Get ready to get Ffresh

It’s nearly that time of year again and Aberystwyth is preparing itself for the hoards of film fans that are set to descend next month. Yes it’s time for the Ffresh film festival 2009 and we’ve caught up with festival co-ordinator James Nee for a sneaky preview of what we can expect.

Now in it’s seventh year, Ffresh is ever growing in popularity and 2009 looks set to be bigger and better than ever as students, lecturers, industry professionals and members of the public alike gather together for a film-packed programme, kicking off on February 11th and lasting for three days.

Festival Co-ordinator James Nee is looking forward to Ffresh 2009 and told us exactly what he hopes for this year:
What do you expect of this year’s festival?
"Due to the international showcases and new award categories (Fiction post grad, Out of sight, etc) the audience will be exposed to a more extensive, diverse and eclectic range of student work from all around the world."

How will it compare to last year?
"It will be bigger, due to the inclusion of Ffresh +, but with more of an emphasis on student work and celebrating their excellence. Due to the creation of things like the adopt a student scheme (see website) hopefully more students will stay over in Aber so they can experience the whole event and meet lots of new people. A major component of getting ahead in the media industry is making contacts and festivals are great places to do so."

What hopes do you have for this year?
"I hope that more students will come away having seen an incredible range of work, and having heard some amazing speakers, which will both inspire and encourage them."

What are you looking forward to most?
"Meeting the speakers who play an integral part in the festival, but also the students from the UK and abroad. Without either groups we wouldn’t have a festival."

There is a lot to look forward to at this year’s festival and James gave us an insight into what exactly can be expected:
James said: "Ffresh 2009 has added an extra day called Ffresh + which will be aimed specifically at further education students and will take place on the first day of the festival. One of highlights of the Ffresh + programme is a session called Previsualizing The Bourne Ultimatum. Storyboard artist Dan Maslen has worked on a host of big budget film productions such as The Other Bolyen Girl, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and forthcoming Wolf Man starring Benico Del Terro. For The Bourne Ultimatum – the third film in the successful Bourne trilogy – Dan worked alongside the film’s director Paul Greengrass to previsual the film’s elaborate set pieces and labyrinth style plot which takes places in numerous cities around the world. Using examples from the film, Dan will elucidate the role of storyboard/ previsualisation artist in bringing the film to life in the early stages of the preproduction process."

"The Ffresh 2009 keynote interview will be with Stephen Garrett. As the founder of the production company Kudos, Stephen Garrett has galvanized British television by bringing to the screen such popular and acclaimed shows as Spooks (based on Garrett’s original idea), Hustle and Life on Mars. Stephen’s first notable success with Kudos was the critically hailed feature film Among Giants, and he has since worked with David Cronenberg on Eastern Promises (which he executive produced) and Bharat Nalluri on Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (this time as producer). Ffresh is delighted to have one of the most respected, innovate and talented figures in the UK production sector as this year’s Keynote Interview. Stephen will be in conversation with Festival Chair Maggie Russell about his career in the media."

"Ffresh has teamed up with ten international partner festivals around the world who have selected work to screen as part of a number of international showcases with categories including animation, fiction, documentary and experimental. For a session called Animation: The Next Generation Ffresh has invited three up and coming young animators whose work will feature as part of the international showcases. Born in Ireland, Johnny Kelly studied at the Royal College of the Arts. His film Procrastination won a Royal Television Society Student Award, and lead to a commission from an advertising agency in San Francisco resulting in his next film The Seed. He recently joined the roster of directors at Nexus Productions. Hum won the 1st prize at the 2007 Sicarm International Contest of Digital Animation and marked its director Soeren Bendt as a major new talent. Soeren studied at the Animation Workshop in Denmark and recently worked on the animated feature The Tale of Despereaux. The final panellist is NFTS graduate Joseph Pierce whose film Stand Up has already wowed audiences at Annecy and the Edinburgh International Film Festival."

"The programme includes a number of exclusive previews including the new Steve Coogan comedy Hamlet 2 and the highly anticipated horror film Let the Right One In, which will be the 2009 Special Preview. Although it won’t be released in the UK until April, Let the Right One In featured in Sight & Sound’s top ten films of 2008, which gives an indication of just how incredible and hotly anticipated this film is. Set in a Swedish council-estate in the early 80s, an underage vampire hooks up with an orphan boy in a cold, dark and moving teen love story, that’s also a blood-splattered horror film. Similar to the versions of Nosferatu by Murnau and Herzog, it takes the vampire myth very seriously, and director Tomoas Alfredson bravely retains many of the macabre and sinister elements of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s original novel. The title refers to the technicality that vampires must be invited into a home before they can enter, but also acts as warning about the people we let into our lives when our options are limited."

"As part of Ffresh, Visit Wales will launch Shoot Wales - an exciting competition to find four short films, made by young filmmakers, which will attract UK holiday makers to Wales in 2009. The winner of Shoot Wales will receive a week’s work experience at the world renowned advertising company Wieden + Kennedy who will be overseeing the competition, and a £2000 career development bursary. There is also the Pitch to Win competition, now in its 3rd year, where students have been asked to submit an original idea that must be suitable for multi-platform development, which promotes Sustainable Development. The three finalists will pitch their ideas to a panel of renowned industry professionals and the festival audience."

"The festival will end with the Ffresh Awards show, where the winners of the prestigious ffresh awards will be announced, and a special Silent Disco featuring Radio One’s Huw Stephens."

Ffresh is free to students enrolled on courses in the following: Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, University of Wales Lampeter, University of Glamorgan, Glyndwr University
International Film School Wales, Newport, Swansea Metropolitan University, Trinity College, Carmarthen. Ffresh+ is free to all students and lecturers from further education institutions in Wales. Tickets for everyone else come in at £10 for one day or £20 for two.

See ffresh.com for more details.

Writer recognises bad film decisions for G- Force movie

Writer Terry Rossio, who is on board to help with the screenplay of G-Force, has been spotted on Wordplay Forums discussing the upcoming film, its downfalls and the mistakes made by the production team.

G- Force, from director Hoyt Yeatman, is due to hit our screens this summer and will tell the story of a group of specially trained agents who have to work on behalf of the US government to prevent a billionaire from taking over the world but, this is not your average FBI action film by a long shot…the agents are all guinea pigs.

Rossio said: "I love the concept behind G-Force. A spy thriller that features Guinea Pigs as the heroes? I’m there. We helped out on the film, writing and rewriting scenes, coming up with ideas, viewing edits, etc."

He added: "Unfortunately, the production team proceeded down the wrong path. The project needed to be taken as seriously as an instalment of the Bourne series or James Bond or Mission Impossible, that kind of tone. Do a real spy story with a real plot, and just substitute guinea pigs.

"Instead they filled it with those stupid ‘call outs’ (like ‘pimp my ride’) that nobody really likes and tags a movie as bad. Despite our warnings and objections, they held a gag session (always a bad sign) and they decided to market it as one big goof, which marginalizes it as a kid’s movie.

"Too bad. If they had done it right, and just taken the idea seriously, it could have been a general audience hit, even a date movie. Instead, now it’s a kid’s film, a creative misstep that’ll probably cost them over $100 million in revenue over the years."

Rossio concluded: "Maybe if there’s a sequel they can get it right ..."

G-Force will star Nicholas Cage, Bill Nighy, Penelope Cruz and Steve Buscemi amongst others in the small, furry adventure. The project is currently in post-production and is set for release in UK cinemas at the end of July.

Blue Peter olympic coin competition

CBBC's Blue Peter today announces the launch of one of the programme's most exciting competitions: Design a 50p for London 2012.

Run in conjunction with The Royal Mint and LOCOG, The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Blue Peter is offering one lucky viewer aged between 6 and 12 the chance to design the reverse side of a special 50p coin to celebrate the forthcoming London 2012 Games.

The coin will be seen and used by millions of people in the UK.

The competition will be launched live today on Blue Peter by Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG.

The winning design will appear on the reverse side of the coin and will be one of 29 special designs celebrating the forthcoming games.

The Blue Peter winner's coin will show a design of an athletics discipline, and can show either the Olympic or the Paralympic Games.

In addition to the winning entrant's design being used for the 50p coin, the winner will also receive a gold striking of their design from the Royal Mint.

Tim Levell, Editor of Blue Peter, said: "This is one of the most amazing competitions we have ever run on Blue Peter. One very lucky child will design a coin that will not only go into circulation, but will also last for hundreds of years. We really are giving a child a chance to make history."

Blue Peter, CBBC on BBC One, 4.35pm.

(BBC Press Release)

Kate Winslet's acceptance speech steals the show at Golden Globe Awards

Beloved British actress Kate Winslet found herself all over the news this week after an emotional acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.

The excitement proved to be too much for the star as she accepted two awards, one for best supporting actress for The Reader and a second for best actress in Revolutionary Road.

Kate, who has had a long run of not winning awards, could hardly contain herself as she accepted her second award and had an attack of tears and forgetfulness, apologising to the actresses who lost out- Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Kristen Scott Thomas - and adding ‘Oh God, whose the other one?’ before remembering Angelina Jolie.

She went on to declare her love for Leonardo DiCaprio and her director husband Sam Mendes along with a number of other people she has worked with.

Kate now looks set for some success at the Oscars as the Golden Globes usually provide a good estimation of what will happen.

She will definitely have to work on her acceptance speech in time for the Academy Awards at the end of February.