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Bafta Beyond Piccadilly
FARFROMTHE
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BAFTA NORTH
AFTA LA welcomed mem- Bbers and guests on
August 24 at a Memorial Tribute to celebrate the life and work of the late
Sir Alec Guinness.
Many of Sir Alec’s collaborators
took part in the evening, sharing stories and anecdotes with a full house at the Writer’s Guild Theater in Los Angeles. Ronald Neame C.B.E. led the evening’s tributes as a friend and colleague of Sir Alec’s, enter- taining all with his witty and often poignant recollections of their time spent together.
Others who took to the stage included many BAFTA LA members such as the celebrated cinematogra- pher and director Guy Green who worked on Sir Alec’s film debut Great Expectations (1946); renowned British actress Glynis Johns, whose comedic performance alongside him in The Card (1952) was shown as an excerpt; and Peter Beale, a founder of BAFTA LA and filmmaker who worked with Sir Alec on many of his films.
Peter spoke fondly of Sir Alec’s memorable contributions. The pro- gramme concluded with a screening of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). A fitting tribute to one of Britain’s great- est and much loved acting talents.
The beginning of September marked the start of a series of British films entitled “New Films from Britain 2”. The programme fol- lowed on from the success of the first season screened earlier in the year. Billy Elliot kicked off the screenings on September 19. After rave reviews on the festival circuit the film’s director and young star, Stephen Daldry and Jamie Bell, were due to present the film and take part in a Q&A session follow- ing the screening.
The films shown will give our members a chance to view British films that do not have significant distribution in the US and which are eligible for nominations for BAFTA
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Film Awards. 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. Also this month BAFTA LA were screening Cameron Crowe’s new movie, the autobio- graphical Almost Famous.
Preparations are now in full swing for the Tenth Annual Britannia Award, on November 4. BAFTA LA will honour Steven Spielberg with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film at a Gala Dinner to be held at The Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles. The evening promises to be an enormously successful and prestigious event.
All BAFTA members are encour- aged to make their reservations for this special evening. For more infor- mation on this event and our forth- coming screenings along with the option to RSVP online, members can visit our website at www.baftala.org
he summer certainly isn’t Tthe quiet season in the Big
Apple! We’vehadafull plate of great new British films over the summer.
BAFTA East Coast hosted its first joint event with the British American Chamber of Commerce in New York with a very popular screening of Saving Grace, the latest film starring BAFTA favourite Brenda Blethyn. She attended the screening with her co-star Craig Ferguson, the co-writer of the film, along with the other co-writer and director, Nigel Cole. Our audience of over 300 peo- ple participated in a lively Q&A before the film, moderated by Board member Kris Slava. This was the largest BAFTA event yet.
It was a great success for BAFTA, and much enjoyed by the stars, our members and the British American Chamber of Commerce. The chapter plans to build on this success, and we also hope to do a lot more
events with the BACC on the future. Our thanks to Fine Line Features for this film.
The Saving Grace event was organized by Freddie Hancock, as was the next BAFTA evening, this one at HBO: a screening of the newest HBO film The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, executive produced by Tessa Ross and others. This wonder- ful film was enjoyed by all and was hosted with HBO’s customary style and generosity. The soundtrack
would make a nice Christmas gift! Our next event was a change of pace - and indeed of language - with a screening of the Oscar-nominated
multi-lingual film Solomon & Gaenor, thanks to Sony Classics, fol- lowed by a reception hosted by the Welsh Development Agency. In opening remarks by Chris Sheehan of the WDA, we were reminded that Welsh productions have been win- ning their share of Oscars and Emmys for the last few years.
We are pleased to be working with the WDA to expand awareness among American producers of all the benefits to be gained from shooting in Wales. Our thanks to the WDA for their support for BAFTA.
Our next event will be Billy Elliot, another production of Tessa Ross and others. We are screening this film in September.
Let us know if you are coming to New York, as we always like hear- ing from British BAFTA members when they are here. Just contact Executive Director Julie Ann Marshall at the BAFTA East Coast office, and we’ll let you know what’s happening during your visit so you can join in our events.■
armel Drumgoole, who Crecently graduated
from Liverpool’s John Moores University, has been appointed
Administrative Assistant at BAFTA North. Carmel, who was trained by MIDA, has been one of our many volunteers over the past three years and the post could not have been cre- ated without the support of the Academy. So special thanks go to Simon Relph, John Morrell, John Chambers and Norma Heyman.
Members were recently invit- ed to a special exclusive preview of Pandaemonium, the new fea- ture film from writer Frank Cottrell Boyce and director Julien Temple, who also attend- ed the screening and discussion held at the Plaza Community Cinema, Crosby. BAFTA North has supported the cinema over the past three years.
We also supported Entertainment Film Distributors with the official premiere of the low-budget Liverpool feature Going Off Big Time at the Showcase Cinema in the city on
September 20. To date, the film has been nominated for four British Independent Film Awards. BAFTA North linked up on the same date with a charity premiere of Me Myself & Irene in Rhyl.
In association with Channel Four’s drama department, we presented an exclusive screen- ing of part one of Tony Marchant’s new TV series Never Never. Marchant was due to attend the screening and discus- sion after at Manchester’s new Life Café, who also provided sponsorship for the event together with Macmillan UK.
Finally, a word about one of our distinguished members, composer John Murphy, who recently returned from the Venice Film Festival where he was nominated for an award for his score of Stephen Frears’ new film, Liam. An active supporter of BAFTA North for more than three years, John is building up an impressive list of credits including Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.
maureen.baftanorth@virgin.net
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