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FAR FROMTHE MADDING CROWD
BAFTA CYMRU
BAFTA SCOTLAND
We had a lovely prep session for Christmas, thanks to the goodwill of Columbia TriStar who laid on membership screenings of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and All the Pretty Horses.
Having digested the pudding and frozen many a portion of left- over turkey curry, we had our After Eights in the New Year thanks to Buena Vista with a gian- duja-licking screening of Chocolat.
On January 30, in collabora- tion with the Cardiff School of
Journalism, members were invited to a lec- ture given by Peter Dale, Head of Documentaries at Channel 4, entitled “Private Lives, Public Television: the histo- ry and future of docu- mentary television.” Lytton Strachey, move over.
The beginning of January
as usual heralded the begin- ning of prepara- tions for the Welsh Film & TV Awards, to be held on June 3 in Cardiff.
Categories are being revised, let- ters and paperwork updated and the calendar for voting, tape copying and juries established. The sponsorship drive also begins in earnest - so drop me a line should you have any Lottery winnings to redistribute.
Before we get into the thick of the awards however, there is one extremely significant event on our calendar - Showcase
Wales. This one-day profiling event for the Welsh audiovisual industry will be held at BAFTA UK, 195 Piccadilly, London on March 1. The wealth of our talent, the breadth of production and interna- tionally successful programming of the Welsh audiovisual industry will be on show to invited delegates.
All our big players with talent will be there: BBC Wales, HTV Wales, S4C, TAC/PACT, the Welsh Development Agency, Wales Animation Group, New Media Group Wales, @Wales, International Film Festival Wales and the three regional Welsh Film Commissions. A VIP St David’s Day Supper and screening of Marc Evans’s feature documentary on the Welsh super- groups, Beautiful Mistake will con- clude the showcase.
Highlights will also include the best of recent Welsh anima- tion, the lyrical feature film The Testimony Of Taliesin Jones (CF1/HTV Wales) starring Jonathan Pryce, Geraldine James, Matthew Rhys and Ian Bannen in his last competed screen project, Channel 4’s Screen Gems, the winner of the DM Davies Short Film Prize (Blue Kenny) and a hell of a lot more. A menu capa- ble of converting the petulant prejudices of even an AA Gill. The updated programme will be available on our website (see below). Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Kinga Shinnen! ■
Gethin While
www.bafta-cymru.org.uk
BAFTA Scotland’s unique New Talent Awards took place at the end of last November in a stunning auditorium on the banks of the Clyde. Glamorous Gail Porter, who fronts Channel 5’s weekly The Movie Chart Show, was the evening’s host and introduced a galaxy of Scottish star guest presen- ters who are all familiar
to national television viewers and film fans.
Following a cham- pagne reception, in the silvery foyer of the Armadillo, 570 screen industry guests attend- ed the ceremony to see a total of 70 nominees and 24 New Talent Award winners receive their prizes.
The ceremony was dominated by wins for the remarkable debut feature film by Glasgow born writer-director May Miles Thomas, whose film One Life Stand won Best Drama, Best Director, Best Writer and the prestigious Scottish Screen Award for Outstanding Achievement. Best Film Performance went to One Life Stand’s Maureen Carr for her first leading role in a feature film.
Former EastEnders star, Caroline Paterson, won the award for Best Television Director for her first directing work on the recent
BBC Scotland/Raindog pro- duction of Tinsel Town.
The Scottish Media Group/Scottish Screen backed New Found Land series of short television dra- mas picked up a total of five nominations and a win for the young actor Stuart Wilkinson in Kings Of The Wild Frontier.
National TV and film stars Jack Docherty, Daniela Nardini, Peter Mullan, Kirsty Wark and John Gordon Sinclair presented other Awards for Best Documentary, Animation, TV Production, New Media, Craft, Composer & Sound Design and for Best Short Film. We were also delighted to welcome John
Penman, editor of the new Scottish financial newspaper, business a.m, our main sponsor, to present the best writer award. He was accompanied by author and broadcast- er Muriel Gray.
All of the nominees were either very young or new to the screen
work for which they had been nominated. Youngest of all was eight year old Heather Keenan - nominated for Best Performance in the short film, Daddy’s Girl.
Following the ceremony, a din- ner was held in the adjoining Moat House Hotel. Afterwards, stars and guests danced until 2a.m. to the excellent music provided by DJ Richard Colburn, of Belle & Sebastian, accompanied by the lovely Gill Mills.
Many of the stars stayed up very late, enjoying the opportunity to have fun with old friends and colleagues. Press coverage of the event was superb and everyone had a wonderful evening.
BAFTA is back with a bang in Scotland and looking forward to an equally exciting event in 2001. ■ Alison Forsythe
info@baftascotland.co.uk
Photos opposite page from top left: Paul Heller, Donald Haber, Lynn Redgrave and Charles Burnett; Bafta East Coast Christmas Party (l-r) Susan Wagner, Joe Confreda, Richard Grayson, Tom Harris, Christina Thomas and Jane Rimer; inset: Liverpool’s Film Office Website launch party (l-r) Peter Barnes, Marc Gee, Lynn Saunders, Colin McKeown; Photos this page from top left: BAFTA
Scotland New Talent Award Winners: May Miles Thomas (winner Best Writer) between Muriel Gray and host, Gail Porter; Caroline 9 Paterson (winner Best Director-Television); Ford Kiernan and Karen Dunbar presenting
the Outstanding Craft Award; Stuart Wilkinson (winner Best TV Performance); inset above right: Peter Mullan presenting Best Film Drama; inset above left: The Testimony of Taliesin Jones; InterActive Cymru Workshop (l-r) Richard Adams, Joy Barrett and John Roland; and Richard Adams at The Cymru Workshop in Cardiff on 8 Dec 2000