UK Film Council Lottery backed films and events at Edinburgh International Film Festival
Five New Cinema Fund backed films screening, Lottery funded shorts from emerging filmmakers, Industry events for filmmakers
Five UK Film Council Lottery funded films receive their UK premieres at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. In addition, the UK Film Council is presenting short films from up-and-coming filmmakers and hosting industry events to support the next generation of British filmmakers.
Hot from picking up the Jury prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank premieres on 21 June. Fish Tank is Arnold's second feature film and is backed by the UK Film Council's New Cinema and Development Funds. The film stars newcomer Katie Jarvis as a young girl whose claustrophobic life with her mother (Kierston Wareing) and sister (Rebecca Griffiths) is interrupted when her mother brings home a new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender, Hunger). Arnold's Oscar®-winning short Wasp and Cannes Jury prize winning Red Road were also supported with UK Film Council Lottery funding.
Also joining the line-up are Dominic Murphy's White Lightnin', the story of mountain dancer Jesco White and his uphill battle against poverty, drug abuse, petty crime and mental instability; Alexis Dos Santos's Unmade Beds, about a young man who wants to rediscover his past and a woman trying to move on from heartbreak; Gerard Johnson's Tony, an intense psychological thriller that exposes the sinister secrets of a lonely London life; and the Warp X film All Tomorrow's Parties, a kaleidoscopic journey into the parallel musical universe of the cult music festival of the same name. All four films have been backed by the New Cinema Fund.
Completion Fund and Cinema Extreme shorts backed by the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund screening are:
- Daniel Elliot's Jade (winner of the Berlin Silver Bear)
- Emma Sullivan's After Tomorrow (nominated for the Cannes Golden Palm)
- Andrew Haigh's 5 Miles Out
- Ian Cottage's Keel
- Joern Utkilen's Little Red Hoodie
- Blake & Dylan Ritson's Love Hate
- Jane and Louise Wilson's Songs For My Mother
- Leanne Welham's Transgress
- Tom Geens's You're The Stranger Here
UK Film Council at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009
Last year, the UK Film Council awarded Edinburgh International Film festival with £1.88 million Lottery funding over three years to help it achieve its ambition of becoming the world's leading festival of discovery, showcasing new films and talent. The UK Film Council will be running a selection of industry events for filmmakers, including funding information workshops and one-to-one meetings with production executives.
Taking place for the second year running is The Directors' Lab, an initiative set up and funded by the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund and Skillset and run by Lifesize Pictures. The Lab matches new directors with experienced filmmakers as their mentors, offering them first-hand creative support and advice. The six filmmakers taking part in this year's Lab are Esther May Campbell (September), Deborah Haywood (Tender), Corinna Faith (Care), Johnny Barrington (Terra Firma), Chris Shepherd (Silence is Golden) and Avie Luthra (Lucky). Each will spend time and work with mentors including David Thompson, Robert Jones, Paul Frazer, Tony Grisoni and Kerry Fox.
The UK Film Council is also running case study sessions with companies participating in the Take 12 Digital Innovation in Film initiative designed to drive growth in British independent film companies through using new technologies. Take 12 participants Justin Marciano from Revolver, Christopher Figg from VOD Almighty and Jezz Vernon from Metrodome will share their experiences on using digital and discuss how they have used new technology to develop their business models and build their businesses.
To view the full programme, visit the Edinburgh International Film Festival website at www.edfilmfest.org.uk.
The UK Film Council has also launched Stories We Tell Ourselves: The Cultural Impact of UK Film 1946-2006,a new report confirming that film has been one of the most powerful cultural and social agents of the last 100 years. The report examines the impact that UK cinema has on British identity, and the way others view British culture. Taking 200 iconic films of the last 60 years it investigates how important film has been in sustaining and changing the identity of the UK's nations and regions and reflecting the changing face of Britain's communities. The study also looks at the extraordinary power British film can wield, both at home and abroad. To view the report online, visit www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/culturalimpact.
For press enquiries please contact
Tara Milne / Tina McFarling
UK Film Council press office:
T: +44 (0)20 7861 7901/7900
Notes to Editors:
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council is the Government-backed strategic agency for film in the UK. We aim to stimulate a successful, vibrant film industry and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the UK.
We invest Government grant-in-aid and Lottery money in developing new filmmakers, in funding exciting new British films and in getting a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. We also invest in training, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and in raising the profile of British films abroad. We aim to deliver lasting benefits to the industry and the public through:
· creativity - encouraging the development of new talent, skills, and creative and technological innovation in UK film and assisting new and established filmmakers to produce successful and distinctive British films;
· enterprise – supporting the creation and growth of sustainable businesses in the film sector, providing access to finance and helping the UK film industry compete successfully in the domestic and global marketplace;
· imagination - promoting education and an appreciation and enjoyment of cinema by giving UK audiences access to the widest range of UK and international cinema, and by supporting film culture and heritage.
