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Official News Release from Fujifilm Motion Picture
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Release Date: 31 March 2009
Fujifilm Shorts Competition winners announced
Size, we are often told, doesn't matter. That's certainly true on the evidence of 12 impressive nominees in the inaugural Fujifilm Shorts Competition, the winners of which were announced at a packed ceremony at MPC in Wardour Street in late March.
Outcasts, lit by Stuart Bentley, scooped the Best Film award, while DP Richard Stewart's work on Leaving won the Best Cinematography prize.
"It's really flattering that people enjoyed the film," says Bentley, who was there to collect the Best Film award on behalf of director Ian Clark and producer Megan Stuart Wallace. Shot on the ETERNA 250T 16mm stock Outcasts is a vivid and original tale that warns against judging people purely by appearances.
"One of the things I really liked when I first read the script was that it did have a really strong visual style. There was a lot of really interesting set ups and a lot of challenges for me. It was a very ambitious film, and I think it's all the better for that. There was a lot of excitement on set and I think that comes through when you see it on screen."
Richard Penfold and Sam Hearn's Leaving, on the other hand, has a stark realism that suits its subject of domestic abuse. Cinematographer Richard Stewart selected the ETERNA 400T 35mm, and over five 18 hour days captured the essence of a marriage underpinned by fear and violence.
"The 400 tungsten is my favourite stock," says Stewart, "I just love the way it captures skin tones in low light."
Where Stuart Bentley started out shooting skateboarding videos, learning his craft on the streets before attending the National Film & Television School, Richard Stewart's background is in the demanding environment of shooting wildlife films.
"The great thing about that is you really learn about the camera inside out," he explains. "You have to know how to take it apart down to the last screw. The film camera is such a great tool for telling stories, and once you've got that intimate understanding of it you can do really subtle things with it to reflect that intensity."
Yet the measure of overall quality in any competition comes from the standard demonstrated by an even wider group, and this quality was evident in many of the 100 plus entries to the competition, the criteria for which was have been shot on Fuji film stock and to have been made within the last two years
"We were delighted to have received so many entries in our very first year of Fujifilm Shorts," explains Jerry Deeney, Marketing Manager Professional Film and Motion Picture Film. "We received films made under every genre from dramas to comedies; experimental art films to documentaries. Momentum quickly built up for the competition, to the point where filmmakers are choosing to shoot on Fujifilm Motion Picture stock to ensure that they can enter the Fujifilm Shorts competition next year".
The panel of judges comprised Matt Adams of Technicolor, Katie Metcalfe from Future Shorts, Ian Sherborn of Panalux, Hugh Whittaker of Panavision, BSC President Sue Gibson, Chris Seager BSC, Haris Zambarloukos BSC and publisher of British Cinematographer magazine Alan Lowne. They were all impressed by the standard of entries, as well as the respective qualities of the winners.
"For me," Ian Sherborn adds, "Outcasts stood out on a multitude of levels; the story, the characterisation, the pace and emotion were captured brilliantly, the cast and crew delivering a superb piece of work which challenged the viewer and offered them laughs and empathy throughout its entire 24 minutes and 35 second running time."
The lavish prize package effectively gives both winners the key elements needed to work on their next project on film, which Stuart Bentley and Richard Stewart accepted on the day with evident pride and satisfaction. Stewart's work on the powerful Leaving drew particular praise from the judging panel for its quality and maturity.
"It displayed a confident visual style that was consistent throughout the piece," Chris Seager says, "most importantly it fully supported the highly emotional subject matter of the drama. The camerawork and lighting was never of an 'in your face' style but more observational, which was something that I really liked."
Haris Zambarloukos praised the film: "I believe we were all struck by the design and execution of the lighting in this film, which had an effortless quality to it. Everything felt natural and at the same time intriguing. The camera seemed to hover at just the right place and despite its very important message the film flowed quite elegantly."
Fujifilm Shorts Best Film winner Outcasts was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 250T 8653; Best Cinematography winner Leaving was shot on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 400T 8583
On the web: www.fujifilmshorts.com
Ends.
* Note: this news release is issued electronically and will not be duplicated with a posted copy
Images of the winners receiving their prizes are at:
http://www.newsfeeduk.com/fujimotionpicture/index.shtml
** A promotional DVD of the winning films is available if required **
Picture captions:
winner1.jpeg: (left to right) Sue Gibson BSC - Director of Photography and
President of the BSC, Winner of Fujifilm Shorts 'Best Cinematography' 2009
for 'Leaving' - Director of Photography Richard Stewart, Jerry Deeney -
Marketing Manager Fujifilm Motion Picture.
winner2.jpeg: (left to right) Director of Photography - Chris Seager BSC,
Winner of Fujifilm Shorts 'Best Film' 2009 for 'Outcasts' - Director of
Photography Stuart Bentley, Jerry Deeney - Marketing Manager Fujifilm
Motion Picture.
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FUJIFILM UK Ltd.
Moving Picture Film
56 Poland Street, London W1F 7NN
Tel: 0203 040 0404
E-mail: movingimage@fuji.co.uk
www.motion.fuji.co.uk
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Tel. 01323 749400 Email: peter@wpsmedia.co.uk
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