UK FILMAKERS WIN £50,000 PRIZE
Director Jan Dunn and Producer Elaine Wickham took the grand prize
at the London Independent Film Festival over the weekend for their
feature film RUBY BLUE which stars Bob Hoskins as a man accused by
his neighbors of being a pedophile. The Prize, sponsored by Prime
Focus London, secures a significant portion of the of the
post-production finance for Dunn and Wickham’s next feature.
The two filmmakers from Ramsgate found critical acclaim two years
ago for their self-financed debut film GYPO, and RUBY BLUE is their
second film together.
UK director Julian Richards took the festival’s prize for Best
Director for SUMMER SCARS — his auto-biographically inspired
portrayal of Welsh youth. Actor Bob Hoskins and Film London were
each awarded the festival’s CHAMPION OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA award,
which annually recognizes one celebrity and one organisation for
outstanding service to the UK independent filmmaking community.
Festival sponsors Prime Focus London, Motorola, and Archos were on
hand for the awards ceremony on Sunday with prizes for the winning
filmmakers.
Hosted at several screening venues across London, including the BFI
Southbank, and Curzon cinemas, the London Independent Film Festival
screened over 90 films. The festival highlights the best in low-budget
filmmaking every April and has been called “A treasure trove of
undiscovered cinematic gems. One of Europe’s top indie film fests”
by British Film Magazine, 2008.