Is the dough in the right place?

Friday 31 October 2008

Audience Award

BREADMAKERS has won the second “Palme Dewar prize” as voted for by the audience at a special event organised by the Heartland Film Society on Saturday 25th October 2008 in Pitlochry.

The award was presented by Peter Guthrie of Dewars to Tony Pitchforth of HFS who accepted on behalf of Yasmin and the Garvald Bakery.

From a more general Scottish theme at the 2007 festival, HFS this year focused on films actually 'Made in Scotland'. The Heartland Film Society (HFS) was formed in 2001 to enable the showing of films on a big screen in an informal and friendly atmosphere.

More details at: www.heartlandfilmsociety.org.uk

Friday 24 October 2008

Festival Screenings of Breadmakers

We're often asked about festival screenings of BREADMAKERS. Here's the latest list.

Microcinéfest2008, Toronto, Canada, 2008

Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival, California, USA, 2008

The Middle East International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2008
(The Black Pearl for Best Documentary Short Film)

dokumentArt European Film Festival, Germany, 2008

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2008

Milano Film Festival, Italy, 2008

International Documentary Film Festival "Message to Man", St Petersburg, Russia, 2008

International Documentary Festival on Disability, Athens, Greece, 2008
(Awarded the best short documentary prize)

Krakow Film Festival, Poland, 2008

Wolverhampton Disability Film Festival, UK, 2008

Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival, USA, 2008

International Women's Film Festival Dortmund / Cologne, Germany 2008

SILVERDOCS International Documentary Film Festival, USA, 2008

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Durham, North Carolina, USA, 2008

Glasgow Film Festival, Glasgow, UK, 2008

True/False Film Festival, Columbia, Missouri, USA, 2008

London International Disability Film Festival, London, UK, 2008

Quebec International Ethnographic Film Festival, Quebec, Canada, 2008

Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, USA, 2008

Ofensiva International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland, 2007

Film Festival Dokumenter, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2007

Docudays - Beirut Documentary Film Festival, Beirut, Lebanon, 2007

Documentary Film Festival of IRAN, "Cinema Verite", Tehran, Iran, 2007

Seventh International Festival of Visual Culture, Joensuu, Finland, 2007

Bafta Scotland nomination in the best short film category 2007

Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK, 2007
(Short Scottish Documentary Award)

Thursday 23 October 2008

And the winner is . . .

On Sunday 19th October BREADMAKERS was awarded a major prize at the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi; the Black Pearl for Best Documentary Short Film, together with a cash prize of $75,000. Producer Jim Hickey was presented with the award in Abu Dhabi by Joseph Fiennes and Casino Royale's Eva Green.

The Middle East International Film Festival is one of the richest in the world, awarding prize money of $1 million. A total of 76 feature films and 34 short films from over 35 countries competed for the awards. Among the stars present at the festival were Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve and Ben Kingsley.

BREADMAKERS has already been programmed by 20 film festivals and won prizes at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Athens Disability Film Festival.

Jim Hickey said, "This prize is unprecedented for a short film and it will help us all to move forward with our next projects. Robin and I are already working with Yasmin on her next film for which she has been shooting some material in Damascus."

The Middle East International Film Festival's website is www.meiff.com

Wednesday 15 October 2008

"Palm Dewar"

BREADMAKERS will be screened on Saturday 25th October 2008 at the Heartland Film Society at Dewars Distillery, Aberfeldy. The audience vote for their preferred film and the winner receives the "PALM DEWAR" with an appropriate prize.

From the more general Scottish theme at last year's festival, this year they have focused on films actually 'Made in Scotland'.

The Heartland Film Society (HFS) was formed to enable the showing of films on a big screen in an informal and friendly atmosphere. In 2004, HFS won the British Federation of Film Societies Best New Film Society award. The judges made special mention of the novel and unique method (the bean-o-meter) that HFS uses to evaluate the success of each film shown.

More details at: www.heartlandfilmsociety.org.uk

Thursday 2 October 2008

The Hollywood Reporter

While Yasmin shoots her new documentary film in Damascus, BREADMAKERS continues on its remarkable journey around the globe. Future screenings have been arranged in Canada, Greece and back home in Scotland.

The following article is taken from the Hollywood Reporter about the 'in competition' line up for the Middle East International Film Festival, a festival BREADMAKERS will be shown at.

By Steve Brennan
Sept 28, 2008, 05:58 PM ET

More than 60 films from 32 countries have been signed in for the official competition at this year's Middle East International Film Festival that is due to run Oct. 10-19.

About 138 films will be screened with titles coming from East to West -- up from 80 films in MEIFF's inaugural festival in 2007. This year's competition includes features, documentaries, shorts and student films in four separate categories.

"I am pleased to say that MEIFF 2008 has attracted some of the top films, filmmakers and distinguished industry guests from all corners of the world, and we are honored to host them in Abu Dhabi," MEIFF vice chairman Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei said.

"The official competition is the place to be at MEIFF to see up-and-coming films and premieres from across the globe," MEIFF director Nashwa Al Ruwaini said. "These films should be the first stop for cinema lovers in Abu Dhabi. Among our many world and regional premieres, the In Competition feature films "O'Horten" (Norway) and "Mermaid" (Russia) have both been submitted for the Oscar for best foreign-language film."

The festival's Black Pearl cash prize distributed to the winners, along with a trophy, has been increased this year with prizes totaling more than $1 million. Jon Fitzgerald, MEIFF's director of programming, noted: "With an expanded festival in 2008, it was logical to increase the number of films in competition."

The narrative competition features 15 films, seven of which are world premieres and two regional premieres. Among the films premiering are Samir Habachi's "Beirut: Open City" (Lebanon), Magdi Ahmed Ali's "Fawzia: A Special Blend" (Egypt), Saleh Karama's "Henna" (UAE) and the much-anticipated Rashid Masharawi's "Laila's Birthday" making its regional premiere.

Among the international films competing in the festival are Ayten Mutlu Saray's "Zara" (Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Kurdistan) marking its world premiere, Alexander Melnik's "Terra Nova" (Russia) making its regional premiere and Indian Girish Kasaravalli's "Gulabi Talkies."
Films participating in the documentary competition include "Seven Blind Filmmakers" (Iran), directed by Mohammed Shirvani; "Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love" (Senegal, Egypt, France), directed by Elisabeth Chai Vasarhelyi; and "Man on Wire" (U.K., U.S.), directed by James Marsh.

In the category of short films, 30 films from 21 countries will compete to win the prestigious Black Pearl. The shorts program is divided into four sections, Aspects of Life, A World of Youth, Middle East Vision and Animation and Experimental. Featured short films include "Sometimes" (Egypt), directed by Mahmoud Soliman; "Boxing Lesson (Romania), directed by Alexandru Marrodinue; "Breadmakers" (U.K.), directed by Yasmin Fedda, "Boutellisse" (Tunisia), directed by Nasreddinee Shili; and "The Graffiti of Mister Tupaia" (New Zealand), directed by Christopher Dudman.

The 17 student films in the competition include "Ali the Iraqi" (Lebanon), directed by Vatche Boulghourjian; "Kate Wakes" (USA), directed by Jasmine Kosovic; "The Morning With Other Eye" (Russia), directed by Philipp Yurev; "Ya Halawood" (Jordan), directed by Students of Workshop by Amman Filmmakers Cooperative.