Poland's "Strike" hits protest

According to a report in Cineuropa, Volker Schlondorff's "Strike" has hit a major snag. The film, released in Poland on February 23, is an account of the events that led up to Solidarnosc's strike that eventually brought down the Communist regime. But the film is based on the life of the union's creator, Anna Walentynowicz, and she is not happy at all. In fact, she has been fighting the project from the start and is now threatening legal action against the film. She cites numerous biographical inaccuracies and "historical untruths". Oops. Questioned about the accuracy, fellow Solidarnosc member Lech Walesa said, "It does not entirely reflect the strategy of participants in the 1980 strike but it is a good reflection of the situation up to 1970".

"Strike", written by Andreas Pflüger and Sylke Rene Meyer has been awarded with two Bavarian Film Awards, Best Actress for Katharina Thalbach and Best Cinematography for Andreas Höfer. It will be released in Germany on March 3.

Volker Schlondorff on Amazon UK
Volker Schlondorff on Amazon US

European cinema attendance and local films on the rise

Provisional figures from the European Audiovisual Observatory show that cinema attendance has grown over the past year, with local cinema finding more audiences. Total admissions in the 25 member states of the European Union rose by around 4% in relation to the preceding year, with 17 out of the 20 countries for which data is available registering a positive change. In major markets, Germany and France saw increases of over 7%. Spain and the UK were down somewhat. The most impressive gains were in Lithuania (+98%) while Estonia (+40.2%) and Latvia (+22.7%) also showed impressive increases. Double-digit growth was registered in Austria (+10.6%), the Czech Republic (+21.4%), Finland (+11.5%) and Slovenia (+10.8%), whilst preliminary results in the Slovak Republic (+ 54.3%) are the best since 1998.

The market share of local films also brought good news. France leads the way with 45%, only slightly less than the figure for US films (45.8%). Germany had the highest national market share since analyses began in 1991. Other countries reporting improved market shares for domestic films included Finland, where local films accounted for 23% of admissions, up from 15% in 2005 and the best result since 1999. Three out of sixteen domestic titles released during the year claimed a place in the annual Top 10, led by Aleksi Mäkelä's ski jump champion biopic "Matti - Hell is for Heroes" (photo). Domestic films also figured in the Top 10 in Estonia, where the success of two children's titles, animation "Lotte from Gadgetville" (an Estonian-Latvian co-production) and comedy "Ruudi" (an Estonian-Finnish-German co-production), brought national market share to just over 9%. In Slovenia the 10% market share registered is the highest since records began. Other Central and Eastern European countries registering improved national market shares included the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

Irish film and TV awards

The Irish Film & TV Awards were held on February 9, with awards going to what was clearly a very good year for Irish film generally. The two heavyweights this year were Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (photo), which picked up the Best Film award, and "Breakfast on Pluto" that picked up the Best Script award for Neil Jordan and Pat McCabe. Cilliam Murphy also picked up a Best Actor award for his role in "Breakfast".

Also worth checking is "Small Engine Repair", written by Niall Heery. For the full list of winners, check the Irish Film & TV Awards.

UK: How to write a TV treatment

It's a well-known fact that TV offers more work for writers than anywhere else. And just like in movies, the producers are sighing, "Where are all the good writers?" To hopefully help you provide the answer, London's The Script Factory is running a special event aimed at getting you on the first rung of the ladder on March 29 & 30, 2007. "How to Write a TV Treatment" will be led by Yvonne Grace (who has worked in various writing and production roles for "Coronation Street", "Eastenders" and "Crossroads"), and there are only 12 places available. For details, visit The Script Factory.

Piaf biopic to premiere at the Berlinale

One of the season's big events will doubtless be the new bio-pic of the classic chanteuse Edith Piaf, called "La môme" or, for English speakers, "La vie en rose", which will premiere at the upcoming Berlinale festival. I saw a long trailer of this at Cannes, and the least you can say is that it looks lush. Olivier Dahan is credited as both writer and director. If bells are ringing, this is probably because he is the director of the spectacular "Crimson Rivers II". So we can reasonably expect a pretty big movie experience, not least because the cast includes Gerard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud and Jean-Paul Rouve. The singer herself is played by the suitably waif-like Marion Cotillard (with Jil Aigrot some of the actual singing).

"La vie en rose" will open in France and Germany in February, with other European countries later (and the UK in the autumn). To see the short trailer and more details en français, visit TFM distribution.

Edith Piaf on iTunes UK:


Edith Piaf on iTunes US:

Q&A with Kevin MacDonald and Giles Foden

"The Last King of Scotland", the first fiction feature from Oscar-winning documentary director Kevin Macdonald, is rooted in the reality of Idi Amin's brutal rule in Uganda. Wooed by the president's generosity, charm and apparent populist appeal, young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) agrees to become Amin's personal physician and soon finds himself appointed number-one advisor on all manner of subjects, from architecture to foreign policy. By the time he is forced to face the atrocities of Amin's command, the doctor is already in over his head. A bold combination of comedy and horror that balances psychological insight and historical facts, the film's success is founded on a monumental performance from Forest Whitaker. The film is based on a book by Giles Foden.

Curzon Soho in London are hosting a screening followed by a Q&A session with MacDonald and Foden on Friday January 12 at 6.30 pm. For details, visit Curzon Cinemas.

Screenplay Europe: Search by theme

Just a note about a new function on Screenplay Europe. I have been spending time re-organising the posts over the past two years to make it easier to find items. If you're only interested in German cinema, or would like an overview of festivals news, you can find them by clicking on the relevant tabs on an article. I still have to classify about half of the news items. You can find the most popular ones below. Happy hunting.

German film picks up European Film Award

I have been out of the loop for a few days, and so missed discussing the European Film Awards 2006 held in Poland recently. To save time, I suggest that you simply visit the Cineuropa page about the event.

Here's the executive summary:

European Film 2006
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany

European Director 2006
Pedro Almodóvar for Volver, Spain

European Actress 2006
Penélope Cruz for Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

European Actor 2006
Ulrich Mühe for The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany

European Discovery 2006
13 Tzameti by Gela Babluani, France, Georgia

European Screenwriter 2006
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen), Germany

European Cinematographer 2006
José Luis Alcaine for Volver by Pedro Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Barry Ackroyd for The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Ken Loach, UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain

European Composer 2006
Alberto Iglesias for Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

EFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2006
Roman Polański, Poland

European Achievement in World Cinema 2006
Jeremy Thomas, UK

EFA Award for An Artistic Contribution 2006
Pierre Pell and Stéphane Rozenbaum for The Science of Sleep (La science des rêves ) by Michel Gondry, France

People’s Choice Award Best European Film 2006
Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

Fipresci Award 2006
Regulars Lovers (Les Amants réguliers) by Philippe Garrel, France

ARTE award, EFA Documentary 2006
Into Great Silence (Die Grosse Stille) by Philip Groning, Germany

UIP Award, Short Film 2006
Before Dawn by Bálint Kenyeres, Hungary

UPDATE DEC 14: "The Lives of Others" has just picked up a nomination from the (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) for the "Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe Award".The last German nomination was for "Goodybe Lenin".

Paul Weiland, Bill Nicholson podcasts

You weren't there, so how would you like to hear what was said at the UK's debut Screenwriters' Festival? Some of the proceedings of the June event have been compiled and are available on the website as payable downloads. Speakers include Paul Weiland, talking about his semi-autobiographical "Sixty Six" with co-writers Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Terry Loane and Fiona Kinsella on the process of writing "Mickybo and Me", Dan Reed on "Straightheads", Tony Grison and Peter Carlton on "Brothers of the Head" and William Nicholson (photo) about surviving Hollywood.

See the list for the full selection on the Screenwriters Festival website, as well as tips on pitching.

Indie festival and masterclasses in Brussels

As I was on the int'l jury last year, I have a soft spot for Brussels "International Festival of Independent Film" (FIFI in French), which is now in its 33rd year. It has always championed the more adventurous end of film, particular Asia. This year's focus is on Taiwan, with films such as "Love's Lone Flower", "Blue Cha Cha" and "Taiwan Black Movies". There will also be films from the Philippines and Iran. Perhaps unique in its genre, the festival also has a special section for the deaf each year.

A special roundtable concerning 3D animation co-production will be held. Director Tsao Jui-yuan will be among the guests. Steve Montal will also chair a discussion about "Indie production in Times of Global Instability", while Jeff Bens will give a talk on "Creating Attaching Characters".

FIFI will be held between Nov 7 and 12, 2006. Entrance for most films is a mere €3. For details, visit the FIFI website.

Writers' site covers Italian screenwriting

I must admit that I don't follow the writing scene in Italy that much any more, mea culpa. Yet Italy still has a strong tradition of screenwriting, where the writer is recognised as playing an entirely dfferent role to the director (unlike France and Belgium). So directors often actively seek out writers with which to work.

To keep in touch, I recommend spending some time on the Italian screenwriters' site Sceneggiatori.com. It acts as a good source of information concerning writers' groups, workshops, articles, competitions and relevant screenwriting news in Italian. It also features a catalogue of available scripts and a busy messageboard (with a section in English just dying for some input).

"Cages" and "Falafel" dominate Namur Francophone fest

The 21st International Festival of Francophone Film closed over the weekend, bringing some 35,000 viewers to the town of Namur in Belgium. The festival acts as both a showcase for new films and an industry event, where producers and writers meet. As Algerian producer and jury member Liazid Khodja pointed out, there were films and jury members from 4 continents.

The festival has its awards, called the "Bayards". Highlights of this year's selection were the Bayard d'or for Best Film going to Michel Kammoun's "Falafel", a low-budget exploration of Beirut by night which also won the award for best original music by Toufic Farroukh. The other big winner was Olivier Masset-Depasse's debut feature "Cages", a Belgo-French production about a couple that organises a competition of animal noises in a cafe. The film picked up the Audience Award and the Youth Jury award (with a special mention for the screenplay). "This is particularly satisfying," said writer-director Masset-Depasse (photo, left). "My previous short films were wanky auteur films. This time I decided to write for the real jury: the audience." The Bayard for the best script went to Jean-Stéphane Bron and Karine Sudan for the Franco-Swiss production, "Mon frère se marie".

For the full results, visit FIFF.be.

Chirac changes heart after viewing "Indigenes/Days of Glory"

In one of the most remarkable developments in movie history, France's President Chirac has moved to redress claims for war pensions following a movie. "Indigènes/Days of Glory" tells the tale of France's Colonial soldiers in the Second World War. It is estimated that one in three fighters were from countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and elsewhere. Yet despite regular claims and court orders, the survivors have not been receiving full war pensions since many of the states achieved independance in the sixties.

After viewing the film with the cast, Chirac decided to do something. The French government is expected to announce this week that full pensions will be granted to the survivors.

"Indigènes/Natives/Days of Glory" was written by Rachid Bouchareb and Olivier Lorelle ("The Devils", "Avec un grand A"). Its five main stars picked up the Best Male Actor award collectively at this year's Cannes film festival. It is released in France on September 26 and is showing at the Festival Int'l de Film Francophone de Namur.

UPDATE Oct 9: Palme d'Or-winning actor Jamel Debbouze will not be attending the Algerian premiere of "Indigènes". The Algerian authorities refused to grant him a visa, although it is not clear why. In France, meanwhile, the film opened very successfully, ranking as the 10th strongest opening of 2006.

For a series of articles about "Indigènes, visit CinEuropa. Or visit the Indigenes/Days of Glory site (French and English).

People's Choice Award

While the members are busy selecting the nominees for this year's august European Film Academy awards to be held in Warsaw in December, the rest of us can vote in the aptly-named People's Choice Awards 2006. The nominess included "L'enfant/The Child", "Adam's Apples", "Crime Novel/Romanzo Criminale" (photo), "The Elementary Particles", "March of the Penguins" and "Paradise Now". This is a simple Fave Film award, with no special prizes for scripts. It's certainly an interesting selection of movies, although I doubt that many people apart from journalists can have seen them all due to the patchy distribution of some of the films within Europe.

For more details and to cast your vote, visit the People's Choice Award 2006.

March of the Penguins on Amazon UK
March of the Penguins on Amazon US

"Warchild" wins Best Screenplay Award in Montreal

"Warchild", the second of a German-language Balkan trilogy by Christian Wagner (left), picked up the best Screenplay Award at the 30th Montreal World Film Festival. Written by Edin Hadzimahovic and Stefan Daehnert, "Warchild" is the tale of a Bosnian mother who discovers her long-lost daughter is still alive and well - with a family in Germany. The film, based on a true story, had already picked up the Special Jury Prize at the Bavarian Film Award. While the festival was still underway, "Warchild" was invited to screen at the Hamptons Film Festival which is held from 18th to 22nd October. For more news about Warchild, visit the official Warchild site. UPDATE: "Warchild" has just picked up the Audience Award at the 9th Festival Slovenskega Filma, held in the Slovenian town of Portorož from September 14 - 17.

In other German festival news, co-production "Khadak" by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth was awarded the Lion of the Future Premio Venezia Opera Prima "Luigi de LAURENTIIS" at the 2006 Venice Film Festival for the Best Feature Film Debut. This award is open to all of the film debuts participating in the program sections of the Venice Film Festival and has a purse of Euros 100,000.

The Best of Short Films Festival in La Ciotat distinguishes the best shorts shown at international festivals for the year. Maximilian Engert was pleased with the award for his short "With a Flower (Durch die Blume)" as the third best short.

Resnais picks up Silver Lion at Venice

Veteran French director Alain Resnais has a second Venice award to his credit with "Coeurs/Private Fears in Public Places". Based on the play by Alan Ayckbourn and written by Jean-Michel Ribes, "Coeurs" follows his Golden Lion in 1961 for "Last Year at Marienbad". Jean-Michel Ribes is an actor, director and writer best known for "Palace", "La galette du roi" and "Rien ne va plus".

Interviewed by Cineuropa, Resnais remembers: "During the first 45 minutes of Last Year at Marienbad, the audience reacted very violently, responding to the dialogue in the film with deafening laughter. I turned to the organisers: 'let’s stop the film, this is painful!' Then, after a series of images, most of the audience members began applauding, a respectful silence grew and, ultimately, the Golden Lion. My directing career could have ended definitively that night because I would never have been able to come back to Venice with another film." See the full interview here.

"Volver" and "Paris" to feature in Beirut festival

You have to salute the courage of the organisers of the Beirut International Film Festival. They have decided to press ahead with the seventh edition of the event, just months after the end of the war. Quoted by Screen Inernational, Colette Naufal, director of the festival since 1997 said, “Let’s shoot films not missiles in the Middle East. I would like you all to come to Beirut to show your solidarity with us.” She told international journalists at the Venice festival that their presence would signal that “normal life could be around the corner.” The festival offers a much-needed showcase for cinema of the Middle East, with a script competition and plans to create a foundation for supporting young film-makers. "Volver" and "Paris, je t'aime" are two of the international films being showcased, with a strong section featuring new Middle Eastern cinema. This year's festival will be held between October 4 and 11, 2006.

For more details about the event, visit Beirut Film Foundation.

Sending scripts to agents and production companies

The UK Scriptwriters message board recently discussed the sending of unsolicited scripts to agents, the BBC or production companies. Andrew Rainnie weighed in with this advice for new writers, based on his experience as a reader for a literary agency in the UK.

“I was an intern at a small literary agency for seven months, and now work as a freelance reader and editor, and in all that time I have read about four unsolicited scripts worth making - not a lot given I was reading or glancing over 10 or 12 every week.

“Writing is rewriting”
As other people have pointed out, there are a lot of 'daft' writers out there, although I would be more kind and use the word deluded. They simply do not understand the sheer volume of scripts out there, and if they are like one writer I spoke to who gets 'tired of reading' his own scripts, then that is tantamount to laziness. Writing for film and TV is all about rewriting, so if you think you can simply write a script, put it through spell-check then send it off, you are deluding yourself and wasting a reader's time.Another major problem with unsolicited writers is that they refuse to show their work to anyone else for fear of someone stealing it. Again, while an intern, we received many a call from writers who didn't want their scripts read by 'just anyone' and that it was for the agents' eyes only, which was ridiculous. If you want a different perspective, you need to allow others to read your scripts. I know it is easy to become lost in the work itself, but if a writer is unwilling to consider changes then it is the sign of a true amateur. Many amateur writers will not listen to input, deluded by the thought that they are better than whoever is giving out advice.

Get some advice
And for all those out there who expect a full report from the BBC - stop complaining. The readers at the BBC work incredibly hard, and they are the only broadcasting company who invite unsolicited material all year round. If you only get a standard letter, it means your script isn't good enough. Sorry, but it’s a fact, most people send the BBC shite expecting to be given a contract. And if these people keep complaining about the fact that the BBC don't give them respect (or even worse, that the BBC is stealing their ideas), then eventually the BBC will turn around and say 'Fine, we're not accepting unsolicited material anymore.' So stop spoiling what is a great scheme [the BBC Writers’ Room – ed] by simply getting some advice about your script before sending it in, letting others read it beforehand and being open to suggestions and new ideas. Maybe once you focus your attention and energy on your script rather than complaining about the BBC you will find it improves.”

Rainnie has an MA in English Literature and Film & TV Studies, MA/PGDip in Screenwriting, seven-month internship at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency (also worked on Julian Friedmann's DTP title ScriptWriter) and has worked for the Writers Guild of Great Britain. To reach him, send an e-mail to fresh_rain@ntlworld.com.

Germany's Scriptforum announces conference programme

The Scriptforum Conference in Berlin in October is one of the Europe's foremost scriptwriting events. In addition to the conference itself, a series of workshops are being organised in English and/or German. These include "Eroticism in Screenplays", "Creativity Access: Diving into Story" and "Action – Writing for a Successful Genre”.

For details, see the Scriptforum website.

British sitcoms celebrated in documentary

Britain has been producing sitcoms since the fifties, so it was about time the subject was given a serious documentary. "Laughter in the House" is a superb look at the history and peak moments of British sitcoms, from the earliest days up to the recent classics such as "Only Fools and Horses" (written by John Sullivan), "The Young Ones", Fawlty Towers", "Blackadder" and "Rising Damp". Of particular interest to writers are the numerous interviews of the scriptwriters, many of whom wore woolie jumpers. Argh, what does that tell us about the writing profession?

The series is currently running on BBC2. If this link doesn't help, try the BBC2 homepage.

"Only Fools and Horses" has just been voted by viewers as Britain's best Sitcom, edging out "Blackadder", "Vicar of Dibly", "Dad's Army" and "Fawlty Towes". But where does "Absolutely Fabulous" come in? For the full list, click here.