UNICA - UK successes
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:32 pm
Greetings all. Jan and I are just back from the UNICA 2005 Festival in Blankenberge,
Belgium. Frankly we are knackered!
I was on the jury this year which meant being there before 9am every day
and usually getting back to out hotel after midnight - spending most of the
time concentrating hard on the screen! Forget your concerns about how judges
view films after a weekend ... imagine trying to assess 120 or so films fairly
in a week.
The UK programme (see main website for details) was well received by the
400-strong audience. The jury finally awarded two of the much-prized UNICA
Bronze medals to 'Unlocking Young Minds' and '225'. There was also a special
prize for '225' recognising its achievements in special effects and animation.
Since movies are entered not by their makers but by national federations,
great interest is shown in the award for the most interesting national programme.
Only two were nominated by the jury for consideration: Germany and the UK.
Everyone was very impressed by the enthusiasm with which we applauded when
Germany was voted the winner.
As Reg Lancaster said "In a way the awards are irrelevant. What matters is
seeing and hearing a huge audience enjoy the movies in your programme." And
they certainly did enjoy ours.
UNICA uses a simple introduction to indicate which country's programme is
coming up. It changes from year to year. This time it drew inspiration from
Belgium's most famous statue: Mannikin Pis. In cartoon form the little boy
from that statue turned up at Blankenberge, peered round with a wicked gleam
in his eyes. Ignoring the signs forbidding urination on the beach ... he
wrote the name of the country concerned on the sand in pee. Thereafter a
few countries ran their own introductory movie as well.
When the UK programme was due, the cartoon started then Reg Lancaster, Gerald
Mee and Brian Dunckley came on stage in front of the screen with a bucket,
turned their backs on the spectators and pretended to pee in it. The audience
roared with laughter. Brian then picked up the bucket and edged towards
the audience, carrying the bucket and with an evil glint in his eye. Then
he threw its contents at the front rows ... paper roses. More laughter.
Then came our trailer ... a quiet harbour ... pan down to a duck on the water
... after a moment the duck rises and we see it is strapped to the head of
a scuba diver. The diver emerges and peels off his black wet-suit to reveal
an impeccable white dinner jacket and bow tie. Our James Bond character then
moves up the beach, enters the casino and starts to play a fruit machine.
Wheels spin, national flags whiz by and on the third try Union Jacks come
up to win the jackpot ... a pile of UNICA medals. Audience hysterics and
long applause followed. Thanks to all that our movies had a great send-off.
At the end of the award ceremony several days later the President of UNICA
announced that following a minor change in the organisation's name, which
had been agreed at the AGM on Wednesday, the Korean delegation had commissioned
a new medal with the new name. It had been made and flown to Belgium just
in time for the closing banquet ... then he awarded the brand new medal to
Brian Dunckley as creator and star of the UK trailer !!! That's the second
time UK has been given a medal for the introductory trailer ... which is
not even officially in the competition.
There's lots of other news to give you when I have caught up with some sleep
but I cannot end without reporting that the USA was warnly welcomed back
into UNICA thanks to a joint application by Ned Cordery of AMPS and Mike
Levy of AMMA. Their film programme did not pick up any medals but was seen
and enjoyed by a large audience. The jury commented favourably on all their
movies.
Tot-siens
Dave
Belgium. Frankly we are knackered!
I was on the jury this year which meant being there before 9am every day
and usually getting back to out hotel after midnight - spending most of the
time concentrating hard on the screen! Forget your concerns about how judges
view films after a weekend ... imagine trying to assess 120 or so films fairly
in a week.
The UK programme (see main website for details) was well received by the
400-strong audience. The jury finally awarded two of the much-prized UNICA
Bronze medals to 'Unlocking Young Minds' and '225'. There was also a special
prize for '225' recognising its achievements in special effects and animation.
Since movies are entered not by their makers but by national federations,
great interest is shown in the award for the most interesting national programme.
Only two were nominated by the jury for consideration: Germany and the UK.
Everyone was very impressed by the enthusiasm with which we applauded when
Germany was voted the winner.
As Reg Lancaster said "In a way the awards are irrelevant. What matters is
seeing and hearing a huge audience enjoy the movies in your programme." And
they certainly did enjoy ours.
UNICA uses a simple introduction to indicate which country's programme is
coming up. It changes from year to year. This time it drew inspiration from
Belgium's most famous statue: Mannikin Pis. In cartoon form the little boy
from that statue turned up at Blankenberge, peered round with a wicked gleam
in his eyes. Ignoring the signs forbidding urination on the beach ... he
wrote the name of the country concerned on the sand in pee. Thereafter a
few countries ran their own introductory movie as well.
When the UK programme was due, the cartoon started then Reg Lancaster, Gerald
Mee and Brian Dunckley came on stage in front of the screen with a bucket,
turned their backs on the spectators and pretended to pee in it. The audience
roared with laughter. Brian then picked up the bucket and edged towards
the audience, carrying the bucket and with an evil glint in his eye. Then
he threw its contents at the front rows ... paper roses. More laughter.
Then came our trailer ... a quiet harbour ... pan down to a duck on the water
... after a moment the duck rises and we see it is strapped to the head of
a scuba diver. The diver emerges and peels off his black wet-suit to reveal
an impeccable white dinner jacket and bow tie. Our James Bond character then
moves up the beach, enters the casino and starts to play a fruit machine.
Wheels spin, national flags whiz by and on the third try Union Jacks come
up to win the jackpot ... a pile of UNICA medals. Audience hysterics and
long applause followed. Thanks to all that our movies had a great send-off.
At the end of the award ceremony several days later the President of UNICA
announced that following a minor change in the organisation's name, which
had been agreed at the AGM on Wednesday, the Korean delegation had commissioned
a new medal with the new name. It had been made and flown to Belgium just
in time for the closing banquet ... then he awarded the brand new medal to
Brian Dunckley as creator and star of the UK trailer !!! That's the second
time UK has been given a medal for the introductory trailer ... which is
not even officially in the competition.
There's lots of other news to give you when I have caught up with some sleep
but I cannot end without reporting that the USA was warnly welcomed back
into UNICA thanks to a joint application by Ned Cordery of AMPS and Mike
Levy of AMMA. Their film programme did not pick up any medals but was seen
and enjoyed by a large audience. The jury commented favourably on all their
movies.
Tot-siens
Dave