UNICA 2009 - Success for British Moviemakers
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:43 pm
UNICA - the world independant movie festival - was held in Gdansk, Poland last week. The jury were entertaining and often gave useful insights ... though sometimes they were also controversial (or even plain wrong! ) They gave fewer medals than usual.
The British programme started with an intro film made by Brian Dunckley and featuring Alice Dunckley. As she went about daily life the movie showed how so many goods and services we assume to be British are in fact owned by foreign companies. It got roars of laughter from the international audience.
The main programme showed:
Mike Shaw's Talking Pictures which got a lot of laughter though some of the jokes were missed by non-English speakers.
James Webber's Commitment which won a UNICA bronze medal.
Nigel Barton/Southport Movie Makers Rent-A-Mate which brought the house down and won a UNICA gold medal by unanimous vote of the jury. There were only four gold medals given in the main competition.
Paul Bagshaw's Blood Lake was extremely impressive on a huge screen with powerful sound system - and won a UNICA bronze medal.
Bob Lorrimer's The Drill ended the main programme on a high note of shock and laughter. It cemented the connection between Britain and humour for most delegates.
In the World Minute Movie Cup - a section of the UNICA festival where prizes are awarded by audience vote, Hamish Anderson's Flicker dropped out after the first round ... though admired by many delegates it is comedies which tend to win this prize.
There will be a full report in the next week or so ... but for now we say thanks to all our moviemakers for letting us present a great programme of movies to the world ... and special congratulations to the medal winners.
- Jan
The British programme started with an intro film made by Brian Dunckley and featuring Alice Dunckley. As she went about daily life the movie showed how so many goods and services we assume to be British are in fact owned by foreign companies. It got roars of laughter from the international audience.
The main programme showed:
Mike Shaw's Talking Pictures which got a lot of laughter though some of the jokes were missed by non-English speakers.
James Webber's Commitment which won a UNICA bronze medal.
Nigel Barton/Southport Movie Makers Rent-A-Mate which brought the house down and won a UNICA gold medal by unanimous vote of the jury. There were only four gold medals given in the main competition.
Paul Bagshaw's Blood Lake was extremely impressive on a huge screen with powerful sound system - and won a UNICA bronze medal.
Bob Lorrimer's The Drill ended the main programme on a high note of shock and laughter. It cemented the connection between Britain and humour for most delegates.
In the World Minute Movie Cup - a section of the UNICA festival where prizes are awarded by audience vote, Hamish Anderson's Flicker dropped out after the first round ... though admired by many delegates it is comedies which tend to win this prize.
There will be a full report in the next week or so ... but for now we say thanks to all our moviemakers for letting us present a great programme of movies to the world ... and special congratulations to the medal winners.
- Jan