BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

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Dave Watterson
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BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Dave Watterson »

A first peep at the full BIAFF 2012 results ... they are currently subject to additions, and corrections but this is your first chance to look ...

http://www.theiac.org.uk/eventsnew/biaf ... wards.html
Mike Shaw

Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Mike Shaw »

I'm really glad that The Letter won one of the sponsor's prizes - but I can't see it among the 5-stars (I think it should be!) - or anywhere else. So yes, I guess some updating to come along...

And glad too to see One Moment was upped to a Diamond (we gave it '5' :) )
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Dave Watterson
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Dave Watterson »

Well-spotted, Mike, thanks. My sincere apologies to Channel 7 ... The Letter got a well-deserved 5-stars.

I am glad you caught this ... a fresh check through all the results begins now. We just wanted to get them online as quickly as possible after the various delays which some people have found very frustrating.

More pictures and other information will gradually be added to the listings. The screening schedules for the BIAFF weekend will be online later today.

Dave
Mike Shaw

Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Mike Shaw »

It wasn't a problem ... especially as I guess you were pretty busy yesterday! (A belated Happy Ruby Anniversary by the way!!).
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TimStannard
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by TimStannard »

I see the Best Comedy wasn't awarded. Presumably there were some comedies entered and there must be other criteria. Does the film have to reach 4 star, 5 star, diamond status before it can be considered? Just interested.
Tim
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Dave Watterson
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Dave Watterson »

The prizes are awarded by the final jury, who usually only see films graded 5-stars. First stage panels can signal films graded lower than that as worth consideration for one of the special prizes.

Dave
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TimStannard
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by TimStannard »

Thanks for the explanation, Dave. I'll only try a comedy if I think it's worth 5 stars or exceptionally funny then!
Tim
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fraught
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by fraught »

So have they not awarded a 'Best Comedy' award then? My 4 Star Comedy 'Room 4' will be happy to take it if no one else wants it. ;-)
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Dave Watterson
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Dave Watterson »

It is not immediately obvious, but the detailed timetable for BIAFF is also on the main website now.
See http://www.theiac.org.uk/eventsnew/biaf ... how01.html
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Willy
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Willy »

There are four diamond awards and ten five star certificates. Tell me if I am wrong,... in the 14 best all films but one are feature films! Does it show that documentaries are not so much appreciated? There are not many documentaries that ever won "The Daily Mail Trophy". I remember an Italian one about puppets on a string, but ... I myself preferred a feature film at that festival.
Willy Van der Linden
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TimStannard
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by TimStannard »

Willy wrote:... in the 14 best all films but one are feature films! Does it show that documentaries are not so much appreciated?
I presume it is because it is possible to demonstrate more skills with a feature film.

Whilst the best documentaries can demonstrate many of the same skills as a feature filem (for which I read "drama" or "fiction"), a documentary is generally a film about something which already exists. It's a story about a process or a person or a place or and event or ... whatever ..... but a feature required that the film maker actually creates the story from scratch.

And while many documentaries include elements of acting, they are acting out either characters from history or imagined characters demonstrating something. Actors in a feature are acting characters that are created from scratch. Very often in documentaries, purely due to the situation in which some content is filmed, it is not possible to demonstrate skills in lighting, sound, even composition in some cases.

Overall, in a feature, the production team has control over every aspect and therefore is able to how off their ability in each to best effect. Documentaries provide a different challenge, but rarely enable the makers to show off all their skills to as good an effect.

On a personal level, I love documentaries about scientific progress in both the very large (the universe) and the very small (quantum mechanic), and in well produced documentaries we may get one or two fantastic images produced by the Hubble telescope, we may get a couple of actors playing out a scene of Copernicus being chastised, under a narration, we may get a few shots of scientists in a dust free chamber where the team can only use the lights already present and we may get artsy shots of Prof Brian Cox on a mountain outcrop from a helicopter, or modelling the solar system with pebbles on a beach, but the vast majority of useful explanatory visuals are CGI models. Is it really fair to compare this to a drama where everything has to be created from scratch?
Tim
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Michael Slowe
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Michael Slowe »

I don't think that it's true that documentaries are not appreciated. I've only ever made documentaries (anything non fictional is thus defined), and worldwide have always been heartened by responses to many films I've made these last 45 years. I do find however that great care does have to be taken in keeping the audience interested and entertained, maybe more so than with fiction where the natural re action is to find out what happens next. It is easy to make a boring documentary, that's certainly true. But I contest Tim's view that documentarists have less scope. On the contrary, I have more opportunities to use music in say, a montage sequence, than I would have in a drama piece. All visual and audio tricks and devices are available for use in creating an impressionistic effect which might not fit into a drama. The traditional 'cake decorating' documentary, so beloved by amateur film makers of past decades, has given the genre a bad name.
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TimStannard
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by TimStannard »

I'd assumed that in the context of Willy's post (awards at BIAFF) he was asking te question whether documentaries were not appreciated by judges as seemed to be reflected in the results, rather than generally.

I have little doubt that all of us, as film makers, apprciate a good documentary and that most of us would agree that keeping an audience interested and entertained in a documentary is a bigger challenge than in a feature. However I still contend that there is more scope in a feature. Michael cites all the audio and visual tricks and effects available to documentary makers that might not fit into a drama as giving more scope to documentary film makers. I disagree. Such devices are available for both types of film and may or may not work in either case. Many features nowadays use devices that perhaps were once only used in documentaries or pop videos. It is not unusual to see fast cut montage sequences (even in amateur films - Phil Martin's 4 star 2011 "A Gentle Woman", for example) or split-screen or picture-in-picture ("24") in dramas nowadays, as well as numerous different visual effects utilised to create different moods

Whilst this shouldn't affect judges peceptions, if a judge likes to see good dramatic dialogue writing or good acting - those are two areas where a documentary is at a disadvantage compared to a drama. Similarly, it's often obvious the amount of work that has gone into making a feature, but not always so with a documentary. Again, this shouldn't matter - surely it's the end result that counts, but festival judges are human, after all.
Tim
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tom hardwick
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by tom hardwick »

Yes, festival judges are human as you say Tim. As such they're not without their prejudices, but what they're really looking for is entertainment rather than education. Competition entrants should remember one thing, and that is this: on the day they'll be in competition with others, often many others. Have empathy for the judges; sit in their shoes. They've already seen 37 films, so what makes yours stand out from the crowd?

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Willy
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Re: BIAFF 2012 RESULTS

Post by Willy »

I have already been a judge hundreds of times. At local and international festivals. Perhaps I respect judges more than anyone else. In particular BIAFF-judges.

Michael Slowe's documentaries are always very entertaining. Last year I saw "After the Bus Had Gone" by Michael Gough. I appreciated it very much. It was entertaining and educational. Now I know more about Dylan Thomas. And then there are John's films and Phil's and ... Difficult to mention all these names...

The word "perception" is more and more used. It's difficult to evaluate feature films and documentaries in one festival. We have already had a discussion about it. I still prefer different categories. Fiction and non-fiction for instance.

May I ask you to see the following film? It's a documentary. Length about 4 minutes. It's educational and powerful and it has lots of other qualities : http://www.midwayfilm.com I would give it a diamond award. I would only make it even a bit shorter. Wouldn't you give it an award though it is not a feature film?

Last week I received my comments written by the judges of our regional competition. They wrote the following thing about a film that received 4 stars at BIAFF : "What's good? Intention. Deeply human. Simple story. Music." What good be better? Continuity. Scenario". That's all. I was disappointed.

Last week I also received my BIAFF written comments. I am not going to rewrite them here. I had six entries. For each film I received one page with constructive criticism. I was not disappointed. I showed my clubmates and other friends.

At this moment I am already sure about 6 new Belgian films for BIAFF in 2013. My own films not included. There will be a Belgian invasion. The crooked tower of Chesterfield is in danger! There will be Belgian feature films and documentaries. But first, let's enjoy BIAFF in Weymouth.
Willy Van der Linden
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