Wednesday, 18 June 2008

THE 6TH ISCHIA GLOBAL FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL

13 - 20 JULY 2008

This year the event will be Chaired by multiple AcademyAward winner Paul Haggis. "I'm proud of the chairmanship, which I assumewith much respect towards Italian cinema and its traditions" saysHaggis, whose major film credits include "Crash", "Million Dollar Baby","Flags of our Fathers" and "Casino Royale".

The event will feature special screenings, performances, encounters withartists, meetings with producers, and a forum to explore the films inmore depth. The screenings are open to the public and are free of charge.

This truly original awards ceremony has previously been attended by thelikes of Francis Ford Coppola, Naomi Watts, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper,Diane Kruger, Joseph Fiennes, Brenda Blethyn Gerard Butler, Jean-ClaudeVan Damme and music legends Burt Bacharach and Harry Belafonte. With the2008 event being led by Paul Haggis, it is certain that a wealth highprofile guests will be in attendance this year.

This year, Japanese films will take centre stage, presenting works bothpast and present, by some of the country's most prestigious directors.For the first time, these key players will exchange views on climatechange and the environment, discussing the role that the internationalfilm industry plays. Guests at Regina Isabella can spend their dayssoaking up the sun before enjoying an aperitif and the best of Japanese,Hollywood and European cinema.

more info: http://www.ischiaglobal.com/

COMPETITION: TCM CLASSIC SHORTS

WOLFGANG PETERSEN AND RUTGER HAUER JOIN FILM-MAKERS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO JUDGE THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION: TCM CLASSIC SHORTS

The ninth annual TCM Classic Shorts competition launched on May 1st with a truly international flavour to its judging panel which this year includes Wolfgang Petersen, Istvan Szabo, Agnieszka Holland, Mikael Hafstrom, Rutger Hauer, James Franco, Nick Goldsmith and Garth Jennings aka Hammer and Tongs. This is the second year that the competition has been open to entries from Europe, the Middle East and Africa and, as in previous years, the winner and runners up will be screened at an award ceremony held as part of The Times BFI London Film Festival in October. The competition rewards the top three film makers with £10,000 of prize money (1st prize - £5,000; 2nd prize – 3,000; 3rd prize £2,000), with all six finalists getting exposure across all the TCM EMEA territories, making it one of the most valuable competitions of its kind.

In addition, the six short listed films are aired during a special weekend of programming on TCM celebrating the best new film making talent from the competition. Once again, TCM Classic Shorts has been lucky enough to attract some of the most distinguished names from the international film industry who have agreed to give up their time to help nurture future film makers.

The competition prides itself on having discovered some great new film making talent in recent years; last year’s winner A Bout de Truffe by Tom Tagholm, which also won first prize at The Raindance Film Festival, was shot entirely in French and enjoyed plaudits from the judges. Simon Pegg described the film as ‘thoughtfully directed and beautifully composed. Funny, tragic and wonderfully sly’ whilst Cillian Murphy thought it ‘Wonderfully original, beautifully acted and shot. Very hard to fault’. Many of the short-listed films from previous years have also gone on to receive further acclaim including 2006 winner Jane Lloyd, which was used by David Gray as the video for his single, Alibi; 2005 finalist Cubs directed by Tom Harper and 2004 winner Nits directed by Harry Wootliff were BAFTA nominated whilst 2002 entry Brown Paper Bag directed by Michael Baig Clifford and 2001 winner About A Girl directed by Brian Percival, won Best Short Film BAFTAs. 2002 winner Gerald McMorrow is now directing a feature film, Franklyn, with Hanway Films.

TCM Classic Shorts is open to all short films from EMEA, if they have not been made in English they will require English subtitles. The opening date was 1st May 2008 and all films must be received by 1st August 2008 at the very latest.

Further information and entry forms are available at: www.tcmclassicshorts.com