UNICA 2009 - Success for British Moviemakers

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JanW
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UNICA 2009 - Success for British Moviemakers

Post by JanW »

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! :lol: ) 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
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billyfromConsett
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Re: UNICA 2009 - Success for British Moviemakers

Post by billyfromConsett »

There's a sort of fitting irony that the British film made by Brian and Alice Dunckley was shown in Poland!

Seriously, it is good to hear that our movie-makers are flying the flag proudly and making a mark around the world. Well done guys.
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Dave Watterson
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Re: UNICA 2009 - Success for British Moviemakers

Post by Dave Watterson »

You will surely be reading more about UNICA 2009 in future issues of Film and Video Maker, but I want to give you a heads-up on UNICA 2010.

It will be in a small town in the centre of Switzerland, called Einsiedeln. [eye-n-see-dell-n] from 28th August to 4th September. All UNICAs are good but this one is organised by the man who has just stepped down as UNICA president after many years ... and I'm betting he intends it to be a really great event.

Already many people have begun to reserve hotels for the week. That's important because there is only a handful of hotels in the town and they are fairly small. You can find more details on http://www.theiac.org.uk/unica/2010/uni ... port1.html including a link to the festival's own website where you can download lots of information and forms.

Why not think about it? A week of great films, outings, fun, food and super company in a place which is easy to get to. Our readers in America and Australia might consider tying it in with a trip to see family in Britain or Europe ... our friend Mila Werbik from Canada has been doing this for the last couple of UNICAs and was the first person to sign up for 2010.

Dave
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