Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Raindance Award Winners Announced

Posted on by

There was a 62% Rise in Attendance for the 19th Raindance Film Festival

Some of the winners this yeat included British Indie Stranger Things (Best UK Feature), Croatian/Serbian/Slovenian co-production Just Between Us (Best International Feature), Bulgaria’s Tilt (Best Debut Feature) and Italian
short Reset (Film of the Festival) Raindance Film Festival Awards. The prestigious jury, which included actor Dexter Fletcher, director Gillies Mackinnon, and TV/radio presenter Alex Zane, selected winners in the eight awards
categories.

“There were some outstanding films across the whole line-up so selecting winners was especially
difficult this year,” said Elliot Grove, Festival Director. “This has been a really successful festival – from the heart of London’s West End we’ve screened over 200 features and shorts at the state-of-the art

Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly. Attendance was up by a staggering 62% on last year proving that the
appetite for independent film is thriving.”

The winners were announced on Saturday night (8th October) at the festival venue, the Apollo Cinema,

Piccadilly Circus. The 19th Raindance Film Festival, which started on 28th September and wrapped on 9th October, brought 94 UK feature film premieres and 137 shorts to London, cementing Raindance’s position as Europe’s leading independent film festival.

The other winners were How To Start A Revolution (Best Documentary), the UK’s Monk3ys (Best
Microbudget Feature), Denmark’s Words (Best International Short), and Love At First Sight (Best UK Short). The winning team behind Reset (Film of the Festival) will be offered the chance to film next year’s Raindance Film Festival trailer, with the support of the Independent Film Trust.

Festival Jury
The jury comprised Sally Bibawy of photography company Lomography, actor Dexter Fletcher (Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Director Gillies MacKinnon (Hideous Kinky), Julian Richards,
filmmaker and co-founder of Jinga Films, Oli Harbottle from Dogwoof, CŽline Masset, co-founder and artistic Director of the Brussels Short Film Festival, actress Helen McCrory (The Queen, Harry Potter films), Wendy Mitchell, Head of News at Screen International, and radio/TV presenter and film critic Alex Zane.

Festival Awards – nominated films with winners indicated

Best International Feature

Just Between Us / Rajko Grlic – Croatia/Serbia/Slovenia WINNER
No Return / Miguel Cohan – Spain / Argentina
After Fall, Winter/ Eric Schaeffer – USA
Youth H2 “Come As You Are” / Kota Yoshida – Japan
War Games / Cosimo Alemˆ – Italy

Best UK Feature
Stranger Things / Eleanor Burke/Ron Eyal – UK WINNER
Acts Of Godfrey / Johnny Daukes – UK
A Thousand Kisses Deep / Dana Lustig – UK
Flutter / Giles Borg – UK
Hollow/ Michael Axelgaard – UK
Seamonsters / Julian Kerridge – UK

Best Debut
Tilt / Viktor Chouchkov Jr. – Bulgaria WINNER
Synchronicity / Joe Tanaka – Japan
Exteriors / Marie Kristiansen – Norway
On The Way Home / Emiliano Corapi – Italy
Restive/ Jeremiah Jones – USA

Best Microbudget Feature

MONK3YS / Drew Cullingham – UK WINNER
Julius Caesar / Adam Lee Hamilton & John Montegrande – UK
Uspomene 677 / Mirko Pincelli – Bosnia Herzegovina / UK
Meso Cafe / Ja’far ‘Abd al-Hamid – UK
Black Pond / Tom Kingsley & Will Sharpe – UK

Best Documentary

How to Start A Revolution / Ruaridh Arrow – UK WINNER
White Button / Igor Stoimenov – Serbia
The Echo Of Astro Boy’s Footsteps / Masanori Tominaga – Japan
Where My Heart Beats / Khazar Fatemi – Sweden
Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis / Peter Sasowsky – USA

Best International Short

Words / Sven Vinge – Denmark WINNER
The Lady Paranorma / Vincent Marcone – Canada
Martyr Friday / Abu Bakr Shawky – Egypt
Zoltan- The Hungarian Gangster of Love / Justin Reardon – USA
Hemingway’s Pen / Renzo Carbonera – Italy

Best UK Short
Love At First Sight / Michael Davies – UK WINNER
This Side of the Afterlife / Adam Horton – England
God View / Billy Lumby – UK
The Girl Is Mime / Tim Bunn – UK
Rough Skin / Cathy Brady – UK

Film of the Festival (Short)

The winner is offered the chance to film next year’s Raindance Film Festival trailer, with the support of the Independent Film Trust:

Reset / Nicolangelo Gelormini – Italy

The Raindance Film Festival runs from 28 Sept – 9 Oct at the Apollo Cinema in London’s Piccadilly Circus, with the Opening Night premiere of Another Earth at Cineworld Haymarket on 28 Sept.

Now in its 19th year, Raindance Film Festival is Europe’s leading Independent Film Festival showcasing feature films, shorts and docs from around the world and specialising in independent films and directorial debuts.

The festival has a strong legacy of showing alternative, edgy films. Since 1993 Raindance Film Festival has uncovered the hottest new filmmakers to hit the cinematic scene. Raindance-premiered hits include Pulp Fiction, Memento,
the Blair Witch Project, Ghost World and Love Exposure.

www.raindance.co.uk

19th Raindance Film Festival Highlights

Posted on by

After Fall, Winter is a sexy love story about a French dominatrix who falls in love with a New York writer in Paris. It is directed by Eric Schaeffer and has the talented Rebecca Jameson in a smaller role. Well worth a watch.

Some of my favourite films that I saw at the Raindance Film Festival were short films.

Death of A Pop Star was an impressive short about A personal physician and the characters in the home of an ailing celebrity. 

Dying Everyday was a wonderful slice of life short from Spain, a short that managed to entertain the audience despite the fact not much happened.

Gin & Dry is a booze heist film set in an old people’s home at Christmas, Oscar Plewes short is funny and entertaining.

Ketchup was a very good film with a tragic ending.

Russell Harbaugh’s Rolling on The Floor Laughing is a high end short film about two grown sons who return home for their widowed mother’s birthday, only to find themselves competing with her new boyfriend for her attention. A well made film that’s worth watching.

Jeremy Craig’s Terrebonne is a visually stunning film. The lead actress is Jessica Heap is a beautiful actress destined to be a movie star.

The Potential Wives of Norman Mao and Exit were also good short films.

I went to the UK Premiere of Bonsai, directed by Cristian Jimenez. The film is from Chile and I thought it was brilliant. Cristian couldn’t be there but filmed an introduction for the film. It tells the story of young writer, Julio, who turns to the romance he had 8 years earlier with the beautiful Emilia when both were studying literature in Valdivia when he gets dropped from writing for a famous author because his asking price is too high. We’re told from the beginning that Emilia dies and Julio remains alone, but don’t let that put you off. It is a wonderful, sensual film. Catch it if you can.

After Bonsai was the closing night gala after party, I bump into Rory O’Donnell and I met some other talented people. I didn’t get home to 2am, can’t wait until next year.

One To Watch: Leoni Kibbey

Posted on by

On Wednesday 5th of October I attended Short Film Premieres. A premiere of five short films at BAFTA; In the Can, Taken, Ellie, The Unknown and Bird Brain. The short films were well-acted, well-written, well-directed with very high production values.

 

All of the films had a running theme: Leoni Kibbey, she either acted, produced, wrote or cast them. She’s a one women film industry. She is Frost’s One To Watch this month not only because she is talented – the world is full of talented people who do nothing- but because she takes that talent and does something with it, she is one of the hardest working people I know, and she is a working mother! Frost also got a thank you on the Bird Brain credits – which proves Leoni is a classy lady.

 

I previously worked with Leoni on Love Tourettes, a comedy web series I am part of and Frost interviewed her last year. http://frostmagazine.com/archives/688

 

Check out Leoni’s IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3156365/

Wendy's baby diary – Six months! – Guilt, isolation and men

Posted on by

Six months old

Dillon was six months old on Monday the 3rd October 2011. A lot has happened in this first six months including his christening , baby swimming classes, health centre visits and weigh ins, the
dog eating the midwifes shoes, the whole experience of giving birth, going to University, starting my website http://www.femalearts.com, being off work, weaning the baby, his milestones including Dillon getting his first baby teeth, sitting up, rolling around on the floor, playing with his feet, smiling and laughing and interacting with objects and people.

I’d like to thank Catherine Balavage at Frost Magazine for offering me this blank canvas to write about Dillon. I wanted to document these moments so that in the future I can look back (hopefully Dillon will also read it) and have a record of this wonderful, life changing time.

It’s been a brilliant six months but it’s also been tiring, stressful and a lot of hard work. I’ve said in my diary about how the baby is progressing, the goods, toys and clothes we have bought for him, what activities he is enjoying and how he’s developing but I don’t think I’ve said so much about my feelings. The following topics have been on my mind recently…

Men with babies

Recently there has been a couple of TV Doctors with babies – Doc Martin has a baby, James Cordon was left holding the baby in Doctor Who – portraying what it feels like for the dad to be the primary carer –the Doctor Who story was about panic and fluster with the conclusion that dads
are actually protective loving individuals and the mums are competent women who make lists and mother both their partner and baby.

Nothing is that clear cut and I’m not sure there is a big gender difference in the way we are parents, it may just boil down to the amount of physical time spent with the baby = the more you know them = the more competent you become at dealing with them.

The only thing that aggravates me with stories on TV about dads coping alone with babies is that there aren’t an equivalent number of stories about mums coping alone with babies. Because it isn’t all confident list making and natural mothering instincts, it’s often panic, confusion, stress,
isolation and guilt.

Isolation

It’s lonely being a stay at home mum. Even though it is through choice I miss chatting to colleagues, I miss talking to my husband, I miss my family, and I miss my friends. Having another adult in the house during the day (e.g. when relatives have come to stay and at the weekend when the baby’s dad is at home) makes so much difference to my life. All the bags of stuff needed
to carry around for the baby, all the preparation that’s needed before I can leave the house, all the attention and love and care that Dillon needs – is so much easier when it’s shared.

Recently I have realised I need to make more of an effort to see my friends – especially friends who are available in the daytime. Getting out daily with the dog and the baby for walks and taking baby to classes or shopping is something but it’s not the same as being with people who know and care about me, who I can have a proper conversation with.

I can see why going back to work begins to look appealing because you can start to be yourself again and have adult interaction without constantly thinking about the baby’s needs and their safety. But employment means childcare. Which brings me onto my next subject – guilt.

Guilt

As a parent there is one thing you can be certain of – a steady almost constant feeling of guilt. I think it stems from conflict between personal needs/wants and that of your child.  My current guilty feelings are – guilt for using formula, guilt for starting weaning before six months, guilt for not weaning successfully, guilt for not establishing a pattern (of eating/sleeping), guilt for trying to establish a pattern, guilt for not living up to other people’s parenting expectations, guilt for not
returning to work yet, guilt for arranging childcare, guilt for doing my master’s degree, guilt for not being sure, guilt over baby’s eczema not clearing up, guilt for letting the dog spend time with baby, guilt for separating dog from baby, guilt for daily dressing of baby in babygro’s in attempt to stop skin contact with whatever is causing the eczema, guilt for not taking enough photos of baby, guilt for not posting all the thank you cards yet, guilt for not buying enough things for baby, guilt for spending so much money, guilt for wanting my boobs back, guilt that he cries a lot, guilt whenever I let him cry before going to him, guilt that I’m spending time writing this!

There’s too much guilt, worry, anxiety and the only consolation is the thought that other people may be feeling the same way.

Self-Medication

One of the best ways to cope is summed up with a quote from my friend BenJohn’s facebook update.

“Youngsters, you probably think booze is for enjoying and having fun. Let me assure you it is a medicine for those with children to let them relax in the gaps when they’re asleep.”

© Wendy Thomson 2011

Wendy Thomson is the editor of www.femalearts.com an online publication which promotes women in the arts and in business.

Carolyn Schulz On Making Good Jewellery. {Frost Interview}

Posted on by

When did you start making jewellery?
When I had my son, 25 years ago, I wanted be a stay-at-home-mum but needed to work, so I worked from home representing an American bead manufacturer by looking after their key accounts, in particular, giving support with training and education. I was trained in jewellery techniques as well as how to teach and train others. Teaching and sharing my love of beading is what I enjoy most!

How did you get into designing jewellery?
I think I fell in to it accidentally! Once I had learned the various techniques, I found myself looking at the jewellery other people were wearing or what I saw in the shops. I would mentally take them apart to work out how they were made and then I would go home and try them out with my own beads. I like to mix techniques and I enjoy making jewellery to go with specific outfits that I wear. Sometimes I want something to compliment what I am wearing. Occasionally I want something to draw attention to my jewellery – not my clothes! But when I am designing jewellery to inspire others to create jewellery, I take into account the current fashions in style, beads, colour, textures and fashion accessories in general.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
I love to travel and I spend a lot of time looking at both the components available and the styles and trends of people in other countries. I love the flamboyancy of the Italians. I love the simple use of natural elements that I found in the Hawaiian Islands. I love the rich combination of colours that I found in Mexico and South America. Wherever I travel, I try to visit bead shops and if possible I take a class or two. I learn so much by making friends with the shop assistants and teachers. What are their hot sellers, what do the locals like, what do the tourists like, etc.

Tell me about your show on QVC
My Creative Jewellery Show on QVC UK gives the creative jewellery maker, whether a beginner or experienced, lots of opportunity to use their initiative and creativity but with lots of support with good technique demonstration and a wide range of finished samples to inspire. We offer very few complete kits. By that I mean, we don’t have many kits that make a specific piece of jewellery. Mostly we sell bundles of product, whether beads, tools or findings. For example, we will have bundles of beads and bundles of everything you need when using a specific technique. Some of our best selling bundles include our assortments of real turquoise (large and chunky or small and dainty), basic findings and tools such as the spinning seed bead threader and the Thing a ma Jig! I think the success of the shows is the excellent value for money and variety in addition to the technique support and design inspiration.

Do you prefer designing or teaching?
I don’t think I could have one without the other – but I get the most satisfaction from teaching. I love to share what I learn and I get the biggest kick out of seeing a student create something fabulous – often, much better than mine!

You have a book out soon, tell us about it.
This is my 4th book and it is aimed at women between 18 and 35 with limited experience of beads and beading. It will include more than 25 beading projects with an Asian element. Six of the chapters each has a different technique with a number of variations using that technique. I am already half way through completing the projects. Each chapter keeps growing because when I start designing – I find it hard to stop!

What are your tips for making good jewellery?

* Firstly, attitude – give it a chance!! It is like most things, it take a little practice to learn and perfect techniques.
* Secondly – start with simple techniques. With 25 years of learning and then teaching, I have developed my own fool proof way of learning, where one technique builds upon another.
* Thirdly – be observant! Notice the jewellery other people wear, that you see in the shops, or in books and magazines. Question what it is that you like. When you see things you don’t like, work out what it is you don’t like. You will soon start to build up some personalised design criteria.
* Finally – enjoy it!

You are an American in Britain, what do you love about the UK?
I love British culture. I love the British countryside. I love British history. I even love the British weather!!

What’s next for you?
I want to carry on as I am now – mixing it all up with writing books, travelling, time with my family (I have 3 gorgeous granddaughters!), travelling, presenting on QVC, travelling, teaching, travelling, travelling, travelling.

Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheatre launch an evening of Moonlight Madness

Posted on by

Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheatre launch new series of free Late Views with an evening of Moonlight Madness

21 October 2011 6-10pm

Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893): Painter of Moonlight

Guildhall Art Gallery 19 September 2011 to 15 January 2012

Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AE

Buried in the heart of London’s Square Mile, the Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheatre is inviting visitors to indulge in an evening of Moonlight Madness to mark their major new exhibition Atkinson Grimshaw: Painter of Moonlight. This is the first showcase of Atkinson Grimshaw’s work for over 30 years – bringing together more than 50 major works by the self-taught artist.

The first in a series of free Late Views at the gallery, Moonlight Madness, an event inspired by the atmospheric paintings of Grimshaw, is a free evening of music, poetry, magic lantern shows, all to be enjoyed while sampling a ‘moonbeam’ cocktail from the gallery’s pop-up bar.

John Atkinson Grimshaw was a Leeds-born artist who became famous for his Pre-Raphaelite style landscapes and nocturnal urban scenes, with his distinctive leafless trees silhouetted against the moonlit sky. Drawings, manuscripts and photographs will also be on display to help visitors develop a greater understanding of Atkinson Grimshaw’s public and private lives.

Running alongside this exhibition will be a showcase of photographs by Liza Dracup, Chasing the Gloaming. Liza Dracup is a photographer known for her work that captures the magical effects of moonlight and this exhibition shows new photographs made in response to Grimshaw’s paintings.

Sienna Miller supports BUAV campaign to end cruel cosmetics tests on animals

Posted on by

Stage and screen star Sienna Miller is supporting the BUAV No Cruel Cosmetics campaign to end animal testing for toiletries and cosmetics sold in the EU. Sienna joins a number of high profile celebrities supporting the BUAV campaign, including Sir Paul McCartney, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and British Actress Jenny Seagrove.

Despite a UK and EU ban on the use of animals to test cosmetics and toiletries, companies are still allowed to sell products in the EU that have been tested on animals in other parts of the world. A ban on the import and sale of new animal tested cosmetic products in the EU is due to come into effect in 2013. However, concerns have arisen that this animal testing ban may be delayed. In response, the BUAV launched the European-wide No Cruel Cosmetics campaign calling for the ban to come into effect as planned in 2013.

If the ban is delayed, animals will continue to suffer and die needlessly in cruel tests for new beauty products sold in the EU. That means that hundreds of thousands more rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats could be injected, gassed or force-fed cosmetics worldwide for new beauty products sold in the EU, including right here in the UK.

Over one hundred thousand people across the UK and EU, including Sienna, have already signed the No Cruel Cosmetics petition which is being sent to the European Parliament. The BUAV petition can be signed at www.NoCruelCosmetics.org.

Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of the BUAV, said: “We are delighted to have the support of Sienna Miller. It is totally unacceptable for animals to continue to suffer and die in the name of beauty. Please join Sienna and support our No Cruel Cosmetics campaign to end cosmetics testing on animals. Sign our petition to the European Parliament at www.NoCruelCosmetics.org.”

Celebrities, politicians, cosmetic companies and European citizens are being urged to sign the Euro-wide petition calling for the animal testing ban to go ahead in 2013.

Magazine Round-Up: October | Amanda Seyfried and Rosamund Pike Cover Stars.

Posted on by

Glamour has Amanda Seyfried on the cover. She gives a refreshing interview inside. She reveals: “British guys are definitely funnier than American guys.”

It is Glamour’s Men Issue and they have 25 pages of men

In the Dos and Don’ts, Jimmy Choo re-release their greatest hits, men in uggs, ipad covers, Lucy Liu becomes an artist and Prince William is heading the fund-raising to help homelessness, Diesel clothes, Children in Need turns 31!,

Louise Mensch tells Glamour readers how to succeed in a man’s world. Louise is inspirational and she gives good advice.

  What a man is thinking on the first date, work habits that are making you sick, Career tips from jewellery         entrepreneur Jessica Herrin, Food versus Exercise; which is better for you? , Is being single making you broke?, How to be single, are you in drinking denial?, Celebrity tenants. You won’t want one after reading the article, Your right to abortion (a very good article, laws are being passed quietly all of the time to take away women’s rights),

50 Sexiest Men: Robert Pattinson takes the top spot again, Taylor Lautner is second.

Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Matt Smith, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake, Darren Criss, Prince Harry, Zac Efron are also on the list.

Katherine Jenkins tells of the friend, Polly Noble’s, battle with cancer. A very inspirational story. Polly has a book out, The Cancer Journey, that I think will be brilliant after reading the article.

What a man wants in bed.

James Cordon protests that men have feelings too, and he’s right. Well written.

Gabrielle Bernstein gives her happiness guide.

Arianna Huffington has written a brilliant and informative article on the economical climate, explains what happened and if we will recover.

Steve Jones is interviewed by Celia Walden in the lunch date feature.

The rise in broody men.

Guillaume Henry tells Glamour readers how to get Parisian chic.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld’s celebrity look book.

Bad beauty habits to kick.

Five reasons to love Emma Stone.

The truth about your lady parts: everything you want to know about your vagina.

Charlotte Ronson shows Glamour around her home.

Tatler has Isabel Lucas on the cover, and an interview with her inside.

Anna Dello Russo talks front row fashion.

Frida Giannini, Gucci creative director, gives Tatler her mood board.

Emily Blunt’s brother Sebastian joins the family business.

Sam Leith shows how not to make a speech.

There is an amusing article on fancy dress parties, and lots of pictures, Marc Jacobs dressed as a pig? Why not.

David Sedaris interview.

Super Tutors to the rescue, if you have the money, get the best with Tatler’s guide.

The wonderful Francis Wheen writes about Private Eye’s 50th anniversary, and to the next 50!

Gallerist Maureen Paley.

School pranks.

Camel Racing.

The richest man in Britain: Alisher Usmanov.

The worrying trend of parents taking drugs with their kids. Jeez….

Keith Vaz profile.

Emma Freud’s technology reviews.

Jonathan Yeo interview.

An editorial on Britain’s funniest comedians. Al Murray in the nude (!), Laura Solon, Tim Key, David Armand, Rufus Hound, Miles Jupp, Lucy Porter, Jack Whitehall, Greg Davies (as Christine Keeler, so funny).

How to keep your money safe. Clue: buy gold.

Dynasties of Dynasties: A profile of the Rothschild dynasty.

How to sleep better.

The virtues of Crème de la Mer.

Tatler homes: Scotland’s Linzee Gordon’s.

Ralph Lauren interview.

Solange Azagury-Partridge tells Tatler what she loves.

Ciara Parkes travels to Botswana.

Rosamund Pike is on the cover of Instyle, she is interviewed inside and says: “I find award ceremonies so often the low point – people delivering trite lines in a pretentious manner”.

Sexy perfume adverts.

Nicole Roberts gives her Style IQ

The wonderful world of Christian Louboutin.

15 minutes with Diana von Furstenberg

Chloe Sevigny’s fashion genius.

You can tell people are tightening their purse strings as Instyle – and other magazines- are giving advice on how to do things on the cheap or by yourself. In the ‘your look’ section they tell you how to fake a facial, become your own hairstylist, make your own jewellery.

How to stay original when people keep buying the same clothes as you.

Instyle sits down with Gucci’s Frida Giannini to celebrate Gucci’s 90th birthday.

Jessica Chastain models and is interviewed.

Inside the Kardashian sister’s wardrobes. Envy alert!

How to wear a hat.

Olivia Wilde is this month’s beauty crush.

Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay models evening make up and there is 10 things you need to know about Jessica.

Narciso Rodriguez, Michael Kors, Tamara Mellon, Oscar De La Renta tell Instyle on the inspiration behind their perfume.

Jessica Alba, up close.

Dita Von Teese goes to the Maldives so we don’t have to. Sob.

Melissa Odabash tells Instyle what she packs for her holidays.

Diane Birch shows Instyle the contents of the bag.

Part 2 here