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Bafta Beyond Piccadilly
FROM OVER THERE
BAFTA NORTH
BAFTA/LA has created lots of excitement with the announcement that George Lucas will receive this year’s Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award For Excellence In Film and HBO Original Programming will be hon- oured with the Britannia Award for Excellence in Television.
Since the mid 1970’s Lucas has directed and/or produced nine films on location in the UK includ- ing four Star Wars, the Indiana Jones’ series, Labyrinth and Willow. BAFTA/LA Chairman Gary Dartnall stated: “We are delighted to be honouring George Lucas who has chosen to make so many of his films in the UK. He has con- tributed immensely to our indus- try as an innovative filmmaker, changing the way movies are made, seen and heard.”
HBO Original Programming has produced many of its most prestigious projects in England including its biggest programming venture in the network’s history, Band Of Brothers, a 10-part mini- series. Other highly acclaimed HBO films shot in England last year were The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells, WIT, and Conspiracy.
The 11th Britannia Awards Gala Dinner will be held on November 10 at the Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles. Mark your cal- endars and make plans to attend this very popular event.
BAFTA/LA is thrilled to con- gratulate Founding Co-Chair and current Governor Marion Rosenberg, with the news she is to be given the OBE by the Queen in a ceremony to take place at Buckingham Palace.
The schedule of screenings over the past two months has included Shrek, followed by a Q&A with directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and Town and
Country with director Peter Chelsom and producer Simon Fields providing one of the most insightful and illuminating Q&A’s we have had for some time.
At the end of May members were treated to the visual splen- dour of Moulin Rouge, which was followed by a very animated and enjoyable Q&A with Australian director Baz Luhrmann. Baz’s wife, Catherine Martin, who designed the costumes for the film, joined Baz on stage for the final 10 min- utes of the interview. The sheer exuberance and flamboyance of Luhrmann and Moulin Rouge brought the audience to their feet for a standing ovation.
June started with a very per- sonal and moving special screen- ing of Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures, a powerful new full- length documentary produced and directed by longtime Kubrick asso- ciate Jan Harlan and narrated by Tom Cruise. The evening com- menced with an introduction by Kubrick’s widow, Christiane, and Harlan.
Pearl Harbor was screened a few days later, followed by Evolution. Next on the BAFTA/LA schedule was Steven Spielberg’s AI, with Jude Law’s stylized perfor- mance particularly catching the eyes of our members. Clive Owen, Helen Mirren and David Kelly were a breath of fresh air in Greenfingers, another screening in our New Films From Britain series.
Members are eagerly antici- pating a Special Evening with Director Ken Annakin and screen- ing of his Battle of The Bulge, fol- lowed with a Q&A, after which Ken will be signing copies of his new book, So You Wanna Be a Director? The evening will end with a cham- pagne reception. ■
www.baftala.org
Summer is upon us. The three h’s, hazy, hot and humid describe New York right now. Many offices close for a half day on Friday allowing their employees to scuttle off for weekends in the Hamptons. At this time of year, a cool dark screening room is an often welcome escape from the heat.
BAFTA East Coast is grateful to Fireworks Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films for enabling us to screen Greenfingers, a film by Joel Hershman.
Another film we recently screened for members was a Miramax film about temptation called About Adam, directed by Gerard Stembridge and produced by Anna Devlin and Marina Hughes. It starred Stuart Townsend, Frances O’Connor, Charlotte Bradley and Kate Hudson.
Among the many events planned after the summer is a screening and discussion of End Game, produced by Brook Lapping. We are aiming to produce this event with the Foreign Press Association and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
Our Executive Director Cathy Fortescue is back from maternity leave and now balancing mother- hood with BAFTA work. We’ve been lucky to have the support of Magdalena Vassileva who has been taking care of business in Cathy’s absence and has worked out so well that we hope she will stay on as extra help. ■
A reminder to all BAFTA members that if you are working on a project that you would like to bring to our attention, please email Cathy at:
www.baftaeastcoast@earthlink.net
The month of May began for BAFTA North much as April finished - extremely busy despite many fleeing to sunnier climes!
First stop was Rochdale and a screening of award wining fea- ture East Is East, in association with North West Arts Board and Cartwheel Community Arts. A dis- cussion took place before the screening with Catherine Brice, Manchester Location Officer, who assisted with locations of the film and BAFTA North Director, Maureen Sinclair.
The screening was followed by a reception of home cooked Indian cuisine in keeping with the theme of the night. The Asian com- munity came out in force to attend this first local screening as did a number of North members who all thoroughly enjoyed the evening as the photo above amply attests to.
Members’ screenings included diverse features such as The Dish, Very Annie Mary, Before Night Falls and Aimee & Jaguar in Liverpool and Manchester. Both attracted a high attendance of our members.
The beginning of June saw the screening of the pilot episode of BBC television drama Nice Guy Eddie written by BAFTA North members Johanne McAndrews and Elliot Hope. The hour long pro- gramme, starring Ricky Tomlinson, was shot entirely on location in Liverpool and is superb.
The screening at the Newz Bar Liverpool was attended by a host of celebrities including Gary Mavers (Peak Practice), Christopher George (Grange Hill & Brookside), Jason Hope (Brookside) and a large number of members. The television screening took place the following week on BBC 1, attracting rave reviews and good viewing figures, so congratu- lations Johanne and Elliot!
BAFTA North also attended and supported Weston Spirits’ Summer reception with a host of affluent business leaders from the North West and patron Simon Weston OBE. Weston Spirit, a char-
ity to help disadvan- taged children, has been supported in the past by BAFTA North and we hope to contin- ue supporting them in their charitable work around the country.
July began with a special members’
screening of Tomb
Raider at the Odeon
Cinema Liverpool to
promote the Liverpool
connection with the
Hollywood blockbuster.
The event was attend-
ed by Liverpudlians Ozzie Yue, who stars in the film as the ageing Buddha, Eunice Huthart of Gladiators fame, who doubles for Lara Croft, and Liverpool stunt man Gordon Seed. A Q&A session took place after the screening and a complimentary cocktail provided by the Pacific Bar and Grill. ■ Maureen Sinclair
maureen.baftanorth@virgin.net
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