Is the dough in the right place?

Monday 24 December 2007

EIFF award winner selected for sundance

An article from The Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Breadmakers, the winner of the Best Scottish Short Documentary at the 61st EIFF, has been selected for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

The short documentary about a unique community of bakers with learning disabilities set in Edinburgh’s Garvald Bakery, which received its premiere at EIFF 2007, also picked up a BAFTA Scotland nomination for Best Short Film.

Director Yasmin Fedda was thrilled when she discovered that Breadmakers was to be shown at Sundance, which runs from 17-27 January 2008.

“I’m looking forward to having pancake breakfast with Robert Redford! No seriously, I’m really pleased, especially for the Garvald Bakery.

“I would have never expected all the interest my film has had to date. Maybe people are taking to it because they can recognise themselves in these characters.”

Breadmakers was made as part of the Bridging the Gap New Talent Initiative, run by Scottish Documentary Institute and the scheme’s Executive Producer, Noe Mendelle, was delighted that the film will be showcased at North America’s biggest film festival.

“It’s our first film to get selected by Sundance, and we hope this is the first of many more in the future.

“It’s a great endorsement of our hard work in the last few years, and a brilliant way for Yasmin, and the Bridging the Gap scheme, to get noticed within the wider filmmaking community.”

Fedda will be joined at Sundance by fellow EIFF alumnus John Magary, whose short films The Second Line and Our National Parks received their World Premieres at EIFF.

The writer/director has been selected to participate in the prestigious Screenwriter’s Lab from January 11-16 with his debut feature project Blood Abundance, Or The Half-Life of Antoinette.

The intensive five-day workshop will be led by an extraordinary group of creative advisors, including Christopher McQuarrie and Thomas Vinterberg.

Thursday 13 December 2007

Rising Stars

An article by JIM GILCHRIST of The Scotsman newspaper.

ALL hands to the table. There is the heavy thump of dough on flour-dusted stainless steel as the morning's batch of loaves and rolls takes shape; there is banter, snatches of a Christmas carol, and much whistling from Thomas. The baking of bread may be a linchpin of human existence, but for the workers in Garvald Bakery - tucked away behind a Volkswagen dealership on Edinburgh's Gorgie Road - making bread is more than just an age-old craft: it is their therapy and their key to broader integration into society.

For the breadmakers of Garvald Bakery are surmounting a wide spectrum of learning disabilities, from Down's syndrome to autisim spectrum conditions. Round the bakery table, they mix, knead and pummel their way into teamwork and job satisfaction, producing a range of organic breads for bakeries, delis and grocers in and around Edinburgh. And now this extraordinary little bakery is enjoying international recognition: a short documentary film about it, having won an award at this year's Edinburgh film festival and a Scottish BAFTA nomination, is bound for Hollywood legend Robert Redford's prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah next month.

Not only has the acclaim attracted by Yasmin Fedda's ten-minute documentary Breadmakers placed a welcome spotlight on the bakery and the Rudolf Steiner-inspired charity, Garvald Edinburgh, which runs it, but it also resulted in several of its bakers enjoying red-carpet treatment at the BAFTA Scotland awards in Glasgow last month. Among those hobnobbing with Lorraine Kelly and other glitterati at the awards ceremony were Sian Mayne and Nathan Reid, both of whom were kilted for the occasion. "I enjoyed the BAFTAS a lot," says Nathan, an affable 25-year-old. "I spoke to Lorraine Kelly - she's on TV - and I was dancing."

A trip to the Sundance Festival seems an unlikely prospect, given the costs and logistics, but Nathan is quite taken with the idea: "I've never been to America, but I'd like to try for the Sundance."

The baking, he says, is a satisfying business, "and I'm a great worker. I've done baking at my home and at school as well. And I've done special needs. I am special needs because..." he grins, "I'm very special."

"Special" they may be, but the establishment's Steiner ethos capitalises on abilities rather than dwelling on disabilities, explains Victor Chlebowski, the director of Garvald Edinburgh. "One of the beauties of this form of working is that it doesn't really matter what the dependency level or ability level of a person is, they all contribute to producing what will eventually be a loaf of bread, whether [they're] sweeping flour off the floor, kneading the dough or mixing it. People find their own level."

The attention generated by the Breadmakers has been a real bonus, says Chlebowski: "Yasmin, the director, was a one-to-one worker here for a while and because her background was in film-making, she saw potential in what was here. We were basically interested in a promotional DVD to go to parents and potential new members, but also to show the work we do in our own, Garvald way.

"But now there has been the added bonus of all the publicity, of people from here going off to the BAFTAs and now being recognised. It's just fantastic. It can't be anything other than helpful."
The Garvald presence at the BAFTA awards took the whole concept of inclusiveness that bit further, he adds. "It was all about integrating. They came away with autographs and with memories - they're still talking about it."

Breadmakers also went down well at a film festival in Teheran. Part of its apparent ability to travel well is doubtless down to its lack of any spoken narrative and its simple, direct but engagingly evocative recording of this most universal of occupations, accompanied only by snatches of conversation and singing, by the satisfying wallop of the dough off the table - and concluding with a virtuoso whistling solo from Thomas Griffiths.

Garvald Edinburgh, the charity which prompted the film, started in 1969 with a community house (named after a Steiner-inspired school established in Garvald House, West Linton, in 1944), and now operates from nine sites, providing "curative education" and social therapy. It is one of six Garvald operations in the Lothians and Borders, each with its own management and board structure. Some 115 people use the charity's services on a day basis, while a further 40 or so live in a care home or in supported tenancies. Productive activities include puppetry and puppet making as well as other craftwork, and refurbishing tools for Third World use. The Gorgie Road bakery opened in a former ice-cream factory in 1982.

As we talk, the morning production line is in progress, starting with Jamie Scott sorting out the day's orders - he flicks through the list for my benefit - it includes Butterflies Café, Real Foods, Tattie Shaws. One of the members will also accompany the van driver, explains Chlebowski:

"That's another aspect of integration, getting to know the routes, handling the money, social aspects of meeting the shopkeepers, so there's more learning going on." (And the van runs on an LPG and unleaded petrol mix, furthering the environmentally friendly Garvald ethos.) The members can also enrol for training modules in various skills - baking or otherwise - tailored to their abilities, in an accreditation programme run in partnership with Borders College.

Back at the table, Chuck Hong-Fung doesn't talk much - he has hearing problems - but keeps a quiet handle on the proceedings as he chops up a large wad of dough mix for the others to knead and roll into shape. Among the group is Donna Padget. When I ask her whether she likes working in the bakery she tells me she hates it - while beaming enormously - and that she'd rather have a rich boyfriend and a limo... to which there is no reply, really.

They don't play any music while they work - that would pose an unwelcome distraction - but there is continual chatter, snatches of song, whistling and the odd burst of what one might call baking aerobics from Thomas. While his baking skills may be limited, what he adds to the proceedings - and indeed to the film - in terms of spontaneous musicality are invaluable.

Also at the table is one of the centre's part-time one-to-one workers, Andrew Mill, a young graduate who helps Thomas. He loves working here, he says. In the meantime his other half has gyrated away from the table: "Thomas," hollers Andrew, thumping a wad of dough, "let's make bread." After the morning shift, he's taking Thomas swimming - cue a chorus of the Jaws theme tune.

Amid all the joshing, however, there is serious purpose here. As Chlebowki points out, these members are engaging in meaningful activity, with a clear end product which is in demand. The neatly rolled bread and rolls are now accumulating on racks, waiting to go into the prover, where they will rise, and then into the oven. Michael Valente is brushing baking tins with organic palm shortening (an alternative to margarine) while Nathan is placing rice-paper labels on each tin.

One of three workshop leaders, baker Stephanie Taylor, explains that in the morning session, they generally produce large and small wholemeal loaves, white country loaves and white and brown rolls. The afternoon shift makes a variety of "specials", such as Russian, Tibetan, oatmeal, walnut and malted grain breads.

How does such a disparate group work together? "They're coming here to do a job," she says, "most people take a lot of pride in their work. I think, myself, that we have as much to learn from them as they do from us."

It is, she agrees, a very elementary human occupation. "There's a lot to be gained from all coming round the table and kneading bread."

THE director of Breadmakers, Yasmin Fedda, confesses to being taken aback by the enthusiastic reception for her ten-minute film. "I did it because I wanted to make a film about that subject and that place," says Fedda, who spent a year as a relief worker at the Garvald Edinburgh bakery, "but I've been really surprised at the response."

Fedda, who is Lebanese-Canadian, came to Edinburgh University in 1998 to study social anthropology and went on to do a masters in visual anthropology at Manchester, Now, 27, she lives in Leith. She worked with young asylum seekers in Newcastle and in 2004 spent two months in a Syrian monastery which encourages Muslim-Christian relations, where she made a documentary, Milking the Desert.

The Breadmakers project arose with the offer of funding from the Bridging the Gap initiative, run by Scottish Documentary Institute to encourage new talent and funded by Scottish Screen, the National Lottery and the Skillset Film Skills Fund, among others.

After winning a Short Scottish Documentary Award at Edinburgh International Film Festival in August, Breadmakers was selected for the first International Documentary Film Festival in Iran where, again, it was well received, possibly due to the universality of its subject matter, and of course its lack of spoken narrative dispensed with any language barriers. "The only narrative," Fedda says, "is the bread."

Now the film has been chosen for the Sundance Film Festival in Utah: "That was another surprise, but it's really great. It will be good to share the work of the bakery and its approach to social care, and I hope to meet some interesting people and get ideas and feedback."

Sunday 9 December 2007

Breadmakers fly to Indonesia

Breadmakers, along with the other 2007 Bridging the Gap films produced through the Scottish Documentary Institute, will be shown at the Film Festival Dokumenter, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Since its inception in 2001, the Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) has endeavoured to revive the Indonesian documentary film and encourage the making of international-calibre, yet uniquely Indonesian documentaries.

This year, the festival celebrates documentary with a special focus on humanity themes, showcasing films from internationally renowned filmmakers.

The 6th Film Festival Dokumenter, Indonesia, takes place between December 10-15th 2007.

A Star in the Shadow

Yasmin has been invited to appear at the Star and Shadow Cinema, Battlefield, Newcastle Upon Tyne, on Wednesday December 19th at 7.30pm where she will be in discussion with Light Bulb 08 Director, Craig.

Kuwaiti-born Palestinian film-maker Yasmin Fedda has a background in anthropology, and has worked on several film projects in the Middle East, USA and around the UK, including working with Bridge and Tunnel Productions in Newcastle. She comes to the Star and Shadow to talk about her life, politics, work, and future projects, all informed by a migratory life that has taken her from Palestine to Canada, Qatar to Scotland and Syria to Kuwait.

They will also be showing two of Yasmin’s short documentaries:

BREADMAKERS (2007, 10 min) looks at the intricate social relationships in a community of milking desertworkers with learning disabilities making a variety of organic breads for shops in Edinburgh.

MILKING THE DESERT (2004, 25 min) explores the life of Frederic, a French novice at the St. Moses the Abyssinian monastery deep in the Syrian desert. We follow him and Syrian monk Boutrous through their daily chores and routines: milking goats, making cheese and praying. Their lives create a backdrop for Muslim and Christian relations in the area.

Capital's Breadmakers to be toasted at Sundance

Taken from an article in The Scotsman Newspaper on the 7th December 2007.

FLAVOURED with linseed, walnut or oatmeal, organic bread from the Garvald Bakery is already famous with diners at some of Scotland's top eateries.

Now a film about a unique community of bakers with learning disabilities is poised to spread the Edinburgh-based bakery's reputation to the United States.

Breadmakers, a 12-minute documentary, has won a screening at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. The event, founded by the actor Robert Redford, is held in Park City, Utah.

The film, which has no voice-over or narrative, concentrates on about four adults from more than 30 who work in the bakery in the capital's Gorgie Road, part of the Garvald Centre.

Funded by the Bridging the Gap new talent initiative, the film has shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and at another festival in Iran.

Wednesday 5 December 2007

Breadmakers do a Sundance

Breadmakers has been selected for the Sundance Film Festival. A delighted Yasmin was suitably excited. “It’s a big festival to be invited to. I will be making a big effort to attend”.

Each year the Sundance Film Festival selects 200 films for exhibition from more than 8000 submissions. More than 50,000 people attend screenings in twelve theatres in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. In addition to discovering filmmaking's newest talent through the Festival's program of documentary, dramatic, and short film, Festivalgoers experience live music shows, panel discussions with leading filmmakers and industry figures, parties celebrating the Festival community, and more.

The Sundance Film Festival takes place from the 17th – 27th January 2008.

Monday 26 November 2007

JURY DUTY IN WROCLAW

Yasmin’s success story continues. She has been asked to sit on the film jury at the Ofensiva International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland from 6th to the 9th December 2007.

The main part of the Festival will be the International Competition organized in four categories: plot, document, animation and video-clip. The competing movies will be judged by a professional jury. Moreover, during this year's edition in the cycle "World's Festivals" the festival will present images that were rewarded and appreciated from other festivals abroad; whereas in the cycle "New National Cinema" they will show the most interesting and the most important films from selected national cinematographers.

Audiences will have an opportunity to watch many films from all over the world that haven't yet been screened in Poland. In previous years the film festival has shown movies produced in distant and exotic countries such as; Georgia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Singapore and India.

More details at: http://www.ofensiva.pl/eng/index.php

MIND THE GAP

Yasmin Fedda is a Lebanese Canadian national, of Palestinian origin, raised in Kuwait. So what was she doing in Gorgie of all places? As she tells Malcolm Jack, it's all about bridging the gap.

Yasmin originally arrived in Scotland to study social anthropology in Edinburgh. After graduating, she moved to Manchester to do a postgraduate in visual anthropology, which is where she first started looking at life through the camera lens.

"I was doing an academic subject," says Yasmin, "and wanted to make it more accessible. I wanted to experiment with making films. Using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."

"I wanted to experiment with film, using socially interesting subjects, but expressing them artistically."

Yasmin's masters film Milking the Desert proved her first screen triumph, gaining selections and shortlistings at film festivals as far and wide as Sheffield, Paris, Moscow, Montreal and Rio de Janeiro.

"It was my first film, set in a monastery in Syria," she explains. "It was a mixed sex, mixed sect monastery in the desert, where they work toward better understanding between Muslims and Christians. It's politicised, but in a country where you're not supposed to be."

A further documentary, exploring the Afro-Cuban religion of Sanitaria in Miami - Siento Una Voz (I Hear a Voice) - followed, before Yasmin undertook projects in Newcastle and Edinburgh.

"I'm just happy people liked the characters."

Yasmin was working as a volunteer at the Garvald Centre in Gorgie - a centre for adults with learning difficulties - when she heard the call out for the Scottish Documentary Institute's annual Bridging the Gap scheme. The theme was 'white', something that brought to mind the Centre's bakery workshop, which makes organic bread for shops throughout the city.

"I thought about it for ages," she says, "then thought 'oh, flour and 'white', in the bakery context'. That wasn't enough, so I incorporated white noise - all the sounds of the bakery mixing together: the mechanical sounds, people singing and whistling and chatting."

Shot over two weeks, her ten-minute short gives an insight into the community and characters in the bakery, and the way they interact. It's really struck a chord with audiences since debuting at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it scooped the Scottish Short Documentary Award.

"I'm not sure why!" admits Yasmin. "The one thing people have commented on is the absence of voiceover. A lot of people thought it didn't need one - it's quite visual - they just had to watch it. And some people felt it's kind of rhythmical as well. I'm just happy people liked the characters."

"It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."

As mundane an environment as Breadmakers' setting might seem, Yasmin saw no reason why a film shot there shouldn't be as fascinating as her previous projects.

"The reason I liked working there in the first place was that it's a really interesting project," she says. "Even though my other projects seem really exotic and far away, to me they're all equal. And as an outsider going there, Gorgie seems just as exotic."

It might well take her to more exotic locations yet, because Breadmakers has been selected to screen at further festivals in Finland and Iran. Yasmin hopes to attend both, although immigration might prevent her visiting the latter.

"I'm going to try and make it," she says. "Whatever happens, it's just interesting that they picked it. I'm glad they picked a film that's about something really small. It's good that people are interested in seeing that kind of thing - it's not just about political polemics."

"I'd like to bring stories from the Middle East here and vice versa."

Yasmin hopes to work further through her films towards narrowing the cultural space between the West and Middle East. As a fluent English and Arabic speaker with a foot in both locations, she's in a great position to do so.

"It helps when you can speak the languages," she says. "I'd also like to bring stories from the Middle East here, because often I feel that people don't know what it's like. It would be nice to share what's happening there with other people. And vice versa."

So where to next then?

"Hmmm, let's see... Newtongrange?" she jokes. "At the moment I'm in Edinburgh, but perhaps somewhere in Syria, and hopefully Iran as well. That's the first port of call. And the West Bank hopefully, in Jerusalem. I'm developing a few projects. We'll see which one happens first."

This article was published on Channel 4’s 4Talent website at: http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=7706

Saturday 24 November 2007

Shoot First

BREADMAKERS is to be screened at the SHOOT FIRST event at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse on Wednesday 12th December 2007.

SHOOT FIRST is an independent organisation holding short film events in Scotland. They give filmmakers an opportunity to have their work seen on the big screen, showcasing work from around the world.

December’s event also features:

Crosswords - James Malcolm, Scotland 2007, 9min - Mrs Mitchell thinks she's receiving messages through crossword puzzles, and she keeps them filed in boxes, which pack her house from floor to ceiling. One day a salesman calls who says he can help her clean up the mess.

Standing Start - Finlay Pretsell & Adrian McDowall, Scotland 2007, 15 min - Craig is considered the fastest lead-out cyclist in the world. We experience what flashes through his head as he's locked into the blocks, awaiting the starting gun to fire and sense the feeling as he's whizzing round the velodrome.

Sunday 11 November 2007

From BAFTA to BEIRUT

Breadmakers has been accepted to DocuDays: Beirut International Documentary Festival. Yasmin was suitably delighted. “I’ve always wanted to show my work in Lebanon and now I have my chance. It’s very exciting”.

DocuDays was founded in 1999 with the aim of raising public awareness for the non-fiction genre as an entertaining and informative tool. The DocuDays program includes both competition and non-competition sections. The competition section will recognise Arab and international films in the following categories: Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, and Jury Special Mention.

The 9th edition of DocuDays: Beirut International Documentary Festival takes place in Lebanon from 3rd – 9th December 2007.

Thursday 8 November 2007

Bakery’s Fame is on the Rise

(From Edinburgh Evening News dated 7th November 2007)
THERE'S a productive din in the busy bakery, while people scurry to put loaves on trolleys and wipe down flour-caked tables. It's 3.30pm and the apron-clad organic bakers are packing up for the day.
But as long-serving worker Alan Auld opens the oven door, a rush of heat and a comforting waft of freshly baking bread escapes - and all the team's dedication seems worthwhile.
In his white baker's hat and well-singed oven gloves, 60-year-old Alan looks every inch the professional baker, as he carefully removes a hot tray of loaves and places them on the cooling tray for all to admire.
At the Garvald Bakery on Gorgie Road, Alan is just one of 36 bakers who every day prepare breads and confectionery using only organic ingredients. The wide range of products are top notch, as the Edinburgh shopkeepers who watch them fly off their shelves will testify. But many who enjoy the fine walnut or linseed breads bearing the Garvald label may be surprised to know that the creators of their loaves all have learning difficulties.
A slightly floury Alan, from Dalkeith, proudly introduces himself as "the chairman of the rep council". Indeed, he is one of the longest-serving bakers, having been at Garvald 11 years. Standing over a fresh batch of wholemeal loaves, he declares: "The first time I made bread was when I came here. I feel proud to make it and I buy it myself if I see one of our loaves in the shops. Garvald is great."
The bakery, which produces up to 150 loaves a day - all baked to order - is part of the Garvald Centre, which has been offering creative day workshops to people with learning difficulties for more than 30 years, teaching them skills ranging from puppet-making to woodwork.
Members are trained in every aspect of work, from mixing the dough and kneading the bread to printing the labels and delivering the wares to shops, such as Real Foods in Broughton Street and Tollcross, and Tattie Shaw's greengrocers on Elm Row.
Though the efforts of the Garvald bakers may not be that widely known in Edinburgh, thanks to a locally based film-maker they are now famed as far afield as Tehran. Yasmin Fedda's ten-minute documentary Breadmakers was shown at the Iran Documentary Film Festival and has just been nominated for a Scottish Bafta.
The 27-year-old, from Leith, shot the film in March, after spending time as a relief support worker at Garvald last year.
She says: "It's an inspiring place. The film allows people into a world they wouldn't normally see. What's great about Garvald is that it provides a routine and creative space for adults with learning difficulties and they can get college certificates for their skills."
Members prepare a huge variety of organic loaves, including brown, white, linseed, walnut, malt, oatmeal, Russian and Tibetan breads. The not-for-profit organisation has 18 members making standard loaves in a workshop in the mornings and another 18 are employed on speciality breads in the afternoons.
The first lot of members, aged from 18 upwards, arrive at the bakery at 9am. Work starts later than in regular bakeries because it is a training facility, where the emphasis is on learning.
The first thing members do is grab their aprons and hats from the hooks and line up at the sink to wash their hands. After that well-worn routine, they gather round the silver table in the centre and work together to get the dough ready, weighing it and cutting it.
Twenty-three-year-old Sian Mayne, from Currie, is confident to turn his hand to most tasks.
"I make the bread and white rolls, and cut the bread," he explains. Kirsty Parsons, who leads the confectionery workshop next door, chips in: "His favourite part of the day is making the toast for the tea break." Warming to his subject, Sian adds: "I wash the tables too."
James Welby, owner of Tattie Shaw's, is fulsome in his praise of the Garvald bakers, whose produce he has been selling for the last three years.
He says: "It's fantastic bread. It comes in lovely and warm and fresh at 1.30pm every day and, as well as being organic, it's tasty and good value for money."
James says that over the week they order 30 to 40 small plain loaves, as well as a wholemeal, a walnut and a linseed loaf. "They also do fantastic homemade biscuits that are great with a coffee and hot cross buns at Easter," he enthuses. "It's all very popular with our customers, who like to buy local."
And he isn't the only one willing to testify to the high standards adhered to by the bakery.
Simon Sibley, general manager of Real Foods, says they have bought the Garvald bread for a decade due to its high quality.
"They make good-quality organic loaves and do the whole range of seasonal breads. We have been dealing with them for at least ten years. These things get brand loyalty," he says.
The bakery got its official organic certification in 1993 and day service manager Nancy Macdonald says staff try to think green in all they do. She says: "We try to look after the environment and recycle, as well as helping members learn new skills.
"Everyone contributes in different ways to the final product. It's about making products with a real value to the outside world. We concentrate on quality - we are not a factory churning out hundreds of loaves."
After a satisfying afternoon's labour, Alan wipes the sweat from his brow and takes off his hat. Members hang up their pinnies and the sounds of work are replaced by an excited chatter as they gather in the doorway to await their transport home.
It is these moments that are perhaps the most poignant captured in Yasmin's documentary. The film - which has already garnered the Short Scottish Documentary Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival - is mostly silent, allowing the images to speak for themselves, but the closing scene, filled with the sound of the merry whistling of a fulfilled baker, is the one that lingers most in the memory.
The Breadmakers short documentary by Yasmin Fedda, is one of three films nominated by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.
The bakery is part of the Garvald Centre which provides creative day opportunities for more than 120 members.
It also has its own retail outlet, the Mulberry Bush shop, on Morningside Road, which sells handmade crafts from the centre's workshops.
Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the Breadmakers has been signed up for international distribution by Network Ireland Television. Yasmin was brought up in Kuwait and moved to Edinburgh nine years ago to study social anthropology at Edinburgh University. Breadmakers, which was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme, can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website.
The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 take place on Sunday November 18, in the City Halls, Glasgow.

Monday 5 November 2007

BAFTA nomination for Breadmakers

BREADMAKERS, a short documentary by young Edinburgh filmmaker Yasmin Fedda, is one of three films nominated by BAFTA Scotland in the best short film category.

It tells the story of a community of Edinburgh workers with learning disabilities in the Garvald Bakery in Gorgie, who make a range of organic breads for delivery to shops and cafes all over Edinburgh.

Produced by Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell, the film has just been screened at Iran's International Documentary film festival and has recently been signed up for international distribution.

Yasmin Fedda, a Lebanese Canadian working in Edinburgh, said, "I'm delighted that the film has been nominated by BAFTA. I found the bakery to be an inspirational place and making the film allowed me to capture a world that would not normally be seen."

The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007 takes place on Sunday 18th November in the City Halls, Glasgow.

BREADMAKERS, which can be viewed on the BBC Film Network website, was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme. The film has already won the Short Scottish Documentary Award at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Friday 12 October 2007

Disability Film Festival

Breadmakers will be screened in London at the 8th London International Disability Film Festival. The festival takes place from the 14th -19th February 2008 at the British Film Institute, Southbank.

The Disability Film Festival is a unique and internationally acclaimed showcase of drama, documentary, animation and experimental films made by disabled filmmakers. It is the largest and most inclusive disability cultural Festival in Europe.

The Festival work in collaboration with many organisations and media partners, such as the Big Issue magazine. Film London’s Audience Development Fund supports this project.

More details of the festival programme will be published nearer the time.

Thursday 4 October 2007

International Distribution

BREADMAKERS has been signed up for international distribution by Irish-based development and distribution company – Network Ireland Television.

Headed by Managing Director, Derry O'Brien, Network Ireland Television is the first Irish-based development and distribution company – established in October 1995. Since its start-up, Network Ireland Television has now accumulated a catalogue of over 1,000 hours of quality English language programming and short films and they are currently selling to over 100 overseas broadcasters, Home Video/DVD distributors and Inflight Entertainment companies.

Since winning the Short Scottish Documentary Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Breadmakers has been screened in Finland, and will soon be shown in Iran.

“I realize how rare it is to get proper distribution for a short film, so I’m understandably delighted”, said Yasmin. “It’s a chance to get my work seen by a wider audience”.

Sunday 23 September 2007

Short of the Month

Breadmakers has been selected as "The Short of the Month" by the Independent Cinema Office.

Short of the Month
Breadmakers
Dir: Yasmin Fedda | Scotland | 2007 | 11mins
"In an unprepossessing building tucked behind a car showroom in Gorgie, Edinburgh, the Garvald bakery has a unique community of workers who have various learning disabilities and difficulties, including Down's Syndrome and Autism. My inspiration to make this film came from a variety of sounds I experienced while working there." Yasmin Fedda.

Established in July 2003, the Independent Cinema Office is a national organisation that aims to develop and support independent film exhibition throughout the UK.

The ICO works in association with independent cinemas, film festivals, film societies and the regional and national screen agencies.

Sunday 26 August 2007

Iran Film Festival

BREADMAKERS has been selected for the first International Documentary Film Festival of IRAN, "cinema verite": in Tehran in October 2007.

DEFC (Documentary and Experimental Film Center) is the main centre for production, distribution and promotion of fiction, documentary, animation and experimental films in Iran, as well as in the Middle East.

In Iran, annually about 80 feature and 2500 professional and amateur short films are produced.

Friday 24 August 2007

Documentary Award Media Release

BREADMAKERS, a short film by young Edinburgh filmmaker Yasmin Fedda, has won the Short Scottish Documentary Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The film tells the story of a community of Edinburgh workers with learning disabilities in the Garvald Bakery in Gorgie, who make a range of organic breads for delivery to shops and cafes all over Edinburgh.

Yasmin was presented with a cheque for £1000 after the packed award screening at Edinburgh's Cameo Cinema this weekend. She said "The featured Garvald bakery is part of a centre inspired by the ideas of Rudolph Steiner. The workers interact using repetitive speech and sign language. I worked there last year and it's an inspiring place. The film allows people into a world they wouldn't normally see.

After receiving the award, I heard that the film has been invited to the Iran documentary film festival, so I'll now be taking a small piece of Gorgie to Tehran!"

The film is produced by award-winning Edinburgh producers Jim Hickey and Robin Mitchell.

EDITORS NOTES:

The Short Scottish Documentary Award is sponsored by Baillie Gifford.

Yasmin Fedda (27) is a Lebanese Canadian working in Edinburgh.

BREADMAKERS will be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Tuesday 21st August at Filmhouse (12.30pm).

BREADMAKERS has been selected by the BBC Film Network and can be seen on the website after its Edinburgh premiere.

BREADMAKERS was made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap scheme, the only documentary talent initiative for cinema in the UK offering training linked to production.

The Garvald Centre which runs the bakery is committed to making a real difference to its members' lives with creative day opportunities for over 120 people through a wide range of workshops in craft and artistic skills as well as the bakery and confectionery. It also provides supported accommodation for over 40 people in their own homes.

Saturday 18 August 2007

Short Documentary Award

Yasmin Fedda, the director of BREADMAKERS, has won the Short Scottish Documentary Award (funded by a donation from Baillie Gifford) at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The judges had a difficult decision to make, so much so, they presented a runners-up prize to the film HOW TO SAVE A FISH FROM DROWNING (dir: Kelly Neal).

Made as part of the Scottish Documentary Institutes' Bridging the Gap scheme, BREADMAKERS tells the story of a community of Edinburgh workers with learning disabilities making a variety of organic breads for daily delivery to shops and cafes in the city.

The film has already been selected by the BBC Film Network and will be screened on the site after its Edinburgh premiere.

Thursday 12 July 2007

Edinburgh Film Festival

There are two chances to see Breadmakers at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (15 – 26th August 2007).

On Tuesday 21st August at the Filmhouse (12.30pm), Bridging the Gap present a selection of short documentaries on the theme of 'white'. Run by the Scottish Documentary Institute, Bridging the Gap is the only documentary talent initiative for cinema in the UK offering training linked to production.

All six titles in this programme (including Breadmakers) have been selected to compete for the Short Scottish Documentary Award. This screening takes place at The Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh on Saturday 18th August at 12:45pm.

Sunday 8 July 2007

BBC Film Network

The 10-minute documentary BREADMAKERS (Dir. Yasmin Fedda) has been selected by the BBC Film Network and will be screened on the BBC site after its premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Film Network is the BBC’s interactive showcase for new British filmmakers, screening three new short films in broadband quality every week, adding to a growing catalogue of great shorts.

The site allows people to comment on and rate films and also provides filmmakers with tools to create online profiles and exchange tips, advice and ideas. The purpose is to expose new talent and create a platform for some great films that are rarely seen elsewhere.

More details at www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A22860759

Friday 6 July 2007

Finnish Film Festival

BREADMAKERS has been selected for the seventh annual International Festival of Visual Culture, Joensuu, Finland, which will take place between September 26th and 30th 2007. The main theme of Viscult 2007 festival is "Daily Bread"

The Festival of Visual Culture is a personal event with the majority of filmmakers present to introduce their work encouraging the opportunity for profound discussions of the films, film-making, and culture. The festival is also in close co-operation with the University of Joensuu and its students.

Through the years Viscult, the Finnish film festival, introducing ethnographic, anthropological and documentary films, has seen many great filmmakers and visual anthropologists, Asen Balikci, Peter Biella, Gary Kildea, David MacDougall, Colette Piault, Faye Ginsburg, Judith Okely and Jay Ruby among many others.

The festival in Joensuu, which is located near the Russian border in Finland, is known for its warm and intimate atmosphere, and of course, the Finnish sauna.

More details at www.viscult.net