B3 Blank Slate short wins big at prestigious Angers Premiers Plans film festival
British short 'Whore' wins the Grand Prix du Jury in the European Short Films competition at French film festival
3 February 2010
B3 Blank Slate short film Whore took the Grand Prix du Jury at Angers Premiers Plans film festival, at Saturday night's closing awards. Last year's winner was also a British short – Sam Taylor-Wood's BAFTA-nominated short, Love You More. The director, Fyzal Boulifa, wins a €1,500 cash prize, and industry kudos. The film plays again in a prizewinners' screening in Paris on Tuesday 9 Feb. You can watch a clip of the film at www.b3media.net/whore.
The film competed at the festival, which only screens films on 35mm, thanks to generous print donations from B3 Media, the British Council, and Film London, and in-kind support from Technicolor. It was produced by Michael Berliner and exec produced by Marc Boothe.
Maggie Ellis, head of production and talent development at Film London says, "Film London was delighted to support B3 Media's excellent short film, Whore, through our Filmmakers' Festival Fund, which enables talented filmmakers to attend oversees festivals and markets. Director, Fyzal Boulifa, has a distinct voice which engages with audiences and we look forward to seeing him succeed in the industry."
Satwant Gill, head of Film at the British Council, says "congratulations to Fyzal and B3 Media – 'Whore' has been selected for the British Council's international festivals scheme, and we expect further festival success awaits the film."
Rebecca Mark-Lawson from Lifesize Pictures, which manages the UK Film Council Digital Shorts scheme, says "Fyzal creates a world where young people grapple with their emotions and circumstances. He does this with passion and energy and alongside his team at B3 really delivers the fire an audience want in a short."
Marc Boothe, executive producer of B3 and Blank Slate, thinks that "the success of Whore is a great example of the importance of programmes such as Blank Slate. These programmes connect talent such as Fyzal with the wider creative community, and as a result can only benefit our industry."
B3 Names 'Best Encouragers of Talent' at Fringe Report Awards 2010
The Fringe Report, London-based reviewer of the arts fringes, have named B3 Media 'best encouragers of talent' in their 2010 Report Awards. The B3 team will be on hand to receive the award at The Leicester Square Theatre on Monday 8th Feb.
Note to editors:
B3 Media helps artists and film-makers develop, produce and distribute their work, taking them from the spark of an idea through to the first showing and beyond.
Blank Slate is B3 Media's Digital Shorts scheme that supports the next generation of black and minority ethnic filmmaking talent in the production of digital short films. B3 Media now invites submissions from writers, directors and writer/ directors across the UK. The scheme is funded by B3 Media, through the Arts Council England and the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund as part of the UK Film Council's UK-wide Digital Shorts initiative.
Creating Connections: At B3 we make connections between Britain's multi-cultural communities and the UK's creative industries - uniting the power of digital media with the creative potential of emerging artists and film-makers. All of our activities are focused on finding and nurturing new talent and connecting this talent with industry.
The B3 Model: B3 acts as catalyst; physical and virtual hub; laboratory; incubator; producer; showcase and distributor in the UK and abroad. We do this for some of our most gifted Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) film-makers and artists, creating new opportunities and professional pathways for them.
We do this through:
Networking: Giving access to people, networks, opportunities, ideas, technologies and skills.
Training: Hot-housing new ideas and talent.
Support: Offering bespoke mentoring and one to one advice
Production: Providing support and facilities for the production of new work and show reels.
Showcasing: Creating showcases for new work to be seen in; raising profiles and connecting artists with audiences.
