Friday, January 27, 2006

Michael Haneke picks up French award for "Hidden"

The French critics awards, the Etoiles de la presse (press stars), were announced on January 24 in Paris. Michael Haneke picked up the best Screenplay Award for "Caché/Hidden". The most noted winner was definitely "De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté/The Beat That my Heart Skipped", with 5 awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Romain Duris), Best Soundtrack and Best Producer (Pascal Caucheteux).

"Hidden/Caché" was one of the strong contenders for last year's Palme d'Or at Cannes, and was subsequently a winner in the European Film Awards.

Michael Haneke on Amazon France (a large selection)
Michael Haneke on Amazon US

Belgium's Patrice Toye picks up Sundance screenplay award

Patrice Toye, director of "Rosie" (1998), has just picked up the NHK International Filmmaker Award for the screenplay of "The Spring Ritual". The award consists of $10,000 towards the making of the film, with a guarantee that the Japanese chanel will show the subsequent movie.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Writing for radio: Bert Coules

When I think screenplay, I inevitably think of the big screen. But there is a fine tradition of creating drama for radio - a tradition that is very much alive in the UK. In fact, radio offers probably one of the best doors into story-telling in the UK.

Bert Coules has written a wide range of drama over the years, including high-profile dramatisations of Sherlock Holmes, Thriller Playhouse and the mediaevel sleuth Brother Cadfael. Many of these are available as audio books.

Is radio a poor man's television or a challenge in its own right? The answer is obviously the latter. As an occasional listener to the BBC's Radio 4 and World Service (on long car drives), I've often caught myself listening to dramatisations and radio soaps (is the Archer's still running?). But if you have any doubts, follow the links to find out more about writing for radio.

Check this interview on US sci-fi site The Thunder Child. The BBC conducted its own interview concerning Coules and Sherlock Holmes. Lastly, Bert's own site can be found here.