Sir Hugo Boycott's (Mander) passionate but rocky marriage to Madeleine, his beautiful but somewhat naive wife. Failing to conceive the heir he craves, she resorts to desperate measures to tempt back her philandering husband. Set in the world of high society and the political classes, a world well known  to Mander, among whose distinguished family were several Liberal MP's, the film throws the hypocrisies and double standards of its members into sharp relief.   

 

There are other fascinating resonances between the plot and real life, as the first-born in the film is played by Mander’s own son, and it was fairly well known that Mander and his co-star were romantically involved. Mander was also married at one point to an Indian princess called Pretty (his brother married her sister). Mander had lived a life worthy of several films, losing a fortune as an over-enthusiastic gambler while a young man, and then working as a sheep hand in New Zealand when family pressures forced him to a more disciplined environment. He amused himself as a daredevil, pioneer aviator and later worked for the Air Auxiliary Corps during the First World War. Novelist, playwright, film director, actor – there seemed no end to his talents and his ability to take on whatever role he chose and succeed in it. His acting career led him to Hollywood where he became a mainstay as a popular character actor. He eventually ended up a radio host.

 

Heather Stewart, Creative Director, BFI said, “The BFI London Film Festival Archive Gala gives us an opportunity to showcase important restorations from the BFI National Archive. These enable us to highlight lesser known or previously unavailable works which deserve to be widely seen and The First-Born is a tour-de-force of late silent film-making. New restoration techniques and digital technology give us the chance to give a new lease of life to the rich heritage of British cinema.”

 

Technical background to the BFI restoration

 

The BFI National Archive acquired a nitrate positive of The First Born in 1939 as an example of the work of its writer, director and star, Miles Mander. The print, which we still have, is tinted and we have created a new print using a combination of new photochemical and digital restoration. 

 

The current running time of the BFI’s original material is 6942ft @22fps = 84 mins of 94 advertised at the original trade show in 1928. With no surviving script that we know of, and no records concerning the film with the heirs of the production company, we can’t tell what the missing footage may have contained and can only work with the prints that survive. Using a 16mm abridged version courtesy of our colleagues at the George Eastman House, we have found several missing shots and jump cuts.  Although this 16mm copy has been abridged, as is common for 16mm versions, it does in fact contains several short scenes and longer shots not in our 35mm material and has been invaluable as a guide to the correct sequencing of some scenes. Matching the 16mm material, which is of inferior picture quality, with the 35mm nitrate original has been a considerable challenge for the graders. We scanned the original nitrate and the dupe negative as well as the 16mm print and selected which shots should be taken from which source. Decisions were then made about tinting based directly from the evidence of the tinted nitrate print. The tinting is understated and subtle – amber for lit interiors and violet for evening shots.

 

Music

 

This world premiere screening will be accompanied by musician Stephen Horne who will be performing his newly commissioned score with Janey Mercer and Martin Pyne. Horne is one of a small but dedicated group of specialist accompanists to silent film. He works regularly at BFI Southbank and is much in demand at film festivals around the world.

 

Stephen Horne’s credits include scores and performance on a series of key BFI releases including: A Cottage on Dartmoor, Primitives and Pioneers, RW Paul: the Collected Films, Mitchell and Kenyon: Edwardian Sports, and Tales from the Shipyard.

 

www.stephenhorne.co.uk

 

Credits

 

Production Company: Gainsborough Studios

Producers: M Woolf, Michael Balcon

Director: Miles Mander

Scenario: Alma Reville, Miles Mander

Photography: Walter Blakeley

Editor: Arthur Tavares

 

Cast: Miles Mander (Sir Hugo Boycott, Bt.); Madeleine Carroll (Madeleine, his wife); John Loder (David, Lord Harborough); Margot Armand (Sylvia Finlay); Ella Atherton (Mme. Nina de Landé); Ivo Dawson (Derek Finlay)

 

Music composed and performed by Stephen Horne

Tinted print restored by BFI National Archive running time  88 mins

Restoration credits: BFI National Archive; Deluxe; with thanks to Simon Hessel, George Eastman House

 

“British cinema of the 1920s is a pleasure garden that has remained locked for eighty years. Some of its blooms have died of neglect. The rest remain as fresh as they were when British cinemagoers were first thrilled by their gorgeous spectacle.” Broadcaster, Matthew Sweet in his preface to the BFI’s groundbreaking Twenties season in 2004.

blinkbox coming soon to an Xbox 360 near you!

Now you’ll be able to enjoy the stunning blinkbox movie experience on your TV through the Xbox 360, bringing the latest releases direct to your living room

blinkbox, the UK’s leading online movie service, is coming to Xbox 360 later this year, giving Xbox LIVE subscribers across the country yet another way to access the incredible blinkbox library of movies. Users will now be able to watch the very best in films and TV shows, including the latest Hollywood releases, through their Xbox 360 console in addition to PC, Mac, and a whole range of connected TV and tablet devices where blinkbox is already available.

Adding the Kinect for Xbox 360 experience to blinkbox’s  impressive movie catalogue, users will be able to interact with their favourite entertainment in a more personal, seamless and effortless way. With Kinect for Xbox 360’s integrated motion control and voice command, voice search with Bing on Xbox, viewers can quickly find the content they want.

The new blinkbox app, brings the blinkbox library to Xbox 360 with more titles than any other UK movie streaming service. blinkbox’s growing catalogue of Hollywood blockbusters, classic titles and new releases available the same day as the DVD release, means users will be spoilt for choice.

Michael Comish, CEO and co-founder of blinkbox said, “The launch of blinkbox on Xbox 360 means that we can bring our huge library of blockbuster movies to even more people across the UK, giving them yet another way access their favourite entertainment. Whether on PC, connected TV or console, our customers are now even closer to an amazing entertainment experience.”

Stephen McGill, Director of Xbox and Entertainment for Microsoft UK, said: “We are really excited to be able to bring the blinkbox movie experience to our Xbox LIVE members and give them access to the incredible library of movies that blinkbox offers through Xbox 360 in their living rooms.”

You can already enjoy blinkbox on a number of other devices including PC, Mac, PS3, tablet devices and both LG and Samsung internet connected TVs, making entertainment enjoyable wherever and whenever you like, you are in total control of your viewing.

So Scottish! Focus on Scottish cinema at the Dinard British Film Festival in 2011.

Five Scottish feature films and six Scottish short documentary films are set to wow audiences at The British Film Festival in France, Festival du Film Britannique de Dinard.

Dinard Festival takes place over five days (05 – 09 October) and is attended by over 24,000 film fans. It attracts key producers and industry personnel from both France and the UK, allowingdistributors to discover films and giving film-makers an opportunity to conquer the European Market.

This year's programme will have a So Scottish focus highlighting some of the best new and original work coming from Scotland. 

Critically acclaimed Scottish director Lynne Ramsey will screen her feature We Need to Talk about Kevin, alongside David Mackenzie’s two features: Perfect Sense and You Instead. Award-winning filmmaker Sue Bourne’s documentary Jig, about the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships will also show. 

Amy Hardie’s documentary Edge of Dreaming which sees her disturbing dream manifest itself in real life, will screen alongside a selection of short documentaries s from the Scottish Documentary Institute including Ben Wigley’s P.S.Your Mystery Sender- winner of the Rushes Soho Best Short Doc award. Ben’s short received investment through the ‘Bridging the Gap’ initiative, supported by Creative Scotland through the National Lottery, as did Twinset, The Worm Inside and ThePerfect Fit. The Scottish BAFTA winning and Sundance attending Ma Bar ensures a very Scottish flavour to the festival.

Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland, said; ‘The festival presents a fantastic opportunity for our creative talent to get their work noticed and screened by international distributors, allowing them to make connections and secure deals. Creative Scotland’s investment in many of the Scottish films screening reinforces our commitment to the strength of Scottish film-making.’

Finlay Pretsell from Scottish Documentary Institute, said; ‘In Scotland there is such a strong tradition of documentary going back to pioneers like John Grierson and more recently Kevin McDonald. It really is an achievement for documentary to be recognized in a feature film orientated film festival like Dinard which continues to champion work from the British Isles. It is a very proud moment to have so much strong work made in Scotland to show. We make films that happen to be documentaries and we want to shake the stigma that is often related to documentary film – we are just telling stories that happen to be real life. This kind of exposure will really help get a foot inside the typically tricky French market.’

The Scottish films showing include: 

5 Scottish feature films:

·         The Edge of Dreaming by Amy Hardie*

·         Jig by Sue Bourne*

·         Perfect Sense by David Mackenzie*

·         You Instead by David Mackenzie*

·         We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lynne Ramsay

6 Scottish shorts:

·         The Right to Privacy by Alice Nelson*

·         Twinset by Amy Rose*

·         P.S Your Mystery Sender by Ben Wigley*

·         The Worm Inside by Sam Firth*

·         The Perfect Fit by Tali Yankelevich*

·         Ma Bar by Adrian McDowall / Finlay Pretsell

*(these films have all received Creative Scotland investment)  

Cosmoetica Website is a Big Hit

Dan Schneider writes:


A little over 10.5 years, but Cosmo has hit a quarter billion hits on its main page: 250 million, and is on track for its biggest year yet, prob 50+ mill hits on the main page in a year. Yes, Amazon or Google does that in a few hours, but this is an arts website devoted to quality.

On my 1600 or more pages overall, the site has about 10 billion hits, but since people pinball around, searching for pages I've always felt that the main page's hits are a de facto barometer and equivalence to the actual # of people who have visited. The problem with advanced statistics is that they often get info cloaked from them and one site meter might detect only 10% of your hits while another gets 15% and they are TOTALLY unrelated. Then there are sites like Alexa, Ranking.com and others, which are useless, since they only track what their bots pick up, if you use their services. Then, indy sites are no better, as they only pick up a fraction of what they can sniff off Alexa.

Thus, I have always preferred the often derided simple old hits meter. Yes, how long someone is on a page may be missed, and while knowing 47 Nepalese looked at Cosmo last week might be interesting, it really matters not who looks at it but that it's out there. I have gotten hundreds of emails from college kids thanking me for essays they've plagiarized for good grades, dozens of emails from teachers who use essays as teaching guides, emails from sight-impaired folks who love that, unlike most commercial sites, my essays are easily scanned by their devices, I've gotten tens of thousands of Fuck Yous from deluded trolls and idiots, thousands of grateful emails, thousands of submissions of fiction and essays and literally 100s of 1000s of poem submissions, of only which the best of the best have made it. I've been stalked and sent viruses, I've been impersonated by people online for years, but Cosmo still keeps going, Hopefully, someday soon, someone will notice it's an Internet phenomenon. No porno, no Lowest Common Denominator crap, the best and most well read interviews in Internet history, an online radio show, and I could go on.

I think the next quarter billion can be hit by 2015 or sooner.