EVENTS IN LONDON
Thursday 05 May, 18.30pm: A BAFTA Life In Pictures – Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cineworld Haymarket 63-65 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RL
Join BAFTA in welcoming Philip Seymour Hoffman for his Life in Pictures.
Philip Seymour Hoffman became involved in theatre during high school and went on to attend attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a B.F.A. degree in Drama in 1989. His first notable movie role was in Scent of a Woman (1992), and later films, including Twister (1996), gained him further audience recognition. His big breakthrough came with his painfully emotional performance in P.T. Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997), which was set in the world of adult entertainment. Hoffman has always had the ability for scene-stealing performances, but it was his remarkable and multifaceted portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote in 2006 that earned him a BAFTA Award and an Oscar for best actor. Hoffman followed Capote with a far removed role – as the villain in Mission Impossible II. It is his ability to play opposite sides of the spectrum that has earned him a reputation of one of the most versatile actors – and in more recent years these have been as assorted as a box of chocolates, from real-life CIA agent fighting Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s in Charlie Wilson’s War to a Catholic priest suspected by a nun of abusing children in Doubt and a visionary theatre director in Charlie Kauffman’s Synecdoche, New York. Hoffman was BAFTA nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Charlie Wilson’s War and Doubt.
Saturday 07 May, 12.30pm: Behind the Mask: Director Asif Kapadia on The Story of Qiu Ju
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
Zhang Yimou has directed some of the most stunning films of the New Chinese Cinema. Most recently he’s won acclaim for directing the opening ceremony of Beijing’s Olypmic Games (2008) which has set a new gold standard of artistic achievement for subsequent would-be hosts, as well as international success with his action films Hero and House of Flying Daggers. However, The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and his earlier films starring the exquisite Gong Li, are arguably more thought provoking works, often depicting the lives of Chinese women struggling against domestic and state repression. The Story of Qiu Ju is Zhang’s reinvention of Chinese socialist cinema; with hidden cameras and untrained actors creating a naturalistic, docu-drama feeling to events. This is a tale of one peasant woman’s fight for justice against the Chinese legal system after her husband is kicked in the groin by the village chief – and a little screened gem.
Director Asif Kapadia first came to prominence with his award winning short film The Sheep Thief, followed by his debut feature The Warrior which won a BAFTA in 2003 for Best British Film. Asif has continued his style of visually stunning film making with The Return and Far North and recently completed his first documentary film, Senna (2010), on the monumental life and tragic death of Brazilian Formula 1 racing driver Ayrton Senna. Winner of the World Cinema Audience Award Documentary at Sundance this year, Senna has already received wide critical acclaim and is released in June 2011.
Monday 09 May, 19.30pm: BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum with Julian Fellowes
Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN
The BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum, now in its eleventh year, is a platform for new writing and a networking event. The format selects three 8 minute script extracts – feature film, short film or television drama sketches from applications sent from emerging writing talent all over the country.
The three pieces will be performed by professional actors in front of a live audience and critiqued by three time BAFTA nominee Julian Fellowes.
Wednesday 11 May, 18.45pm: TV Preview: The Hour and Q&A
Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN
Romola Garai (Emma, Atonement), Dominic West (The Wire, The Devil’s Whore) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Criminal Justice, Brideshead Revisited) lead an all-star cast in The Hour, a thrilling six-part series which takes viewers behind the scenes of the launch of a topical news programme in 1956 London.
With a highly competitive, sharp-witted and passionate love triangle at the heart of the series, it’s through the lives of enigmatic Bel (Garai) and her rivals, Freddie (Whishaw) and Hector (West), that viewers will witness the decade on the threshold of change – from the ruthless sexual politics behind the polite social façade of the Fifties to the revelations that redefined the world for a new generation.
Written and created by BAFTA award-winning Abi Morgan (White Girl, Sex Traffic, Brick Lane, Murder) and produced by Kudos Film and Television the interplay and intense ambitions between our rising news team play out against the backdrop of a mysterious murder and Freddie’s controversial and dangerous investigation.
The executive producers are Jane Featherstone, Derek Wax and Abi Morgan for Kudos Film and Television, Lucy Richer for the BBC and the series will be launched by director Coky Giedroyc (The Nativity, The Virgin Queen).
BAFTA are pleased to screen the first episode of this six part drama and following the screening will be joined by creative talent behind the production for a Q&A.
Wednesday 11 May, 20.30pm: Game developer Q&A: Duke Nukem Forever
BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN
Randy Pitchford, President and CEO of Gearbox Software, talks about the studio’s long-awaited first-person shooter Duke Nukem Forever, “the video game realization of the ultimate Hollywood summer blockbuster on steroids”.
Featuring unprecedented levels of interactivity, Duke Nukem Forever is the first full sequel to 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D – though Randy has kept busy on other projects in the interim including, as Executive Producer, Gearbox’s role-playing shooter Borderlands (2009), one of the fastest-selling new video game brands of the year.
Saturday 14 May, 12.30pm: Behind the Mask: Special Effects Director Stefan Drury introduces a screening of District 9
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
Former VFX artist and 3D animator Neill Blomkamp previously worked on TV sci fi shows (Smallville, Dark Angel) and commercials before directing the Landfall trilogy of shorts which won him the Film Lions Grand Prix award at Cannes for the first instalment, Halo: Combat Evolved. Blomkamp went on to set up The Embassy Visual Effects in Vancouver and then turned to writing his debut feature District 9, an adaptation of his short film Alive in Joburg. The film received rave reviews and was nominated for four Oscars including Best Visual Effects and seven Baftas. An alien invasion movie with a socio-political edge, the film opens with the appearance of a huge spacecraft hovering over the city of Johannesburg. When the State discovers there to be alien outcasts onboard, they are ghettoized on land and the film’s metaphorical themes become clearer. Blomkamp’s newest venture, alien sci fi movie Elysium starring Matt Damon, is out next year. Earth waits with bated breath.
Stefan Drury is one of the UK’s top special effects directors and whose CV includes some of the most respected and impressive VFX work in the industry. Some of the titles Stefan has worked on include: Batman Begins, Alien Vs Predator, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 28 Days Later and on set with Danny Boyle on Sunshine.
Monday 16 May, 20.30pm: The Arab Spring – A Broadcasting Revolution
Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LN
Chaired by Broadcaster Jon Snow
As governments continue to fight or fall in North Africa, BAFTA asks an expert panel, has the Arab Spring changed how broadcasters cover foreign revolutions forever?
Dominating foreign news agendas from November up until the Japanese Earthquake and now beyond, all UK broadcasters have been faced with unique challenges whilst covering the conflicts of North Africa and the Middle East. How have they maintained impartiality while working under the control of foreign governments? How do broadcasters judge where it’s safe for their journalists and camera crews to report from? And as the major networks bring in outside broadcast units into theatres of conflict, what is the place for freelancers in covering the conflict?
Hilary Clinton’s comments that Al Jazeera English is ‘real news’ has re-ignited the debate as to whether the channel should have a platform in the US. The channel’s coverage and position on the frontline has been a springboard for the network, arguably enabling it to compete on the same playing field as the other major UK broadcasters Sky, BBC and ITV News
Friday 20 May, 16.00pm: BAFTA and Sargent Disc present Thinking Big: Transatlantic Tax Incentives for film
Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LN
In recent years, British filmmakers have been more likely to use Eastern Europe for location shooting than head to the US or Canada. While this is of course about logistics, financial incentives have also played their part in this shift. In this event, experts on tax incentives will help us to explore the ways in which North America is courting international film production. We’ll go into detail on what types of incentives exist in Canada, the US and also compare them with the UK, examining eligibility and key issues to consider for each of the three major territories.
Our international panel of experts will include Specialist on Canadian Tax Incentives, David Carter (President of Canada Film Capital), Specialist on US Tax Incentives Joseph Chianese (Senior Vice President, Entertainment Partners) and Specialist on UK Tax Incentives John Graydon (Director of Business Services Film Unit, RSM Tenon Media) with a case study producer to be confirmed shortly.
SPEAKERS: Joseph Chianese, SVP of Tax & Production Planning, Entertainment Partners; David Carter, President of Canada Film Capital; John Graydon, Director of Business Services Film Unit, RSM Tenon Media
Saturday 21 May, 12.30pm: Behind the Mask: Editor Chris Dickens introduces ‘Being There’
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
‘Being There’ features Peter Sellers’ last great performance, playing a character called Chance in a social satire adapted by Jerzy Kosinski from his own novel. Sellers plays a gardener who has never left the estate where he works until his employer dies. He then rises to become President by simply repeating everything he’s heard around him. Editor Don Zimmerman previously worked with director Hal Ashby on the anti-war film Coming Home for which he was nominated the Oscar for Best Editor. Ashby himself began his career as an editor and won an early Oscar for his work on In the Heat of the Night (Dir Norman Jewison, 1967) and even as director, undoubtedly played a hand in the editing style of all his films. Ashby’s light, mischievous touch is evident throughout the film and no less so than in his own enigmatic version of the final scene – the pinnacle of this quiet masterpiece.
Editor Chris Dickens received international acclaim following the huge success of Slumdog Millionaire, for which he won the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Editing in 2009. Chris has also worked extensively with director Edgar Wright, beginning with cult TV series Spaced and continuing with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This year has seen the release of his two newest projects, Paul and Submarine.
MORE INFO:
BAFTA’s programme of live events and webcasts gives you chance to peek behind the screens of the best films, TV shows and videogames. Open to everyone, BAFTA events take place year-round in venues and at festivals across the country. Visit www.bafta.org for more details.
For more information regarding the events go to www.bafta.org/whats-on/
