The recipient will receive a £15,000 grant.
Creative UK has launched the third Simon Relph Memorial Bursary fund to support up-and-coming producers who live outside of London.
The recipient will receive a £15,000 grant and access to mentoring from key industry figures that have previously included Tim Bevan from Working Title, Rebecca O’Brien from Sixteen Films, and Tessa Ross from House Productions. They will also be able to participate in Creative Enterprise’s Market Trader which provides valuable insights on international film markets.
Following the transition from Creative England to Creative UK, applicant eligibility is expanding from the English regions to include Wales,...
Creative UK has launched the third Simon Relph Memorial Bursary fund to support up-and-coming producers who live outside of London.
The recipient will receive a £15,000 grant and access to mentoring from key industry figures that have previously included Tim Bevan from Working Title, Rebecca O’Brien from Sixteen Films, and Tessa Ross from House Productions. They will also be able to participate in Creative Enterprise’s Market Trader which provides valuable insights on international film markets.
Following the transition from Creative England to Creative UK, applicant eligibility is expanding from the English regions to include Wales,...
- 6/15/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Warren Beatty’s show is a beautiful, one of a kind epic. Never mind that it is sharply critical of John Reed, an American who was buried in the Kremlin — Hollywood never approached the title subject directly: (whisper) Commies. Beatty’s production idiosyncrasies raised eyebrows but his picture is quite an achievement in filmic storytelling, cleverly accessing a political scene sixty years gone through testimony by notables that lived it. Beatty and Diane Keaton provide the romantic fireworks that make the film commercially viable, amid all the revolutionary fervor and political chaos.
Reds 40th Anniversary
Blu-ray + Digital
Paramount Home Video
1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 195 min. / 40th Anniversary Edition / Street Date November 30, 2021 / 17.99
Starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosiński, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, M. Emmet Walsh, Ian Wolfe, George Plimpton, Dolph Sweet, Ramon Bieri, Gene Hackman, Gerald Hiken, William Daniels, Oleg Kerensky, Shane Rimmer, Jerry Hardin, Jack Kehoe,...
Reds 40th Anniversary
Blu-ray + Digital
Paramount Home Video
1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 195 min. / 40th Anniversary Edition / Street Date November 30, 2021 / 17.99
Starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosiński, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, M. Emmet Walsh, Ian Wolfe, George Plimpton, Dolph Sweet, Ramon Bieri, Gene Hackman, Gerald Hiken, William Daniels, Oleg Kerensky, Shane Rimmer, Jerry Hardin, Jack Kehoe,...
- 12/11/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Lindsay Dryden is producer of Oscar-shortlisted documentary ‘Unrest’.
UK filmmaker Lindsey Dryden has been awarded Creative England’s second annual Simon Relph memorial bursary of £15,000.
Dryden is a writer, director and producer of short-and feature-length films. She founded Gloucestershire-based production company Little By Little Films in 2011,specialising in projects led by Lgbtq+ people and women.
Her credits include producing Jennifer Brea’s documentary Unrest, the director’s own story of fighting chronic fatigue syndrome. It won the special jury prize for documentary editing at Sundance 2017. She also won an Emmy for outstanding short documentary for verité short documentary series Trans...
UK filmmaker Lindsey Dryden has been awarded Creative England’s second annual Simon Relph memorial bursary of £15,000.
Dryden is a writer, director and producer of short-and feature-length films. She founded Gloucestershire-based production company Little By Little Films in 2011,specialising in projects led by Lgbtq+ people and women.
Her credits include producing Jennifer Brea’s documentary Unrest, the director’s own story of fighting chronic fatigue syndrome. It won the special jury prize for documentary editing at Sundance 2017. She also won an Emmy for outstanding short documentary for verité short documentary series Trans...
- 11/19/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Karel Žalud’s ’Enclosed World’ took best Czech documentary.
The Czech Republic’s Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival has awarded prizes for its 22nd edition (October 25-30), with Karel Žalud’s Enclosed World taking the best Czech documentary award.
The four-hour documentary charts life on both sides of the bars in prison, taking in staff as well as individuals at different stages of their incarceration. The jury commented that “the film urgently calls for reflection on how justice is understood and implemented in contemporary society”.
The award was given as part of the ‘Czech Joy’ strand; other prizes in...
The Czech Republic’s Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival has awarded prizes for its 22nd edition (October 25-30), with Karel Žalud’s Enclosed World taking the best Czech documentary award.
The four-hour documentary charts life on both sides of the bars in prison, taking in staff as well as individuals at different stages of their incarceration. The jury commented that “the film urgently calls for reflection on how justice is understood and implemented in contemporary society”.
The award was given as part of the ‘Czech Joy’ strand; other prizes in...
- 10/30/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Griffin is a Screen Star of Tomorrow 2018.
Producer Anna Griffin has been awarded the inaugural Simon Relph Memorial Bursary of £20,000 by Creative England.
Griffin, whose credits include Matt Palmer’s Calibre and documentary Paa Joe & The Lion, was selected by a panel including producer and Number 9 films boss Stephen Woolley, Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury, Working Title co-chairman Tim Bevan, producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and Simon Relph’s daughter, Bella Relph.
Launched in Cannes earlier this year, the bursary was created in memory of producer Relph, who supported many new filmmakers throughout his career, including during his tenure as...
Producer Anna Griffin has been awarded the inaugural Simon Relph Memorial Bursary of £20,000 by Creative England.
Griffin, whose credits include Matt Palmer’s Calibre and documentary Paa Joe & The Lion, was selected by a panel including producer and Number 9 films boss Stephen Woolley, Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury, Working Title co-chairman Tim Bevan, producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and Simon Relph’s daughter, Bella Relph.
Launched in Cannes earlier this year, the bursary was created in memory of producer Relph, who supported many new filmmakers throughout his career, including during his tenure as...
- 10/30/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
A £20,000 reward will be given to an emerging UK producer based outside of London.
Simon Relph, the former Bafta chairman and British Screen Finance CEO, who passed away in October 2016, is a having a new talent bursary launched in his name.
The bursary is being unveiled by Creative England in Cannes. It will be a £20,000 award will be given to an emerging independent UK producer who is based outside of London.
Number 9 Films’ Stephen Woolley will speak at an event in Cannes on May 12 where the bursary will be officially launched, as will a representative of Creative England. The event...
Simon Relph, the former Bafta chairman and British Screen Finance CEO, who passed away in October 2016, is a having a new talent bursary launched in his name.
The bursary is being unveiled by Creative England in Cannes. It will be a £20,000 award will be given to an emerging independent UK producer who is based outside of London.
Number 9 Films’ Stephen Woolley will speak at an event in Cannes on May 12 where the bursary will be officially launched, as will a representative of Creative England. The event...
- 5/12/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
As a champion of emerging film-makers, Relph’s passion was crucial to the growth of independent British cinema and helped transform Bafta’s profile
I was shocked when I heard that Simon Relph had died unexpectedly at the weekend. He was a colossal influence on many of us breaking through in the British film industry in the 1980s and 90s. He was also a terrific man who supported young writers, directors and producers throughout his career. I first met Simon when I was buying films for my distribution company Palace; having just finished making The Company of Wolves I had ambitions to produce more films. Simon was a big bear of a man with a huge ornamental chain around his neck and a booming voice to match: old-fashioned and posh but with a twinkling eye, like a benign lord mayor from the free state of Pimlico. (It’s entirely typical...
I was shocked when I heard that Simon Relph had died unexpectedly at the weekend. He was a colossal influence on many of us breaking through in the British film industry in the 1980s and 90s. He was also a terrific man who supported young writers, directors and producers throughout his career. I first met Simon when I was buying films for my distribution company Palace; having just finished making The Company of Wolves I had ambitions to produce more films. Simon was a big bear of a man with a huge ornamental chain around his neck and a booming voice to match: old-fashioned and posh but with a twinkling eye, like a benign lord mayor from the free state of Pimlico. (It’s entirely typical...
- 11/2/2016
- by Stephen Woolley
- The Guardian - Film News
UK film industry veteran was the founding CEO of British Screen and chairman of BAFTA; his credits included Comrades [pictured].
Respected UK producer and film industry figure Simon Relph has died at age 76.
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), of which Relph was a former chairman, announced it was saddened to hear of his death.
We are deeply saddened to learn that filmmaker and former Chair of BAFTA Simon Relph has passed away pic.twitter.com/jNkg2XuUku
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) October 31, 2016
Relph was born into cinema. He was the son of the prolific art designer, producer and writer Michael Relph, best known for his long-time collaboration with UK director Basil Dearden, and grandson of the celebrated English actor George Relph, a star of the stage and big screen.
At the time of his birth in 1940, his father was an art director at Ealing Studios, an activity which would eventually expand into producing and some 30 credits including...
Respected UK producer and film industry figure Simon Relph has died at age 76.
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), of which Relph was a former chairman, announced it was saddened to hear of his death.
We are deeply saddened to learn that filmmaker and former Chair of BAFTA Simon Relph has passed away pic.twitter.com/jNkg2XuUku
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) October 31, 2016
Relph was born into cinema. He was the son of the prolific art designer, producer and writer Michael Relph, best known for his long-time collaboration with UK director Basil Dearden, and grandson of the celebrated English actor George Relph, a star of the stage and big screen.
At the time of his birth in 1940, his father was an art director at Ealing Studios, an activity which would eventually expand into producing and some 30 credits including...
- 10/31/2016
- ScreenDaily
To view the oppression of women under the Taliban as 'a small price to pay' is breathtaking
James Fergusson's claim that many Afghan women saw oppression under the Taliban as "a small price to pay" after the conflict of the 1990s is breathtaking ("Should British soldiers be dying for the rights of Afghan women? No", Comment).
Are Afghan women supposed to be grateful to a group that prevented all girls from attending school, confined women to their own homes, and left women's healthcare in shreds?
Whether or not the Taliban leadership saw themselves as oppressors, the fact is they were. And they still are. On the same day that Mr Fergusson's article appeared, the Taliban stoned to death a young man and woman for the "crime" of adultery.
The need for Afghan women to have a direct say in their future – as required under Un resolutions (1325, 1820) – has never been more important.
James Fergusson's claim that many Afghan women saw oppression under the Taliban as "a small price to pay" after the conflict of the 1990s is breathtaking ("Should British soldiers be dying for the rights of Afghan women? No", Comment).
Are Afghan women supposed to be grateful to a group that prevented all girls from attending school, confined women to their own homes, and left women's healthcare in shreds?
Whether or not the Taliban leadership saw themselves as oppressors, the fact is they were. And they still are. On the same day that Mr Fergusson's article appeared, the Taliban stoned to death a young man and woman for the "crime" of adultery.
The need for Afghan women to have a direct say in their future – as required under Un resolutions (1325, 1820) – has never been more important.
- 8/21/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
The nominees for the eleventh annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) have been announced. On Tuesday, October 28, at Soho House in London, it is unveiled that IRA prison drama "Hunger" and crime comedy "In Bruges" have dominated the list by collecting seven nominations each.
Both of them will battle it out for the title of Best British Independent Film, contending also with "Slumdog Millionaire", "Man on Wire" and "Somers Town". They will also go head-to-head for Best Screenplay and Best Debut Director. The latter is also known as The Douglas Hickox Award.
On the performers' category, past Variety Award recipient Keira Knightley has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "The Duchess". She will be facing Vera Farmiga, Samantha Morton, Kelly Reilly and Sally Hawkins. Moreover, "In Bruges" star Colin Farrell will be up against Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Riz Ahmed and Thomas Turgoose for the Best Actor.
Both of them will battle it out for the title of Best British Independent Film, contending also with "Slumdog Millionaire", "Man on Wire" and "Somers Town". They will also go head-to-head for Best Screenplay and Best Debut Director. The latter is also known as The Douglas Hickox Award.
On the performers' category, past Variety Award recipient Keira Knightley has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "The Duchess". She will be facing Vera Farmiga, Samantha Morton, Kelly Reilly and Sally Hawkins. Moreover, "In Bruges" star Colin Farrell will be up against Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Riz Ahmed and Thomas Turgoose for the Best Actor.
- 10/29/2008
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
LONDON -- Digital film distribution services provider Arts Alliance Media on Tuesday named former Emap media group chief executive Robin Miller and film producer Simon Relph, a former BAFTA chairman, as non-executive directors. Arts Alliance is in the business of digital film delivery to cinemas and homes. The U.K. Film Council chose the firm to install its Digital Screen Network last year. Company chairman Thomas Hoegh welcomed the two veteran executives to the board, adding in a statement, "Simon's significant achievements in the film industry coupled with Robin's vast media business experience will strengthen our executive team and contribute extremely valuable strategic perspective."...
- 4/18/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
March 23
California Science Center, Los Angeles
That hulking gorilla in "King Kong" and those rampaging dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park" have nothing on the amazing monsters in "Bugs! in 3-D." Filmed with wide-angle lenses that can magnify subjects up to 250,000 times onscreen, "Bugs!" gets audiences up close and personal in the world of insects. Shot in a rain forest on the equatorial island of Borneo and in a studio in England for the many close-ups, this 3-D Imax film puts you at eye level with awesome creatures that look like alien beasts from deep space.
Director Mike Slee and the producers aim the 40-minute film at young people by personalizing the insects and staging their mating rituals and predatory hunts for maximum drama. However, adults also will marvel at the varied hues, body structure and evolutionary traits that only become clear when bugs get magnified to this size.
In an abandoned hut sliding into a lagoon, which the jungle is swiftly reclaiming, the camera prowls the foliage in search of startling insects magnificently camouflaged by nature to escape (not always successfully) the danger of becoming another insect's dinner. There are all kinds of beetles, ants and carnivorous crickets in addition to predators such as scorpions, spiders, frogs, lizards and millions of bats. Mostly, the film focuses on two protagonists: a butterfly and a praying mantis who, with a little poetic license, are "born on the same day" in the same rain forest. The film follows their life cycle.
Papilio undergoes her metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a Great Mormon butterfly, its wings patterned with red, black and white. Hierodula, a green mantis, is a very cool predatory male with compound eyes, molting exoskeleton and forelegs that spear his food. His assault and consumption of a poor fruit fly is equal to any attack by the CG creatures in "Jurassic Park".
Slee oversees a terrific team headed by specialist photographer Peter Parks, who designed and built new systems equipment to shoot insects in extreme close-up, and Sean Phillips, a leading 3-D cinematographer.
Composer John Lunn plays up the drama with hot jazz licks for bugs in jittery motion, strings and horns swooning in awe at a butterfly emerging from her cocoon and Hitchcockian tension for bugs waiting in ambush for their prey. Judi Dench goes for elegant simplicity in her narration of Slee and Abby Aron's script.
BUGS! IN 3-D
SK Films
Terminix presents a Principal Large Format Film productionin association with Image Quest 3-D & U.K. Film and TV Production Co.
Credits:
Director: Mike Slee
Writers: Mike Slee, Abby Aron
Producers: Phil Streather, Alexandra Ferguson
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Peter Fudakowski
Director of photography: Sean Phillips
Music: John Lunn
Systems designer, specialist photography: Peter Parks
Editor: Peter Beston
Insect researcher: Gillian Burke
Narrator: Judi Dench
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
March 23
California Science Center, Los Angeles
That hulking gorilla in "King Kong" and those rampaging dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park" have nothing on the amazing monsters in "Bugs! in 3-D." Filmed with wide-angle lenses that can magnify subjects up to 250,000 times onscreen, "Bugs!" gets audiences up close and personal in the world of insects. Shot in a rain forest on the equatorial island of Borneo and in a studio in England for the many close-ups, this 3-D Imax film puts you at eye level with awesome creatures that look like alien beasts from deep space.
Director Mike Slee and the producers aim the 40-minute film at young people by personalizing the insects and staging their mating rituals and predatory hunts for maximum drama. However, adults also will marvel at the varied hues, body structure and evolutionary traits that only become clear when bugs get magnified to this size.
In an abandoned hut sliding into a lagoon, which the jungle is swiftly reclaiming, the camera prowls the foliage in search of startling insects magnificently camouflaged by nature to escape (not always successfully) the danger of becoming another insect's dinner. There are all kinds of beetles, ants and carnivorous crickets in addition to predators such as scorpions, spiders, frogs, lizards and millions of bats. Mostly, the film focuses on two protagonists: a butterfly and a praying mantis who, with a little poetic license, are "born on the same day" in the same rain forest. The film follows their life cycle.
Papilio undergoes her metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a Great Mormon butterfly, its wings patterned with red, black and white. Hierodula, a green mantis, is a very cool predatory male with compound eyes, molting exoskeleton and forelegs that spear his food. His assault and consumption of a poor fruit fly is equal to any attack by the CG creatures in "Jurassic Park".
Slee oversees a terrific team headed by specialist photographer Peter Parks, who designed and built new systems equipment to shoot insects in extreme close-up, and Sean Phillips, a leading 3-D cinematographer.
Composer John Lunn plays up the drama with hot jazz licks for bugs in jittery motion, strings and horns swooning in awe at a butterfly emerging from her cocoon and Hitchcockian tension for bugs waiting in ambush for their prey. Judi Dench goes for elegant simplicity in her narration of Slee and Abby Aron's script.
BUGS! IN 3-D
SK Films
Terminix presents a Principal Large Format Film productionin association with Image Quest 3-D & U.K. Film and TV Production Co.
Credits:
Director: Mike Slee
Writers: Mike Slee, Abby Aron
Producers: Phil Streather, Alexandra Ferguson
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Peter Fudakowski
Director of photography: Sean Phillips
Music: John Lunn
Systems designer, specialist photography: Peter Parks
Editor: Peter Beston
Insect researcher: Gillian Burke
Narrator: Judi Dench
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Opens
March 23
California Science Center, Los Angeles
That hulking gorilla in "King Kong" and those rampaging dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park" have nothing on the amazing monsters in "Bugs! in 3-D." Filmed with wide-angle lenses that can magnify subjects up to 250,000 times onscreen, "Bugs!" gets audiences up close and personal in the world of insects. Shot in a rain forest on the equatorial island of Borneo and in a studio in England for the many close-ups, this 3-D Imax film puts you at eye level with awesome creatures that look like alien beasts from deep space.
Director Mike Slee and the producers aim the 40-minute film at young people by personalizing the insects and staging their mating rituals and predatory hunts for maximum drama. However, adults also will marvel at the varied hues, body structure and evolutionary traits that only become clear when bugs get magnified to this size.
In an abandoned hut sliding into a lagoon, which the jungle is swiftly reclaiming, the camera prowls the foliage in search of startling insects magnificently camouflaged by nature to escape (not always successfully) the danger of becoming another insect's dinner. There are all kinds of beetles, ants and carnivorous crickets in addition to predators such as scorpions, spiders, frogs, lizards and millions of bats. Mostly, the film focuses on two protagonists: a butterfly and a praying mantis who, with a little poetic license, are "born on the same day" in the same rain forest. The film follows their life cycle.
Papilio undergoes her metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a Great Mormon butterfly, its wings patterned with red, black and white. Hierodula, a green mantis, is a very cool predatory male with compound eyes, molting exoskeleton and forelegs that spear his food. His assault and consumption of a poor fruit fly is equal to any attack by the CG creatures in "Jurassic Park".
Slee oversees a terrific team headed by specialist photographer Peter Parks, who designed and built new systems equipment to shoot insects in extreme close-up, and Sean Phillips, a leading 3-D cinematographer.
Composer John Lunn plays up the drama with hot jazz licks for bugs in jittery motion, strings and horns swooning in awe at a butterfly emerging from her cocoon and Hitchcockian tension for bugs waiting in ambush for their prey. Judi Dench goes for elegant simplicity in her narration of Slee and Abby Aron's script.
BUGS! IN 3-D
SK Films
Terminix presents a Principal Large Format Film productionin association with Image Quest 3-D & U.K. Film and TV Production Co.
Credits:
Director: Mike Slee
Writers: Mike Slee, Abby Aron
Producers: Phil Streather, Alexandra Ferguson
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Peter Fudakowski
Director of photography: Sean Phillips
Music: John Lunn
Systems designer, specialist photography: Peter Parks
Editor: Peter Beston
Insect researcher: Gillian Burke
Narrator: Judi Dench
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
March 23
California Science Center, Los Angeles
That hulking gorilla in "King Kong" and those rampaging dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park" have nothing on the amazing monsters in "Bugs! in 3-D." Filmed with wide-angle lenses that can magnify subjects up to 250,000 times onscreen, "Bugs!" gets audiences up close and personal in the world of insects. Shot in a rain forest on the equatorial island of Borneo and in a studio in England for the many close-ups, this 3-D Imax film puts you at eye level with awesome creatures that look like alien beasts from deep space.
Director Mike Slee and the producers aim the 40-minute film at young people by personalizing the insects and staging their mating rituals and predatory hunts for maximum drama. However, adults also will marvel at the varied hues, body structure and evolutionary traits that only become clear when bugs get magnified to this size.
In an abandoned hut sliding into a lagoon, which the jungle is swiftly reclaiming, the camera prowls the foliage in search of startling insects magnificently camouflaged by nature to escape (not always successfully) the danger of becoming another insect's dinner. There are all kinds of beetles, ants and carnivorous crickets in addition to predators such as scorpions, spiders, frogs, lizards and millions of bats. Mostly, the film focuses on two protagonists: a butterfly and a praying mantis who, with a little poetic license, are "born on the same day" in the same rain forest. The film follows their life cycle.
Papilio undergoes her metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a Great Mormon butterfly, its wings patterned with red, black and white. Hierodula, a green mantis, is a very cool predatory male with compound eyes, molting exoskeleton and forelegs that spear his food. His assault and consumption of a poor fruit fly is equal to any attack by the CG creatures in "Jurassic Park".
Slee oversees a terrific team headed by specialist photographer Peter Parks, who designed and built new systems equipment to shoot insects in extreme close-up, and Sean Phillips, a leading 3-D cinematographer.
Composer John Lunn plays up the drama with hot jazz licks for bugs in jittery motion, strings and horns swooning in awe at a butterfly emerging from her cocoon and Hitchcockian tension for bugs waiting in ambush for their prey. Judi Dench goes for elegant simplicity in her narration of Slee and Abby Aron's script.
BUGS! IN 3-D
SK Films
Terminix presents a Principal Large Format Film productionin association with Image Quest 3-D & U.K. Film and TV Production Co.
Credits:
Director: Mike Slee
Writers: Mike Slee, Abby Aron
Producers: Phil Streather, Alexandra Ferguson
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Peter Fudakowski
Director of photography: Sean Phillips
Music: John Lunn
Systems designer, specialist photography: Peter Parks
Editor: Peter Beston
Insect researcher: Gillian Burke
Narrator: Judi Dench
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- "Young Adam", directed by David McKenzie and starring Ewan McGregor, won the Michael Powell Award for best new British feature as the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival came to an end Sunday. The jury, chaired by British producer and former BAFTA chairman Simon Relph, said the decision was unanimous, citing "outstanding craftsmanship, high-quality screenwriting and the understated intensity of the performances." Co-star Tilda Swinton accepted the award for the film, which was a Cannes favorite and was the Edinburgh opener on Aug. 13. The jury also gave a special commendation to Tartan Films' "16 Years of Alcohol", written and directed by Richard Jobson.
- 8/24/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For her first screen outing since her grueling "Titanic" experience, Kate Winslet apparently wanted to be as far away from water as possible.
In Marrakech for "Hideous Kinky", based on English novelist Esther Freud's childhood Moroccan adventures with her sister and mother, Winslet looks somewhat parched but pleased.
Part exotic travelogue, part meditative quest for spiritual redemption, Gillies MacKinnon's screen adaptation ultimately, like its characters, spends a little too long wandering aimlessly in the sun.
Despite bright performances and quaint, post-Woodstock clothing and music, the picture is destined for modest art house business.
Odd as it may seem given her previous role, Winslet is believable as the mother of an 8-year-old and 6-year-old caught up in the adventurous hippie spirit of the late 1960s and early '70s. The film and novel's title refers to a game kids play involving the juxtaposition of unrelated but funny-sounding grown-up words.
With the girls' unreliable poet father in London, Julia, pleasantly precocious Bea (Bella Riza) and wide-eyed Lucy (Carrie Mullan) have pitched a tent at the Hotel Moulay in bustling Marrakech.
At the mercy of the erratic Moroccan postal system, Julia struggles to make ends meet between frugal support payments from home by taking an occasional translation job or selling handmade dolls in the teeming marketplace.
Planning to make a pilgrimage to a Sufi temple in Algeria, where she hopes to find spiritual enlightenment, Julia is sidetracked temporarily by the arrival of Bilal (Said Taghmaoui), a charismatic street performer with a shady past.
He becomes part of their household, serving as Bea and Lucy's surrogate dad. But as with all soul-searching journeys, the road to metaphysical salvation is paved with miles of uncertainty.
MacKinnon ("The Playboys") does a good job capturing the pungent flavors of the place and time, but the initial sensation of free-spirited wanderlust becomes stifled by a purposefully languid pace and repetitive shots of serene vistas.
While Winslet does strong work as a woman treading a fine line between independence and selfishness, Riza and Mullan spark the picture with credible portrayals of playful sisters. Riza is particularly good as a child who, more than anything, craves a normal life with all of its mundane trappings.
Credit frequent MacKinnon collaborator cinematographer John de Borman with indelible visuals that effectively draw the viewer into the exotic terrain. You'll swear you can feel the sand between your toes.
HIDEOUS KINKY
Stratosphere Entertainment
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Screenwriter: Billy MacKinnon
Based on the novel by: Esther Freud
Producer: Ann Scott
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Mark Shivas
Director of photography: John de Borman
Production designers: Louise Marzaroli, Pierre Gompertz
Editor: Pia Di Ciaula
Costume designer: Kate Carin
Music: John Keane
Casting: Susie Figgis
Color/stereo
Cast:
Julia: Kate Winslet
Bilal: Said Taghmaoui
Bea: Bella Riza
Lucy: Carrie Mullan
Santoni: Pierre Clementi
Charlotte: Abigail Cruttenden
Ben Said: Ahmed Boulane
Eva: Sira Stampe
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
In Marrakech for "Hideous Kinky", based on English novelist Esther Freud's childhood Moroccan adventures with her sister and mother, Winslet looks somewhat parched but pleased.
Part exotic travelogue, part meditative quest for spiritual redemption, Gillies MacKinnon's screen adaptation ultimately, like its characters, spends a little too long wandering aimlessly in the sun.
Despite bright performances and quaint, post-Woodstock clothing and music, the picture is destined for modest art house business.
Odd as it may seem given her previous role, Winslet is believable as the mother of an 8-year-old and 6-year-old caught up in the adventurous hippie spirit of the late 1960s and early '70s. The film and novel's title refers to a game kids play involving the juxtaposition of unrelated but funny-sounding grown-up words.
With the girls' unreliable poet father in London, Julia, pleasantly precocious Bea (Bella Riza) and wide-eyed Lucy (Carrie Mullan) have pitched a tent at the Hotel Moulay in bustling Marrakech.
At the mercy of the erratic Moroccan postal system, Julia struggles to make ends meet between frugal support payments from home by taking an occasional translation job or selling handmade dolls in the teeming marketplace.
Planning to make a pilgrimage to a Sufi temple in Algeria, where she hopes to find spiritual enlightenment, Julia is sidetracked temporarily by the arrival of Bilal (Said Taghmaoui), a charismatic street performer with a shady past.
He becomes part of their household, serving as Bea and Lucy's surrogate dad. But as with all soul-searching journeys, the road to metaphysical salvation is paved with miles of uncertainty.
MacKinnon ("The Playboys") does a good job capturing the pungent flavors of the place and time, but the initial sensation of free-spirited wanderlust becomes stifled by a purposefully languid pace and repetitive shots of serene vistas.
While Winslet does strong work as a woman treading a fine line between independence and selfishness, Riza and Mullan spark the picture with credible portrayals of playful sisters. Riza is particularly good as a child who, more than anything, craves a normal life with all of its mundane trappings.
Credit frequent MacKinnon collaborator cinematographer John de Borman with indelible visuals that effectively draw the viewer into the exotic terrain. You'll swear you can feel the sand between your toes.
HIDEOUS KINKY
Stratosphere Entertainment
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Screenwriter: Billy MacKinnon
Based on the novel by: Esther Freud
Producer: Ann Scott
Executive producers: Simon Relph, Mark Shivas
Director of photography: John de Borman
Production designers: Louise Marzaroli, Pierre Gompertz
Editor: Pia Di Ciaula
Costume designer: Kate Carin
Music: John Keane
Casting: Susie Figgis
Color/stereo
Cast:
Julia: Kate Winslet
Bilal: Said Taghmaoui
Bea: Bella Riza
Lucy: Carrie Mullan
Santoni: Pierre Clementi
Charlotte: Abigail Cruttenden
Ben Said: Ahmed Boulane
Eva: Sira Stampe
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/16/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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