Notícias

Twenty-two emerging producers to receive up to £2.2m; almost 500 applicants.Scroll Down For Recipients

The BFI has announced the recipients of its 2016-18 Vision Awards, comprising 22 investments in up-and-coming UK producers.

The awards, generally spread over two years, are designed to enable producers to build and develop their companies, slates and creative relationships.

The BFI had intended to give 20 awards but increased that allocation to 22 in response to the number of strong applications it received. Almost 500 companies applied for the awards, which are backed by a total commitment from the BFI of £2.2m of National Lottery funding.

Fifteen of the awards are to women producers or partnerships, while eight of the companies are based outside of London, located in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and York.

In a bid to foster sustainability, the third iteration of the Vision Awards will include an allowance to cover a producer’s fees and overheads of up to half...

Award-winning British filmmaker Sean McAllister, whose documentary feature A Syrian Love Story plays here at the Dubai International Film Festival, is working on a story about the UK housing crisis.

The film will mark his first foray into narrative filmmaking in a career noted for his journalistic forays into Middle East hot spots.

Also in the works is a documentary about the city of Hull, his birthplace in North England. “Hull won the UK City of Culture for 2017 and I have been asked to come home and make a film,” said McAllister. “It will be a bittersweet love story with my city and my roots, telling a tale of how I left and what I find on my return.”

McAllister’s return to the UK comes after a string of films set in the Arab region including The Liberace of Baghdad, The Reluctant Revolutionary and now A Syrian Love Story, which won the...

Other winners include a film about the early years of Greenpeace and Us documentary 3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets.

Sean McAllister’s A Syrian Love Story has won the Grand Jury prize at Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10).

Acclaimed British documentary filmmaker McAllister, whose credits include The Liberace in Baghdad and The Reluctant Revolutionary, shot the feature over four years.

It follows the plight of one Syrian family as they are forced to leave the war torn country and the impact it has on the family’s relationships. During the filming process, McAllister himself spent time in a Syrian jail when the authorities seized his camera.

On behalf of the jury, Ruby Chen of Cnex China said: “The jury were enamoured by this Bergmanesque portrait of a relationship and love, taking place against an ever-changing and tumultuous backdrop.

“Delivering unusual gender portraits it explores vulnerabilities, looking at the concept of belonging, providing a unique and intimate portrait of disillusionment.”

The...

Exclusive: The director’s latest documentary, A Syrian Love Story, had its world premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest this week and is one of the hot favourites for the festival’s Grand Jury Prize

Acclaimed British documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister, whose credits include The Liberace in Baghdad and The Reluctant Revolutionary, is developing a feature documentary set in his home city of Hull.

The project, which will be called To Hull And Back, is being made on the back of the city being chosen as the UK’s Capital of Culture in 2017.

It is being developed with funding from the BFI, which also backed A Syrian Love Story.

MacAllister said the new project was loosely inspired by an episode of UK comedy series Only Fools And Horses in which Rodney and Delboy found themselves stuck in Hull when their boat to Amsterdam was cancelled.

“I’ve got this idea of making a love story with Hull, because...