LFS News: February 2010

LFS News

News about students and graduates of the London Film School, and how well they do at film festivals all over the world.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

'Shirley Adams' wins three SAFTAS - Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress

'Shirley Adams', first feature of 2009 Associate Oliver Hermanus and co-written by 2008 Screenwriting Associate Stavros Pamballis, won all three top awards at the South African Film and TV awards on Saturday: Best Film, Best Director for Hermanus and Best Actress for Denise Newman. Shirley Adams was a very unusual LFS graduation project - a feature, shot in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town on a very tight budget and co-financed by Roland Emmerich. The film has been selected for many international festivals, including Locarno and Toronto, winning first prizes at Dubai and Amiens and two prizes at Durban. Hermanus has also been nominated for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Awards 2009. Last week Hermanus was at the Berlinale speaking on a Talent Campus panel, while six other Associates attended the week as Talents. Hermanus said: "An LFS education is not limited to the technical skills that produce new filmmakers, it is an education that challenges you to find your voice and make it heard."

posted by LFS Staff Blogger @ 12:58 PM

Duncan Jones wins BAFTA for Outstanding Debut for 'Moon'

Duncan Jones was awarded the BAFTA Award for Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer for his feature debut Moon. The BAFTA joins a full mantelpiece of prizes, including Best Film awards at Athens and Sitges Film Festivals, BIFAs for Best British Independent Film and Best Debut Director, and the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Jones, who graduated in 2001 and went on to build a career directing commercials, commented on his experience at LFS, "The beauty of a good film school is that it invites you to make mistakes, but never dampens your enthusiasm. At LFS I made plenty, and ignited a passion."

posted by LFS Staff Blogger @ 12:55 PM

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

LFS grads win 2 out of 3 Tiger Awards at Rotterdam Festival

Two out of three prizes at the Rotterdam Film Festival Tiger Awards were awarded to LFS graduates - Paz Fabrega for her first feature AQUA FRIA DE MAR and Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio for his second feature ALAMAR.

From the Rotterdam website...

The VPRO Tiger Awards were given to Agua fria de mar by Paz Fabrega from Costa Rica, Mundane History by Anocha Suwichakornpong from Thailand and Alamar by Mexican director Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio.

Concerning Agua fria de mar, the jury said that the film 'succeeded in telling the story of a mysterious relationship between a woman and a young girl in a convincing and poetic manner. The film takes the audience on an unusual journey through a nature that interacts with people in a magical way. The superb editing ensures an organic flow of images, whilst the strong directing and disturbing atmosphere create tension.'

Alamar is a film that 'touches deeply without being too sentimental'. This film, about a father and son that go on a journey to the source of the open sea to find their old way of life, is 'true and honest to its subject and shows both the good fortune and tragedy of being a child with divorced parents', according to the jury.

Full story at http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/iffr-2010/news-2010/vpro-tiger-award-winners-announced-/

posted by LFS Staff Blogger @ 10:21 AM

Monday, February 01, 2010

Oliver Hermanus nominated for Ingmar Bergman International Debut Awards

Oliver Hermanus, 2009 MA Filmmaking graduate,has been nominated for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Awards for the feature SHIRLEY ADAMS, his LFS graduation project. The film was co-written by MA Screenwriting graduate Stavros Pamballis.

TIBIDA was arranged for the first time in 2007 when Andrea Arnold, who recently made the highly praised Fish Tank, won with her debut feature film Red Road. In 2008 Spanish Jaime Rosales' Solitary Fragments and last year Enrique Rivero's Parque Via was awarded. Rivero is also part of the jury together with Bergman associate, filmmaker and author Jorn Donner and the actress Angela Kovacs, earlier awarded with the Ingmar Bergman award.

The nominated films are:
Lucia Puenzo, Argentina, for The Fish Child
Tom Ford, USA, for A Single Man
Shahram Alidi, Iraq, for Whisper With the Wind
Martin Zandvliet, Denmark, for Applause
Esther Rots, The Netherlands, for Can Go Through Skin
Maren Ade, Germany for Everyone Else
Lee Suk-Gyung, South Korea, for The Day After
Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, for Shirley Adams

The winner will be announced on February 6.

More info at www.ingmarbergman.se

posted by LFS Staff Blogger @ 8:40 PM