Page 24 - 02_Bafta ACADEMY_Michael Caine & Kate Winslett_ok

Bafta Beyond Piccadilly
FARFROMTHE
FARFROMTHE
FROM OVER THERE
BAFTA CYMRU
BAFTA LA
March saw the finale to an extremely suc- cessful series of screenings entitled New From Britain. Nine films, all eligible for The Orange BAFTA Film Awards and with little or no US distribution, were screened.
The series closed with Paul Morrison’s Solomon & Gaenor, the Welsh film recently nominat- ed for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film. BAFTA LA would especially like to thank the BAFTA Film Committee for help in selecting the films for this series.
We also hosted a wildly suc- cessful screening of The Next Best Thing, co-starring Madonna and Rupert Everett at Paramount Studios. Director John Schlesinger joined us after- wards for a very intelligent and thought-provoking Q & A, fol- lowed by a reception.
Last year we were fortunate to present, during the build-up to the Oscars, a special screen- ing of Shakespeare in Love along with a Q & A and reception with British director John Madden. This year we presented American Beauty, with a Q & A and reception with British direc- tor Sam Mendes.
Far into the future, we intend to continue this annual event of screening the film and hosting the British director nom- inated in both the Best Film and
Best Director categories for Oscars and BAFTAs!
By the time you read this we will have already hosted (on March 25) the Seventh Annual Tea Party, honouring the nomi- nees for the 1999 British and American Academy Awards. This, as always, was a fabulous- ly fun event with members and celebrities sipping tea (OK, maybe champagne!), munching delicious cucumber sandwiches and salmon while overlooking beautiful Santa Monica beach and the Ocean. Please join us next year. ■
www.baftala.org
BAFTA EAST COAST
In February, members were treated to a screening of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the latest Hercule Poirot mystery to air in the United States. Poirot himself, actor David Suchet, attended the event and answered ques- tions from the audience. The evening was sponsored by the A&E Network, produced by Board member Kris Slava and was hosted by the School of Visual Arts.
Paramount Pictures was the host for a March 1 screen- ing of The Next Best Thing. Executive Director Julie Ann Marshall produced the event, and introduced the film. After the movie Board member
Susan Wagner conducted a Q&A with director John Schlesinger, who reminisced about his diverse and ground- breaking career, as well as his experiences with this film. Everyone had a chance to min- gle at a reception afterwards.
The Independent Feature Project invited British Academy members to join them for a champagne reception and screening of Anjelica Huston’s Agnes Browne on March 6. At a seminar following the film, the audience had the opportunity to meet Ms. Huston, its director and star, and to hear her thoughts on filmmaking, preparing for a role, balancing work and family, and how ambition is perceived differ- ently in men and women.
The March 13 screening of Kitty - Return to Auschwitz was a change of pace, but once again British Academy members were able to interact with the filmmaker.
This powerful, award-win- ning documentary is the work of Peter Morley OBE, a trustee of the BAFTA UK. It was because of that link that Academy members were specially invited to the event by the evening’s sponsors, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT). Susan Wagner co-pro- duced the event, this time on behalf of NYWIFT, and served as liaison between NYWIFT and the British Academy. ■
As Wales focuses its identity post- Devolution, post- Stereophonics and post-Six Nations, BAFTA’s branch in Wales is also gearing up to meet new chal- lenges and opportunities. Modernising our profile and the nature of our activities, however, needs the engagement of our membership across the board.
Prior to the BAFTA Cymru Awards Ceremony ‘99, which took place on April 30, at CIA, Cardiff, and fully reported in the next ACADEMY, the office was in the thick of sponsorship raising and category juries. The names of nominees in 25 of the Awards categories were announced on April 14. There were over 1,300 guests at the Ceremony, broad- cast nationwide on BBC Choice, plus a new millennial set (Cool Cymru?), a better balance of entertainment and gravitas, and improved cuisine.
The Welsh Awards provided our programme makers with a quality kitemark for improving their business and for bench- marking their work. The Ceremony also supplied what is acknowledged to be the most wicked party of the year. Celebs invited by the producer, Stifyn Parri, included Ioan Gruffudd, Matthew Rhys, Colin Jackson, H from Steps and hordes more.
The BAFTA Cymru Awards plaque has been re-designed to identify more with the values of our parent organisation, by Toby Petersen, a member of the cele- brated family of sculptors and smiths from Sancle. If you’re interested in coming next year, please contact our office for ticket information (01222 223898). BAFTA members pay £60, non members £80.
After the passion and fury of the Awards, we have a number of treats in the pipeline planned for late May and June: a pre- mière screening of the latest Welsh film, a Road show event in collaboration with BAFTA Interactive, a one-day event look- ing at regulation and the implica- tions of the White Paper coming out in October, plus a celebrity lecture TBC. Dewch yn llu!
Expect the next edition of our quarterly magazine TX for the Welsh media industry in May. Copies are free to non- BAFTA Cymru members on request, and advertising rates are reasonable, the circulation now approaching 2,000 copies. We welcome contributions from BAFTA members with a Welsh angle, from home or abroad. Hwylamytro.■
www.baftacymru.org
FOR BAFTA MEMBERSHIP
Please call Jo Douglas on 020 7734 0022 e-mail jdouglas@bafta.org
22
M
M