British Film Festival, Nimes

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NIMES January 28th – February 6th 2005

British Screen 2005 – the annual festival of British film and cinema, opens in Nimes on the evening of Friday January 28th with a screening of Richard Eyre’s Stage Beauty, and runs through to Sunday February 6th.

Over the 10 days an impressive range of new British cinema work will be shown, 7 screenings being French 'avant-premieres' of cinema films just recently made and not yet distributed in France. These are:

Vera Drake directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis and Jim Broadbent - this film won the Golden Lion award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival;

Yasmin directed by Kenneth Glenaan and starring Archie Panjabi of ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ fame;

My Summer of Love, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, etc.);

Dear Frankie, directed by Shona Auerbach;

I Capture the Castle, directed by Tim Fywell;

Stage Beauty, directed by Richard Eyre;

Omagh, directed by Pete Travis.

Other recent films include Young Adam, directed by David Mackenzie, and starring Ewan MacGregor, Peter Mullan and Tilda Swinton, This Filthy Earth – Andrew Kotting’s interpretation of Zola’s ‘The Earth’ , and Gurinder Chadha‘s Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

In addition, ‘hommages’ will be paid to veteran cinematographer/director Jack Cardiff (the celebrated 1940s classics Black Narcissus, and Colonel Blimp, to name just two) and veteran actor Pete Postlethwaite (Brassed Off, In The Name of the Father), both of whom will be present in person for the screenings of their various films.

During the course of the festival, meetings and events include the annual round table debate on British and French cinema, for which British participants include producer Sally Hibbin (Yasmin). A selection of documentaries will also be screened.

Films will be shown at the SEMAPHORE cinema - 25 rue Porte de France, Nimes, two minutes from the Arena – whilst debates and documentary screenings will take place at the Carre d’Art.

A full programme is now in distribution, a pull-out version of which can also be found in the current SEMAPHORE programme, whilst a summary of main screenings and events is on the web-site www.ecransbritanniques.org

The Nimes based association ECRANS BRITANNIQUES has organized the festival in partnership with the Semaphore cinema and the Carre d’Art and with the financial support of local, departmental and regional funders and sponsors.

You can join ECRANS BRITANNIQUES before or at the festival for 10 euros per person and benefit from a reduced admission price of 3,50 for each screening. For all information on Ecrans Britanniques and membership, etc., see the web site and/or telephone 04 66 81 83 44

BritsNimes has happily co-operated with the festival organisers; our own brochures are being distributed along with some of the festival programmes and will also be available at some events during the festival.

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BritsNîmes is a non-profit making association of people interested in the English language. Membership is open to individuals or families.

More information at www.britsnimes.com