picture courtesy of www.alexwinn.com“Charles Thompson is a Godsend. I’m fortunate to have started out in media under the tutelage of Charles almost a decade ago now. I was there when Screen Nation was in its infancy and I’m privileged to still be a part of it all albeit as a supporter of this year’s event where another of my mentors (Menelik Shabazz) will be rightly honoured also. I have a lot of time for Charles who in turn has shown a lot of time for me and for so many people in the film industry who would’ve taken great pride in hearing of his award of an MBE earlier this year. May you enjoy good health and continued success in everything you pursue”... Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, British Urban Film Festival
And it’s with those sentiments (available with a whole host of others inside page 7 of the Screen Nation brochure) that we welcome you into the fold for another BUFF blog fresh from being wined and dined by one of this year’s festival partners at London’s showpiece Black History Month awards show. And whilst it was never going to be Sunday Night at the Palladium, it was a lively old affair for many of the great and good from film and TV who came together for the return of the Screen Nation Awards, the 7th in all and the 1st one making its’ bow at the rather plush Indigo at the O2 complex in Greenwich.
From the moment comedian Kevin J took to the stage to ‘warm up’ the crowd, the evening’s vibe was set in many ways, mainly that at various points if it wasn’t most of the awards winners (27 in total) then it was definitely a fair few of the awards presenters who took to the mic and enlightened the faithful with their lethal brand of head shaking humour (the TV highlights should make for interesting viewing). One of the big winners on the night was the movie ‘The Mirror Boy’, a film flagged up by this very blog back in February and which has gone onto amass critical and popular acclaim from fans and pundits alike. The film’s director, Obi Emelonye was at pains to remonstrate with BUFF as to why the film was not considered for the festival just over a month ago. Well it just so happened that the festival was onto a winner (also) with 'David is Dying' which, at the time of going to press, is currently impressing audiences once again, this time at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Another festival film which impressed audiences both at home and abroad was ‘Sus’ for which actor, writer and director Clint Dyer collected a thoroughly deserved award for best male performance in Film. Getting caught up with events (and the wine) at the O2 meant that there was a social media vacumn of sorts – one can only imagine what the twitterati and others would’ve made of events as they happened. And though premiership footballer Jay Bothroyd (Queens Park Rangers) and his missus were amongst those in attendance, the stories that we shared were certainly not going to make any back pages (or front), not unless you count going to the same school as Heartless Crew and former Arsenal legend Charlie George as ‘gossip’. From all accounts, Mr Bothroyd certainly fancies himself as an actor... well if it can work for Lonyo it can certainly work for the Holloway boy whose done rather good – watch this space as they say...
Speaking of which, a reminder that you can catch up with all the very latest post-festival coverage on our website
Many thanks to the team down there: Jasmine Dotiwala, Alex Kann and Simon Constantine to name but 3, the latter of whom is an absolute dead ringer for broadcaster Michael Underwood so if for some reason, Michael’s wife (and mother-to-be) Angellica Bell needed ‘cover’ as it were, then look no further...
Anyway bringing it nicely back to the Screen Nation Awards (hosted incidentally by Michael Underwood and Angellica Bell) and other highlights on the night included honorary awards for the film 'Burning an Illusion', the comedy series 'The Real Mccoy', broadcaster Sir Trevor Mcdonald and the actor Clarke Peters who had the audience in the palm of his hand with his humbling acceptance speech – one of several little nuggets to be had from the evening which was rounded off by a rousing rendition of Omar’s signature track...
And that was the awards that was. Congratulations to all 27 winners, long may the passion continue in everything that you continue to do through your work. The same can be said for the boys and girls at Screen Nation (many of whom are friends of the festival) – long may such occasions continue.
Tis the season to be hibernating but fear not, for BUFF will be out and about on your behalf, scouting, on the lookout for the 16 buffest films for the 2012 festival which is only a year away... This month’s blog marks the official call for submissions for next year’s festival. Those of you who are familiar with BUFF will know that to be a part of it all as a filmmaker, then you’ve gotta show us what you’ve got. For all the details as to what’s required, when, why, where and all the rest of it, go to the website and click on BUFF Submissions 2012. We leave you with another chunk of buffness from the festival, courtesy of our friends at Vox Africa:
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