UK's South West Screen's Script Development Fund deadline

The UK's South West Screen's Script Development Fund offers an opportunity to get the help you need to develop scripts for feature length cinematic and longer length TV drama.

It is open to writers living and working in the South West region and 3 awards of up to £2000 each will be made under the scheme. Each recipient will also benefit from one-to-one script development tailored to their individual needs.

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on 22 February. The application pack and guidelines can be found on South West Screen's website.

France's Césars awards nominate "A Very Long Engagement"

France's annual movie awards, the Césars, should be good to Jeunet's "Un long dimanche de fiançailles/A Very Long Engagement". The film is nominated for 12 awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay. "Engagement" was stripped of its French nationality by a French court last year, but the César organisers had changed the regulations enabling French-speaking fims to be eligible months before.

Best Screenplay
Arnaud Desplechin, Roger Bohbot - "Kings And Queen"
Agnes Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri - "Comme une image/Look At Me"
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant - "A Very Long Engagement"
Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalya Lacroix - "L'Esquive"
Olivier Marchal, Franck Mancuso, Julien Rappenneau - "36, Quai Des Orfevres"

Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Amazon UK
Jean-Pierre Jeunet in Amazon US
Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Amazon France

Gegen die Wand/Head On: London screening and DVD release

The multi-award-winning "Gegen die Wand/Head On", by Fatih Akim, is to receive a special screening at London's Curzon Cinema on January 27 followed by a Q&A session with the director and editor Andrew Bird. "Head On" is a hard-hitting look at two second generation Turkish misfits tearing each other apart in an attempt to get their lives together. It features remarkable performances from the main leads Birol Ünel and particularly Sibel Kekilli (photo).

Gegen die Wand's full awards include:
Best European Film, European Film Awards 2004
Golden Bear, Berlin 2004
FIPRESCI Award, Berlin 2004
Best Actor & Best Actress, Nuremberg 2004
Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Leading Actress, Best Leading Actor, Best Cinematography, German Film Awards 2004

The film, still playing in several countries across Europe, is also being released on DVD in France on January 26. See also Curzon Cinemas.

"Edukators" and "Marseille" please the critics

"The Edukators" (Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei) is the big winner at this year's German Film Critics Awards, winning in the categories of Best Feature Film and Best Actress. The film (photo) was a strongly-tipped competition entry for director Hans Weingartner at Cannes 2003 (with a script co-written with Katharina Held). At the same awards, writer/director Angela Schanelec picked up an award for her script for "Marseille'".

The awards will be presented at the Max Ophuels Prize Film Festival in Saarbruecken on 20 January.

French and Italian scriptwriters on the web

The web is a vast resource, but the biggest resource is probably the people you can find while you're out there. The writers on Version-Finale (picture) and Sceneggiatori discuss all things scripty in French and Italian respectively. Both are good resources. What you get are tips, advice, links, competition and festival news and the inevitable forum - the place to pick up the latest gossip and sometimes fiery discussion. As with other discussion groups and forums, the more you contribute the more you are likely to get an interesting reply when you post a question or request. Sceneggiatori (literally "scriptwriters" in Italian) also has a newsgroup at "free.it.sceneggiatori". Check it out.

Remember that the Vache Violette project for presenting pitches at Cannes is being run by writers from Version-Finale. For details, check this previous post.

Script & Pitch Workshops: deadline approaching

The deadline for applications for the Script & Pitch Workshops is February 15, 2005. One of several projects supported by the EU's Media Plus programme, the Workshops aim to develop a "European style" (their emphasis) in scriptwriting for cinema and TV. Both the participants and tutors come from a wide variety of countries that now include the newer Member States plus Bulgaria. The courses consist of three workshops in Italy, France and Finland accompanied by continued onlin tutoring. The goal is to have 16 ready-to-shoot scripts. All courses are in English. Fees are €2,000 (€1,500 for writers from new Member States).

For more information, visit Holden Lab.

Sweden: 3 films dominate local awards

Three films stand to win in the upcoming Guldbagges, Sweden's annual cinema awards: Tomas Alfredson’s black comedy "Four Shades of Brown", first-time film maker Maria Blom’s comedy drama "Dalecarlians" and last year’s biggest local box office success, Kay Pollak’s "As It Is in Heaven". All three are notably in the race for the "Best Screenplay" award. This leaves two critical successes out in the cold: Lukas Moodysson's "A Hole in my Heart" and Teresa Fabik's teenage drama "The Ketchup Effect (Hip-Hip Hora!)".

For more details, check the Swedish Film Institute.

BBC Scotland to organise TV drama workshops and screenings

According to a report on The Stage Online: "BBC Scotland is holding a day of screenings, seminars and practical workshops on television drama on January 21. Applicants for the event in Aberdeen need to send a CV, a letter explaining their interest in TV drama, a sample of writing and an idea for a programme by January 14. For more information write to Julie Fraser, Project Producer, The Writers Factory Screenwriting Programme, Scottish Screen, 2nd Floor, 249 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 4QE or call 0141 302 1700."

Click here for more from Stage Online.

Meet Chris Collins in London January 13

The London-based Script Factory is hosting a meeting with producer Chris Collins, perhaps best-known for "Tomorrow la Scala" for BBC Films and the more recent "My Summer of Love". He will talk to members of the Script Factory on January 13. Quoting from the website: "Chris Collins... has championed some of the most challenging and innovative writers and directors working in the UK film industry. Chris joins us for this exclusive Members-only event to talk about the creative journey from script to screen of this remarkable British movie".

For details, click here.

Update Jan 3: The event is now fully booked. To be kept abreast of Script Factory events, sign up for their newsletter or become a member.