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Bafta Beyond Piccadilly
Last year was a great one for BAFTA/LA. With 50 screen- ings, the end of the millen- nium proved a busy period. Members and friends cele- brated the holiday season at BAFTA/LA’s 5th Annual Holiday Open House. Over 400 people attended the party, with many party-goers ignoring the waiters removing the trays of food, the closing of the bars, and even the flickering of the lights - truly good signs of an enjoyable time.
The evening also collected hundreds of toys that were distrib- uted to homeless children in Los Angeles - the continuation of a worthy tradition, which grows and illustrates the generosity of the BAFTA/LA membership.
Following the hectic screening schedule in November that includ- ed Q&A’s with Ben Kingsley, Ron Howard, Geoffrey Rush, Philip Kaufman, Doug Wright, Lynn Redgrave, Paul Heller, Charles Burnett, Michael Winterbottom, Milla Jovovich, Nastassja Kinski, Sarah Polley, Steven Soderbergh, Stephen Gaghan and Laura Bickford, December proved to be just as busy.
On December 12 Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis participated in an entertaining Q&A following the screening of Cast Away. The following day BAFTA/LA screened Lasse Hallstrom’s new film Chocolat. Attending the reception were co-star Alfred Molina, screen- play writer Robert Nelson Jacobs, and novelist Joanne Harris.
Mel Gibson and Nancy Meyers, the star and producer/director of What Women Want took part in a question and answer session following the screening of their new romantic comedy. Everyone agreed that the three screenings in one week was one of the highlights of 2000.
BAFTA/LA’s ‘New Films From Britain 2’ series continued in December and January with sever-
al screenings, starting with Terence Davies’ adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The House Of Mirth, starring Gillian Anderson. Audiences were treated to an early view of The Luzhin Defence, star- ring John Turturro and Emily Watson, on January 9 followed by Purely Belter on January 11.
BAFTA/LA wishes to thank the Film and Television Department of the British Council and the British Film Office, Los Angeles for their support and joint sponsorship of this programme. Other screenings in January were Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and Christopher Nolan’s Memento, starring Guy Pearce.
The Eighth Annual BAFTA/LA Tea Party honouring the nominees of the 2000 British and American Academy Awards will be held at The St. Regis Hotel on Saturday, March 24. ■ Don Haber
www.baftala.org
BAFTA East Coast had a very busy run-up to the holidays with overseas visitors in town and many film screenings in advance of the Christmas openings.
Events included a lovely evening with a reception and screening of the highly acclaimed Chocolat introduced by Miramax co-chairman, Harvey Weinstein. Director Lasse Hallstrom, Alfred Molina and Joanne Harris were also at the screening and participated in a lively Q & A with BAFTA members about the making of the film.
We had an interesting evening that focused on the presentation of television news and the way events are covered on both sides of the Atlantic. With the American election coverage in full swing, it was particularly insightful and very amusing at times.
The evening was produced jointly with the Foreign Press Association and chaired by our own BAFTA Board Member (and
President of the FPA and British journalist) Richard Grayson. Richard flew back from covering the White House that afternoon in time to moderate the high-level panel of journalists.
Changing gears and scale, we were involved in a screening of short films from new directors from Northern Ireland and Eire. It was an opportunity to watch some of these award-winning films that range from kitchen-sink dramas to cutting edge computer game satires and meet those involved in making them.
Other events included the screening of Quills, Tigerland, Traffic, Cast Away, Shadow Of The Vampire and more. We should also add a thank you to the British Consul General, Thomas Harris, who once again opened the doors to his lovely residence and hosted our annual Holiday party in early December. The event attracted a record crowd and a fun one.
The press has been buzzing with the news of the date change for the British Academy Awards and there is much interest from our members. The studios have been extremely diligent in provid- ing voting BAFTA East coast mem- bers with tapes of all the new films and this has helped create a feel- ing of real excitement in the process. The number of studio screenings has also noticeably increased.
BAFTA East Coast will be undergoing some administrative changes as our Executive Director, Julie Ann Marshall, has just left us. The Board is currently talking to some potential candidates for the job. This is an opportunity for us to thank Julie Ann for all her hard work over the last two years. ■ Gillian Rose
www.baftany@earthlink.net
Chuck And Buck, Sexy Beast, Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon and Almost Famous were the final members’ screenings to round off BAFTA North’s most productive year to date.
The Festive Spirit motivated a large attendance of members from across the regions for the Christmas special exclusive screen- ing of Almost Famous at the Odeon Cinema Liverpool.
A reception fol-
lowed with compli-
mentary drinks
provided by The
Living Room.
The event was filled with mem- bers and special guests included
Brookside’s Dean
Sullivan, Alexandra
Westcourt and
Patricia Potter,
Coronation Street
newcomer and new
BAFTA North member Claire McGlinn together with Anita Pandolfo, writer of the TV series Cops. A memorable night was had by all, giving an opportunity to recruit new members!
December also saw the launch of the Liverpool Film Office’s new and exciting website, www.filmliver- pool.com. BAFTA North assisted with the organisation of the event, which was attended and endorsed by industry professionals including acclaimed writer Marc Gee and pro- ducer Peter Barnes (Al’s Lads), which was being filmed in the City at the time. The website in its first month recorded over seven thou- sand hits thus showing the potential
location and facilities opportunities within the City whilst also promot- ing the activities of BAFTA North.
BAFTA North enters 2001 with a packed schedule of events for January and February, starting with the screening of The Claim, writer Frank Cottrell Boyce and director Michael Winterbottom’s latest collaboration. A special screening of One City Many Voices, three short documentaries
FROM OVER THERE
BAFTA NORTH
by Alex Cox, David Yip and Margi Clarke who will attend the event, is to take place in Manchester with a post-reception sponsored by UCI.
A charity screening of Liam, Stephen Frears’ and
Jimmy McGovern’s latest acclaimed feature film,
will take place at Liverpool’s Royal Philharmonic Hall. All above events occur in the first six weeks of BAFTA North’s 2001 pro- gramme! ■ Maureen Sinclair
FOR REGIONAL BAFTA MEMBERSHIP DETAILS
Please call Judith Parkinson on 020 7734 0022 e-mail judithp@bafta.org
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