BAFTA have just sent over a press release alerting us to the fact that the legendary veteran actor, John Hurt is to be he recipient of the 2012 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Hurt has been acting since 1962 when he appeared in TV series Z Cars. More recently he has appeared in the likes of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the Harry Potter franchise where he appeared as Ollivander, the wand expert.

I’ve placed the press release below but this award is so deserved and massive congrats John Hurt!

OHN HURT TO RECEIVE BAFTA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA

London, 27 January 2012:  The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is delighted to announce that John Hurt will receive the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House on Sunday 12 February. Universally acclaimed for his acting talent, Hurt’s vast range of distinguished performances has shaped an impressive career spanning six decades.

The Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award, introduced in 1978, is presented annually in honour of Michael Balcon. Previous recipients include Mike Leigh, Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jarman, Mary Selway, Ridley and Tony Scott, Working Title Films and Lewis Gilbert. Last year’s recipient was the Harry Potter series of films.

Hurt has starred in a variety of remarkable film roles working alongside some of the most important figures in the industry including Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton and Steven Spielberg. The legendary characters he has portrayed include Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Rich in A Man For All Seasons – a film which won seven BAFTA Awards and six Academy Awards – and Max in Midnight Express, for which he won the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Supporting Actor.

Hurt also won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1976 for The Naked Civil Servant, which was followed by a British Academy Film Award for Best Actor for his outstanding performance in The Elephant Man in 1981. Throughout an impressive career he has received a further four BAFTA nominations (one for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Alien) and two Academy Award nominations. His most recent film roles have seen him starring as Ollivander in the Harry Potter series and Control in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – both films are BAFTA-nominated this year.

Tim Corrie, Chairman of BAFTA, said: “John Hurt is an actor it is both exciting and fascinating to watch. He has extraordinary screen presence and brings utter conviction to every role he undertakes. He is one of a kind, an iconic figure, and BAFTA is delighted to take this opportunity to honour his outstanding contribution to cinema.”

John Hurt added: “I know that film means a great deal to me but I had no idea that I meant so much to film. I feel very honoured.”

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 12 February, hosted by Stephen Fry and broadcast on BBC One. They will be preceded by a special BAFTA ‘red carpet’ programme hosted by Edith Bowman on BBC Three.

Several of our writers at HeyUGuys, including our two editors, have young children, and therefore a legitimate excuse to watch Children’s TV. I, on the other hand, don’t. On the other hand, I am barely employed (and barely employable), so am far better versed in the ins-and-outs of children’s TV than I have any right to be. Consequently, when I was asked to head to the Park Lane Hilton to film my far more respectable colleague Paris Davis as she interviewed the arrivals on the red carpet, I leapt at the chance. After all, it’s not every day I get to be in the same room as Dick and Dom, Mr Tumble and Helen Skelton. Certainly not all at once.

Of course, it wasn’t just children’s TV presenters, and during the course of the night we spoke to Simon Farnaby, Bunny and the Bull’s ‘Bunny’ about the feature script he is writing with Julian Barratt, and comedian Jack Whitehall about auditioning for Harry Potter and The Hobbit. We also found out TV legend John Craven and BBC political editor Nick Robinson’s favourite films.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, we also caught up with Warwick Davis in the press room, shortly after he had collected the first of two awards won by Harry Potter films during the evening. During our conversation he spoke about how it felt to be collecting an award on behalf of the Harry Potter cast and crew, as well as his desire to have his own talk show.

We’ve just been sent the winners list for The BFI London Film Festival 2011 and massive congrats to We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay and all her cast and crew for winning the award. I’ll just make this post about the winners but I’m sure we’ll do a reaction post imminently. So watch this space. See see our review of We Need to Talk About Kevin, click here or here for all our LFF 2011 coverage.

Winners in a nutshell

• Best Film: We Need to Talk ABout Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay
• Best British Newcomer: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts
• Sutherland Award Winner: Pablo Giorgelli, director of LAS ACACIAS
• Grierson Award for Best Documentary: In the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog
• BFI Fellowship:  Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg (as previously announced)

BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2011 AWARD WINNERS

London – 10.30pm, 26 October 2011: The 55^th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express announced the winners at its high profile awards ceremony, supported by Montblanc at London’s LSO St Luke’s this evening.   Hosted by Marcus Brigstocke, the four awards were presented by some of the most respected figures in the film world.

BEST FILM: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, directed by Lynne Ramsay

Celebrating the most original, intelligent and distinctive filmmaking in the Festival, the Best Film award, presented in partnership with American Express, was chaired by John Madden who presented the award with fellow judge Gillian Anderson.

On behalf of the jury John Madden (Chair) said: “This year’s shortlist for Best Film comprises work that is outstanding in terms of its originality and its stylistic reach. It is an international group, one united by a common sense of unflinching human enquiry and we were struck by the sheer panache displayed by these great storytellers. In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need to Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema.”

BEST BRITISH NEWCOMER: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts

This award is presented in partnership with Swarovski and honours new and emerging film talent, recognising the achievements of a new writer, producer, director, actor or actress.  The award for Best British Newcomer was presented by Edgar Wright and Minnie Driver to Candese Reid, for her acting role in Junkhearts, a sophisticated, social drama about hope and the search for redemption. Starting acting at the age of nine, she joined Nottingham’s prestigious Television Workshop, and her role in Junkhearts, at the age of 18, was her first professional acting role. Candese also received a bursary of £5,000 courtesy of Swarovski

Chair of the Best British Newcomer jury, Andy Harries said, “Candese is a fresh, brilliant and exciting new talent. Every moment she was on screen was compelling.”

SUTHERLAND AWARD WINNER: Pablo Giorgelli, director of LAS ACACIAS

The long-standing Sutherland Award is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the Festival. This year, Argentinian director Pablo Giorgelli took the award for his film Las Acacias, a slow-burning, uplifting and enchanting story of a truck driver and his passengers. The director received his Star of London from film director Terry Gilliam.

The jury commented: “In a lively and thoughtful jury room debate, Las Acacias emerged as a worthy winner, largely because of the originality of its conception. Finely judged performances and a palpable sympathy for his characters makes this a hugely impressive debut for director Pablo Giorgelli.”

GRIERSON AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY: INTO THE ABYSS: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog

The award is co-presented with the Grierson Trust, in commemoration of John Grierson, the grandfather of British documentary. Recognising outstanding feature length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance, the jury was chaired by Adam Curtis and the award went to Werner Herzog’s coruscating study of the senselessness of violence and its consequences.

BFI FELLOWSHIP:  Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg (as previously announced)

Awarded to an individual whose body of work has made an outstanding contribution to film culture, the Fellowship is the highest accolade that the British Film Institute bestows and was awarded to Canadian auteur David Cronenberg whose film A Dangerous Method premiered at the Festival on Monday. The Fellowship was presented by Jeremy Thomas and Michael Fassbender.

Ralph Fiennes, one of Britain’s pre-eminent actors, who has just made a bold and critically well received transition to film directing with his festival film Coriolanus, was also presented with a Fellowship, this time from fellow actor and personal friend Liam Neeson.

Greg Dyke, Chair, BFI said: ‘The BFI London Film Festival Awards pay tribute to outstanding film talent, so we are delighted and honoured that both Ralph Fiennes, one of the world’s finest and most respected actors and David Cronenberg, one of the most original and ground-breaking film directors of contemporary cinema, have both accepted BFI Fellowships – the highest accolade the BFI can bestow. I also want to congratulate all the filmmakers and industry professionals here tonight, not only on their nominations and awards, but also for their vision, skill, passion and creativity.’

The Star of London award was commissioned especially for the Festival and designed by leading sculptor Almuth Tebbenhoff.

Jurors present at the ceremony included: Best Film jurors John Madden, Andrew O’Hagan. Gillian Anderson, Asif Kapadia, Tracey Seaward and Sam Taylor-Wood OBE; Sutherland jurors Tim Robey, Joanna Hogg, Saskia Reeves, Peter Kosminsky, Hugo Grumbar, and the artist Phil Collins. Best British Newcomer jurors Anne-Marie Duff, Tom Hollander, Edith Bowman, Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell; and Grierson Award jurors Mandy Chang of the Grierson Trust, Charlotte Moore, Head of Documentary Commissioning at BBC, Kim Longinotto and Adam Curtis.

Other guests included:  Alfonso Cuarón , Sheharazade Goldsmith, Duncan Kenworthy, Aaron Johnson, Paul Gambaccini, Chair of the BFI Greg Dyke, Chief Executive Amanda Nevill and Festival Director Sandra Hebron.

The world is split between two groups. Those that love Moon, director Duncan Jones’ stunningly impressive debut feature, and those yet to see it.

It was one of our favourite films of last year and we’ll have our fingers crossed this Sunday at the BAFTA awards for Duncan Jones who is up for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding British Film.

Jones’ next film, Source Code, got a new cast member today and we’re keeping all available eyes on his post-Moon career.

It’s always refreshing to see a talented team get the recognition so richly deserved and tonight in Marylebone, London the 30th annual Critics’ Circle awards were handed out and Duncan Jones was the recipient of Breakthrough British Film-Maker, as reported by ManMadeMovies.

Jones was up against some impressive talent in this category, in particular Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop and Sam Taylor-Wood’s film Nowhere Boy, both films which have done well critically, and it is a testament to the success of Moon that it overcame these films to win.

As a special treat for those in London on St. Patricks’ Day, 17th of March, Moon was voted as the Jameson Cult Film Club and will be shown in the surrounds of the Royal Institute. HeyUGuys will be there and you should head on over to book your tickets.

And here’s hoping for Sunday night…

The Palme d’Or. The prize awarded by the jury at the Cannes International film festival, for the best film in the competition. In recent times, it has been awarded to both up and coming film directors, like Steven Soderbergh, the Coens, and perhaps most famously Quentin Tarantino, and veterans of their art like Gus Van Sant and Roman Polanski. The Palme d’Or is considered one of the most prestigious awards in film.

This year, it went to Michel Haneke. It’s been a long time coming for the Austrian. Considered one of the most talented directors in Europe, Haneke will be best known in the UK and US for his only English language effort, 2007′s Funny Games US. A remake of his own 1997 Austrian movie, it wasn’t the best showcase of his work. He has returned to his native tongue, and hopes this year’s award winning The White Ribbon signals a return to form.

It is a small village in Germany, just before the beginning of the first world war. The village doctor is enjoying his usual morning ride, when suddenly the horse tumbles head over hoof, severely injuring it’s rider. The doctor is taken to hospital in the nearest, and upon further investigation it seems someone tied a wire across his route deliberately.
 
Then, an apparent accident occurs at a mill. A female worker falls through rotten floorboards to her death. The village is shocked by these events, none more so than her son. He commits an act of revenge against the mill owner, the village baron. When the baron’s son later goes missing, then turns up tied and beaten, suspicion inevitably falls on the same man. But with the revelation that he could not have committed the crime, the village is stunned. Who in the village could have committed such a crime?
 
As more incidents occur, the young village school teacher tries to unravel the mystery. Could it be possible the children of the village, kept in line by the iron fists of their guardians, are responsible for this string of strange and malicious events?
 
Shot in black and white, with no musical scoring, the story at the heart of The White Ribbon is pretty dark. The occurrences are all violent, intended to injure or kill. The way some of the adults of the village live their lives is questionable. But it’s the strict way they treat their children, to the point of physical abuse (and in one case sexual), that shocks. This is no exploitation picture however. The more sinister parts of the story are sensitively handled. And there are no graphic depictions of abuse or violence, they are implied, or occur behind closed doors.
 
It’s not all bleak drama however. There is a sweet love story contained within, as the young school teacher courts a nanny working for the baron. The scenes as the teacher and the object of his affections shyly get to know each other are very well written. There are many well played out scenes that tug at the heartstrings. The pastor’s youngest son giving up his beloved pet bird to replace the pastor’s dead one almost brings a tear to the eye. One particular scene, in which the doctor’s daughter is explaining death to her younger brother, starts off amusing, and ends up heartbreaking.
 
The casting in The White Ribbon is outstanding. There isn’t a bad performance on show. The ensemble cast create a convincing, fully realised village community. There are some outstanding performances amongst the adult actors, particularly Burghart Klaussner as the ultra strict Pastor, Rainer Bock as the abusive Doctor, and Christian Friedel as the young Teacher. However, it is amongst the younger actors that the performances amaze. The children of the village are played in such a subtle and confident manner. In particular, the level of acting shown by Thibault Serie and Miljan Chatelain, not much more than five years old, is remarkable.
 
It is a relatively long film, but is perfectly paced. The slow-burn nature of the storyline may nonetheless test the patience of some viewers. Some below par CGIi in the opening scene is in danger of taking you out of the period setting. These are minor quibbles though.
 
The subtext of the film, the idea that the events that occur ultimately are part of a wider problem which may have contributed to the rise of fascism, is certainly interesting. Another film that opens this week, Harry Brown, also deals with youth in revolt, again pointing the finger at those responsible for the children. Whilst The White Ribbon attributes some blame to the harsh discipline endured by the German kids, the opposite is true in Harry Brown, where a lack of discipline appears to be the problem. The root cause however, the abuse of these impressionable young children, is the same in both cases.
 
If we study history to learn from it’s mistakes, what can we expect to happen in our own society over the next twenty years? It’s a frightening question. One of many that are asked by The White Ribbon, with few answers on offer. I can definitely recommend Michael Hanneke’s offering, it’s a fine film, and possibly more relevant today than we’d like to admit.

The White Ribbon is released in the UK this Friday 13th November

Bazmann