Tag Archives: Frost Magazine

Sex Toys For Older People and Disabled

Posted on by

Desire and Pleasure, the online sex toy website from charity FPA’, is launching a revolutionary inclusive selection of sex toys.

The range was created after research found that older people and the disabled are poorly catered for when it comes to sex toys, products and information on how to use them.

Selected For You aims to provide ergonomically designed products that are easy to grip, can be controlled remotely and are easier to use by those with limited mobility, dexterity issues or suffer from fatigue.

The products have been selected by experts and sex toy reviewers to ensure that the most suitable products have been chosen. Their feedback has been compiled and today the range goes on sale.

Terry Hawkins, Business Development Manager at FPA says: “Our research shows that there is demand from older and disabled people, but it is not often clear which products are most appropriate for them or how they should be used.  We are aiming to solve this conundrum. Selected For You will eventually become the world’s most inclusive range.

“One of the most neglected audiences  has been older people. We are finding that a lot of older people are either still sexually active or back on the dating circuit again. Many older people are still very physically and mentally active and don’t need special products.  Rather than specially designed products, what they need is information on how to use the products, what they are and how to do so safely.”

FPA welcome feedback from customers who visit the site about our product range and the information we provide. By listening to their comments FPA  is continually finding out more about how we can help sectors of the marketplace who have up until now been unable to find products to suit their individual needs.

The website www.desireandpleasure.co.uk was launched by FPA in September as a social enterprise to help fund the sexual health charity which runs telephone helplines, and campaigns on major issues.

Find haute couture from the finest French wardrobes

Posted on by

UK SHOPPERS FLOCK TO vestiaire collective TO FIND haute couture from the finest French wardrobes

 

Vestiaire Collective, the pre-owned, luxury, fashion website today celebrates its first six months in the UK by announcing quadruple digit growth in UK members and record sales to UK consumers. The cult French fashion site has grown its base of users in the UK by 1200% since adding English and sterling to the site in March 2012. The site now boasts over 1.2million members and 12.2 million monthly visits globally.

 

The attraction of previously owned designer labels from the finest French wardrobes has attracted British label hunters who are now spending an average of £300 per shop as they rush to snap up the latest from French luxury brands.  Some of the treasures grabbed by UK shoppers in the past six months include a Yves Saint Laurent bag for £1,000, a Shamballa jewels item for £1500 and a men’s IWC watch for £1,100.

 

Across the channel, the fashionable French are clearing out the designer items at a rate of 25,000 items per month. In fact initial statistics for October reveal a 20% increase in items submitted for sale since the UK came online in March. It’s not only the fashionable woman on the street clearing her wardrobe, Vestiaire Collective is also home to French and British celebrities who are actively using the site to empty their wardrobes for the upcoming season.

 

Some of the French ‘bargains’ available today include a Valentino python and sable bag for £4876, about half the original price for the sought after bag. The sale list also includes more than 720 Isabelle Marant shoes, handbags, coats and dresses for up to 70% off. Unlike other pre—owned and vintage fashion sites, Vestiaire Collective checks every item for authenticity, so British shoppers know that what they are buying is absolutely genuine.

 

“We are seeing a wave of interest and excitement about the contents of French wardrobes from our British community,” says Vestiaire Collective’s UK MD Shannon Edwards. “On average British women are spending 30% more than their French counterparts and whilst we are shopping, the French are selling. We have seen more than 400 brands added to the site which are being snapped up here by women who are used to buying vintage and love that classic French style.”

 

Vestiaire Collective was founded by French internet entrepreneur, Sébastien Fabre who alongside five co-founders has developed the business by integrating a strong social community with ecommerce. The site gives consumers a platform to share, discuss and review fashion trends, labels, brands and items, yet closely monitors the buying and selling of goods to ensure that each piece is authentic, in excellent condition and is beautifully presented and delivered to the end consumer. The site manages all financial transactions to ensure that the seller has absolute peace of mind with items that often have a very high ticket value.

 

Ratedpeople.com Launches Find a Tradesman App

Posted on by

 

The Ratedpeople.com app connects homeowners with quality, local tradesmen on the go

The UK’s number one tradesman recommendation service RatedPeople.com has today announced its new tradesman comparison app. Available both on Android and iPhone platforms, RatedPeople.com’s Find a Tradesman app enables users to easily locate job-specific tradesmen instantly through their mobile phones.

Predominantly functioning as the fastest and easiest way to connect homeowners with quality tradesmen, the RatedPeople.com app gives homeowners the opportunity to upload descriptions and photos of the work they would like to be done, whenever and wherever. The user is matched with up to three tradesmen in their local area, who are interested in the submitted job. Each tradesman will provide a quote for the work. The homeowner has access to ratings and reviews from the tradesmen’s previous customers, to help when selecting which tradesman to hire.

When the job has been completed, the user can add their own review and recommend the tradesman to their friends. The app also automatically builds a list of all the tradesmen the homeowner has used, creating their own ‘little black book’ of tradesmen.

Key App Features:

·         Upload up to 5 photos to the posted job

·         View each tradesman’s profile: ratings, photos of previous work and qualifications

·         View the RatedPeople.com checklist, with advice for hiring a tradesman

·         Rate their tradesman

·         View all their tradesmen in an address book

·         Share the app and tradesmen details with friends

 

Tariq Dag Khan, CMO of RatedPeople.com, commented: “The mobile industry is booming in the UK at the moment, with 75% of Brits now projected to own a smartphone by 2013. Our tradesmen are well ahead of the curve, 70% already own a smartphone, which is why our business is taking off. With both homeowners and tradesmen able to react with immediate response, finding a tradesman has never been quicker or easier.

“We understand how busy homeowners are during the day and we wanted to come up with a solution that enabled them to more speedily and efficiently manage their home improvement needs. The RatedPeople.com app now gives our customers the chance to instantly connect with tradesmen whilst on the move, providing a service that we believe will help generate more and better quality leads for tradesmen.”

Ninetails Release New EP ‘Slept and Did Not Sleep’

Posted on by

“A propulsive display of robust slickness” – 8/10 This is Fake DIY

 

“A satisfying, organised chaos” – VICE

 

“New cats Ninetails specialise in precision guitar-pop” – NME

 

After a spring which saw them tipped by Vice, NME, Clash and This is Fake DIY, Ninetails return with ‘Slept and Did Not Sleep’, the much anticipated follow up to their ‘Ghost Ride the Whip’ EP. Combining hyperrealistic pop with sleek maximalist production, the Liverpool four piece explore euphoria, lamentation and lucidity on this song cycle melodrama. Throughout, moody minimalism and loop-based composition provide an Eno-like back drop for vocals inspired by sunshine pop, r’n’b and dramatic choral harmony.

 

Earlier in the year Ninetails were included in NME’s scene report of their home city and a performance at Sound City in May prompted Clash Magazine to tag them as an “Up Coming Hype Band” whilst Vice highlighted them in their ‘Ones to Watch’ list. Prior to these accolades, they’d shared stages with Alt-J, Errors and Tall Ships. The band have also been included in Simon Raymonde’s list of favourites in 2012.

 

The band will release ‘Slept and Did Not Sleep’ through Superstar Destroyer Records on the 26th of November as a pay-what-you-feel download. A visually cohesive CD package and very limited number of ‘uniquely chopped and screwed’ cassette tapes of the EP will also be available. Two videos will accompany the release, as well as an EP launch in Liverpool and the band’s first London Show on the 29th of November at the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town.

 

Undoubtedly, this is an exciting time for Ninetails who have already made plans to release again early into the new year.

 

The Ghost of Relationships Past

Posted on by


The old phrase ‘lesson learnt’ is never truer than after the end of a relationship. With each heart break we experience we take something different from it. But do we ever truly move on if we keep repeating the mistakes of our past relationships?

Relationship expert for online match maker eHarmony.co.uk, Dr Gian Gonzaga says “sometimes people lose faith in finding love because they seem to be continually attracted to the ‘wrong’ type of people”.  According to Gonzaga, at times it can seem as though no matter how hard we try we end up with the same problems but with different people, like magnets that attract the same situation over and over again.  It’s time we examine where we are going wrong and eradicate the real issue, to really be able to move on and find lasting love.

So excavate the past to create a different future for yourself:

The common denominator

Look at all your past relationships, write them down if it helps, and ask yourself these questions about each one. What attracted you to the person in the first place? What caused the relationship to end? Were there signs early on in the relationship that there were problems but you ignored them?

Old relationships are never wasted, they are a rich source of information which you can go back over to discover what you could do differently in the future. Be really honest with yourself and try to look at the relationship from an outsider’s point of view. What you are looking for is the similarities between them to see if there is a pattern.

Is the thing that attracts the thing that destroys?

Are you attracted to creative, emotionally unavailable men and then the relationship ends because you don’t get enough attention? Or are you drawn to bright, bubbly women but then fail to get very far because you feel threatened when she flirts with your mates?

Look at the people who have qualities that you find attractive – not just the ones you have had relationships with but also people in the media, friends etc. What is it in them that you find attractive? Then look at yourself and develop those qualities in yourself rather than waiting for someone else to come and make you feel that way.

Don’t fall for someone’s potential

This is the most common mistake that people make in relationships. They meet someone and they fall in love with what they ‘could be’ rather than what they ‘are’ today. They believe that if they love this person enough; give them lots of encouragement, support and everything they need in order to blossom that they will have a wonderful relationship together. Although this often comes from a loving place it is starting a relationship from the basis of wanting to change the other person rather than accepting and loving them as they are. It is a great feeling to be the hero or heroine in another person’s life but it is rarely going to lead to a healthy relationship because the basis of the relationship isn’t equal.

Look in the mirror

When a relationship ends it can be comforting to think it was all the other person’s fault but that attitude is depriving you of the opportunity of finding out what you could do differently next time. Look back through the story of your time together and look at your own behaviour. At what points could you have done something differently? Are you angry with all men/women because of things that have happened in your past? If so now might be the time to get some help if you really want things to change.

Change your mind

Just like any other area of life, relationship choices can become habitual and instinctive. We often dismiss potential matches simply because they don’t conform to an image we have in our head of ‘our type’. Open your mind and heart and start saying ‘yes’ to communication or dates with matches that you would normally dismiss out of hand, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Noone’s fate is fixed in stone, we can all change and grow and even if you have never had a healthy relationship in the past it is no reason that you never will in the future.

http://www.eharmony.co.uk/relationship-advice/start-with-you/2011/11/how-to-make-your-future-love-life-different-from-your-past

 

New app shows women how to man up in time for EU gender directive

Posted on by

On 21st December the EU gender directive comes into force which means car insurance companies will no longer be able to differentiate between men and women. So does this mean the European Union now believes women are no different to men?

Now women can see for themselves what it would be like to live life as a man with the Manify Me smart phone app. Women’s car insurance specialist, Diamond has worked with Rantmedia to develop the app which takes a headshot of a woman and ‘manifies’ her into a man. So Katy Perry could become Keith, Cheryl Cole could become Charles and Holly Willoughby could become Harry.

Dave Halliday, Diamond managing director, said, “Despite evidence to the contrary, the EU insists that men and women are the same, so we thought we’d take the idea one step further and allow women to see what they would look like if they were a man.

“Unfortunately for young women, the EU’s change to the law is likely to mean higher insurance premiums because from a risk point of view, women will have to be treated the same as men, and young men in particular have the worst driving record and are the highest risk.”

Diamond’s own statistics clearly show that young women have a safer driving record than young men. Men under 21 are four times more likely to have a dangerous driving conviction than women under 21. While on average accidents involving men under 21 cost 48% more than those involving women of the same age.

Despite the EU’s assertion that men and women are the same, most women clearly don’t feel the same. Diamond surveyed 1,000 women aged under 30 on the issue, 72% said they believe men and women drive differently, while a massive 83% believe men and women think differently.

The Manify Me app is available for Android phones and can be downloaded from Google Play.

 

58th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, in association with Burberry

Posted on by

Cate Blanchett, Anne-Marie Duff, Rupert Everett, Adrian Lester, Eddie Redmayne, Joely Richardson, Michael Sheen, Sheridan Smith and David Suchet are among the stage stars tipped

 

 

The London Evening Standard today unveils the longlist for its 2012 Theatre Awards, presented for the first time this year in association with Burberry.

 

·       In a remarkable year for Nicholas Hytner’s National Theatre, it leads the longlist with 22 entries; followed by the Royal Court with 13.

 

·       With four nods, the most longlistedplay this year is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel about a boy with Asperger’s.

 

·       Olympic Closing Ceremony set designer Es Devlin is longlisted in the Design category for The Master and the Margarita, at the Complicite at the Barbican.

 

·       Eddie Redmayne, Simon Paisley Day and Michael Sheen battle it out for Best Actor with their leading Shakespeare roles in Richard II, Taming of the Shrew and Hamlet.

 

·       It is a good year for women, with inaugural productions from new female artistic directors recognised and a host of stellar performances in strong female roles.

 

·       This year a new award has been announced with the Burberry Award for Emerging Director. The award celebrates a young director who is set to be a star of tomorrow’s London stage.

From Hollywood A-listers to Britain’s most celebrated playwrights, the longlist for the 2012 London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, in association with Burberry, puts an array of big names – and rising stars – in the running for a statuette. All are recognised for contributing to a stellar year in the capital’s theatres.

This year’s winners will be revealed at an evening dinner and Awards ceremony, presented by One Man, Two Guvnors star James Corden at the Savoy Hotel on Sunday 25th November 2012.

The event is co-hosted by London Evening Standard Owner Evgeny Lebedev, Burberry Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey and American Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour.

 

The longlist reflects a heavy-weight year for women, with the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress category featuring some of the biggest female roles for the stage. Three Ibsen plays provided meaty roles for: Sheridan Smith, thrilling as the capricious Hedda in Hedda Gabler; Hattie Morahan, moving as the trapped housewife Nora in A Doll’s House; and Joely Richardson, luminous as Ellida in Lady from the Sea. In this role, Richardson follows her mother Vanessa Redgrave’s 1979 portrayal and the 2009 performance of her late sister, Natasha, in whose memory this award is given.

 

Cate Blanchett’s sellout performance as Lotte in the translation of German play Big and Small is also recognised, along with Imelda Staunton’s Mrs Lovett in the hit West End production of Sweeney Todd.

 

It is a good year for women behind the scenes too, with two new artistic directors hitting the mark with their inaugural productions. New Donmar chief Josie Rourke is up for Best Director for her exciting staging of The Recruiting Officer. At the Tricycle, Indhu Rubasingham’s opening production, new play Red Velvet, wins a longlist place for its first-time author, Lolita Chakrabarti, in The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright category. Red Velvet also offers Adrian Lesterthe chance to pick up the award for Best Actor, as real-life 19th century black actor Ira Aldridge, who was hounded off the London stage.

 

Also featuring on the longlist is Es Devlin, the Olympic Closing Ceremony set designer whose work for Master and the Margarita puts her in the Best Design category.

 

Battling it out with Lester and others for Best Actor are Eddie Redmayne, Simon Paisley Day and Michael Sheen – all for their leading roles in Shakespeare productions, with Redmayne playing Richard II at the Donmar Warehouse, Paisley Day playing Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and Sheen in the Young Vic’s production of Hamlet.

 

The most longlisted play this year is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel about a boy with Asperger’s. The National Theatre production, in the Cottesloe space, is mentioned in four categories:  Best Director, Best Play, Best Actor and Best Design.

 

Two musical productions that originated at the Chichester Theatre and transferred to the West End are rivals for the Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical: Sweeney Todd and Singin’ in the Rain. The consistently strong fringe venue Southwark Playhouse also fields two shows in this category: Floyd Collins (directed by Derek Bond) and Mack & Mabel (directed by Thom Southerland).  Swallows and Amazons, which features the music and lyrics from Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, is also in the running.

 

The National Theatre leads the longlist, with 22 entries across its three stages. Next, the Royal Court, home of new writing, has 13.

 

This year’s awards has eight categories: with Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Design, Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress, Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical, Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer and Charles Wintour Award for Most PromisingPlaywright – an award named in memory of the former Editor of the Evening Standard and Anna Wintour’s father.

 

In addition to eight longlisted awards, which are decided by a panel of theatre critics and London Evening Standard’s editor, Sarah Sands, five other special awards will be presented on the night. These are the Burberry Award for Emerging Director (new for this year), the Lebedev Special Award, the Editor’s Award, Beyond Theatre and the Moscow Art Theatre’s Golden Seagull.

 

The shortlist will be announced in the London Evening Standard on 12 November.

 

The London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2012 in association with Burberry.

 

BEST PLAY

 

Choir Boy  by Tarell Alvin McCraney,  (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

Constellations by Nick Payne (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Jumpy by April De Angelis (Royal Court Downstairs)

 

The Last of the Duchess by Nicholas Wright (Hampstead)

 

Love and Information by Caryl Churchill  (Royal Court Downstairs)

 

Love Love Love by Mike Bartlett (Royal Court Downstairs)

 

Reasons to Be Pretty by Neil LaBute (Almeida)

 

South Downs by David Hare (Chichester Minerva)

 

This House by James Graham (National’s Cottesloe)

 

The Witness  by Vivienne Franzmann (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

 

BEST DIRECTOR

 

Benedict Andrews for Three Sisters (Young Vic)

 

Lucy Bailey for Uncle Vanya (The Print Room)

 

Tom Cairns for Scenes from an Execution (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Carrie Cracknell for A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

 

Marianne Elliott for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Polly Findlay for Antigone (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Sean Foley for The Ladykillers (Gielgud)

 

Jeremy Herrin for This House (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Nicholas Hytner for Timon of Athens (National’s Olivier)

 

Jonathan Kent for Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival and Adelphi)

 

James Macdonald for Love and Information (Royal Court Downstairs)

 

Roger Michell for Farewell to the Theatre (Hampstead)

 

Lindsay Posner for Noises Off  (Old Vic)

 

Ian Rickson for Hamlet (Young Vic)

 

Josie Rourke for The Recruiting Officer (DonmarWarehouse)

 

Lyndsey Turner for Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Donmar Warehouse)

 

 

BEST ACTOR

 

Simon Russell Beale, Collaborators (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Charles Edwards, The King’s Speech (Wyndham’s) and This House  (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Rupert Everett, The Judas Kiss (Hampstead)

 

Laurence Fox, Our Boys (Duchess)

 

David Haig, The Madness of George III (Theatre Royal Bath and Apollo)

 

Douglas Hodge, Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Alex Jennings, Collaborators (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Rory Kinnear, The Last of the Haussmans (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Adrian Lester, Red Velvet (Tricycle Theatre)

 

Simon Paisley Day,  The Taming of  the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe)

 

Eddie Redmayne, Richard II (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Adrian Scarborough, Hedda Gabler (Old Vic)

 

Michael Sheen, Hamlet (Young Vic)

 

Scott Shepherd, Gatz (Elevator Repair Service at Noel Coward)

 

David Suchet, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Apollo)

 

Luke Treadaway, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, (National Theatre’s Cottesloe)

 

 

NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

 

Eileen Atkins, All That Fall (Jermyn Street)

 

Pippa Bennett Warner, The Witness (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

Eve Best, The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic)

 

Cate Blanchett, Big and Small (Sydney Theatre Company for Barbican)

 

Anna Chancellor, The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead)

 

Anne-Marie Duff, Berenice (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Mariah Gale, Three Sisters (Young Vic)

 

Tamsin Greig, Jumpy (Royal Court Downstairs andDuke of York’s)

 

Sally Hawkins, Constellations (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

Martina Laird, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (National’sCottesloe)

 

Helen McCrory, The Last of the Haussmans (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Laurie Metcalf, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Apollo)

 

Hattie Morahan, A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

 

Joely Richardson, The Lady from the Sea (Kingston’s Rose Theatre)

 

Sheridan Smith, Hedda Gabler (Old Vic)

 

Imelda Staunton, Sweeney Todd (Chichester and Adelphi)

 


NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL

 

Floyd Collins (Southwark Playhouse)

Directed by Derek Bond

 

Mack & Mabel (Southwark Playhouse)

Directed by Thom Southerland

 

Singin’ In the Rain (Chichester Festival and Palace Theatre)

Directed by Jonathan Church

 

Swallows and Amazons (presented by the National Theatre in association with The Children’s Touring Partnership at the Vaudeville Theatre)

Music and lyrics by Neil Hannon

Script by Helen Edmundson

Directed by Tom Morris

 

Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival and Adelphi)

Directed by Jonathan Kent

 

Top Hat (Aldwych)

Directed by Matthew White

Adaptation for Stage: Howard Jacques and Matthew White

 

 

BEST DESIGN

 

Hildegard Bechtler, Top Hat ( Aldwych)

 

Miriam Buether, Wild Swans (A Young Vic/American Repertory Theatre/Actors Touring Company co-production)

 

Bunny Christie, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Kevin Depinet, Detroit (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Es Devlin, The Master and Margarita (Complicite at Barbican)

 

Soutra Gilmour, Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse ) and Antigone (National’s Olivier)

 

Richard Kent, Richard II (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Ian MacNeil, A Doll’s House (Young Vic)

 

Peter McKintosh, Noises Off (Old Vic)

 

Vicki Mortimer, The Last of the Haussmans (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Lucy Osborne, The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Michael Taylor, The Ladykillers (Gielgud)

 

Jamie Vartan, Misterman (National’s Lyttelton)

 

 

 

CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT

 

Stephen Beresford, The Last of the Haussmans (National’s Lyttelton)

 

Lolita Chakrabarti, Red Velvet (Tricycle)

 

Ishy Din, Snookered (Bush)

 

Vickie Donoghue, Mudlarks (Bush)

 

Nancy Harris, Our New Girl (Bush)

 

John Hodge, Collaborators (National’s Cottesloe)

 

Luke Norris, Goodbye to All That (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

Nicholas Pierpan, You Can Still Make a Killing (Southwark Playhouse)

 

Tim Price, Salt, Root and Roe (Trafalgar Studios)

 

Hayley Squires, Vera Vera Vera (Royal Court Upstairs andTheatre Local Peckham)

 

Tom Wells, The Kitchen Sink (Bush)

 

 

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

 

Jonathan Bailey, South Downs (Chichester Minerva and Harold Pinter)

 

Denise Gough, Our New Girl (Bush) and Desire Under the Elms (Lyric Hammersmith)

 

David Fynn, She Stoops to Conquer (National’s Olivier)

 

Cush Jumbo, She Stoops to Conquer (National’s Olivier)

 

Abby Rakic-Platt, Vera Vera Vera (Royal Court Upstairs and Theatre Local Peckham)

 

Matthew Tennyson, Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse)

 

Joshua Williams, Shivered (Southwark Playhouse)and  Love and Information (Royal Court Upstairs)

 

Emi Wokoma, Soul Sister (Hackney Empire and Savoy)

 

First Québec Cinema Showcase for London

Posted on by

Following the international success of Québécois films including Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau), Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) and Café de Flore (Jean-Marc Vallée), a showcase of new cinema from Québec will take place for the first time in London at the Institut Français, South Kensington (2-4 November).

Québec Cinema Showcase is part of the 50th anniversary celebrations marking the opening of the Québec Government Office in London. The programme of five feature-length films and four shorts will present some of Québec’s finest and most recent cinematic offerings, including the latest work from award-winning director, 23-year-old Xavier Dolan, Laurence Anyways.

Québec Cinema Showcase will open with the UK premiere of Ken Scott’s massive box office hit comedy Starbuck (2 November).  Veteran comedy actor Patrick Huard plays David Wozniak, a 40-something delivery man whose life is out of control. But things are worse than he thinks. In his twenties, David was a prolific sperm donor to help pay the bills but the past comes back to haunt him when nearly 150 of his more than 500 offspring, now young adults, collectively take court action for their right to know the identity of their father. The film has been so successful – Canada’s biggest domestic hit in 2011 taking $3.5 million at the box office – that Scott has been asked to direct the US remake starring Vince Vaughn for Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios. Starbuck is on general release in the UK from November 23.

Laurence Anyways (3 November) is the latest offering from Cannes award-winning director Xavier Dolan, (I Killed My Mother, Heartbeats). Dolan’s success continued in 2012 at the Cannes Film Festival when Laurence Anyways’ female lead, Suzanne Clément, won best actress in the festival’s “Un certain regard” category and the film was awarded the Queer Palm. Laurence Anyways also won the award for Best Canadian Feature Film at Toronto International Film Festival 2012. Dolan made his Cannes debut with I Killed My Mother, a film he made in his teens, resulting in an eight-minute standing ovation and three awards in the Directors’ Fortnight section in 2009. Spanning a decade, Laurence Anyways tells the story of a couple who are passionately in love. But when Laurence (Melvil Poupard) announces to girlfriend Fred (Suzanne Clément) on his 30th birthday that he wants to live as a woman, the consequences are tumultuous – and unexpected.  Laurence Anyways screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 and 12 October and is on general release in UK cinemas from 30 November.

“The Québec Government Office in London takes pride in witnessing Québec cinema’s current popularity worldwide. We are delighted to welcome the first edition of the Québec Cinema Showcase as part of our 50-year anniversary celebrations marking the opening of our London office,” says Pierre Boulanger, Agent-General of the Québec office in London.

Other films in the programme include Karakara from Claude Gagnon (3 November), a Canadian/Japanese co-production which follows Pierre (Gabriel Arcand), a retired professor in his early sixties who goes on a short, unsettling trip around Okinawa in Japan with Junko (Youki Kudoh), a 40-year-old runaway wife. Bestiary (Bestiaire) from Denis Côté (4 November) is an intriguing documentary which reflects on human fascination with animals.  Behind Closed Doors (Catimini) from Nathalie Saint-Pierre (4 November), the final film in the Québec Cinema Showcase, is a touching story about a reunion between four girls living under the care of the child protection services.

Across the weekend there will be director Q&As: Claude Gagnon, on Saturday, 3 November after the screening of Karakara and Nathalie Saint-Pierre on Sunday, 4 November after Behind Closed Doors.

Cinema from Québec is currently enjoying the international spotlight with two films – Incendies and Monsieur Lazhar – shortlisted for best foreign language Oscars in the past two years, as well as a BAFTA nomination for Incendies. Québécois director, Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de Flore starring Vanessa Paradis, has also garnered critical acclaim. Earlier this month (October) at the Raindance Film Festival – Europe’s leading independent film festival – a number of films were screened in a special Québec Strand and Laurentie by directors Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie scooped Best International Feature.

François Macerola, President and CEO of SODEC, Québec’s development agency for cultural enterprises added: “For many years, the international market’s interest in Québec cinema and its filmmakers has grown considerably.  New audiences and new possibilities have allowed films from Québec, and our filmmakers’ vision to cross borders, thanks to events such as the Québec Cinema Showcase in London.”

 

Tickets for Québec Cinema Showcase are £10 (conc £8) and are available from the Institut Français website (https://www.institut-francais.org.uk/book)

Québec Cinema Showcase is an extension of the marketplace event Cinema du Québec a Paris which is celebrating its 16th year (6-11 November). Québec Cinema Showcase is also part of the 20th French Film Festival UK, which will present a selection of the best shorts from Québec in Glasgow and Edinburgh . (http://frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/FFF2012/wp/)

 

Québec Cinema Showcase has been organised by the Québec Government Office in London, with the support of SODEC and the Ministry of Culture and Communications, in collaboration with the Institut Français in London and the French Film Festival UK.

The Québec Government Office in London’s cultural services implements market development initiatives for artists and cultural industries from Québec.

For more information:
www.quebec.org.uk
www.sodec.gouv.qc.ca
www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca
www.institut-francais.org.uk
www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

 

Starbuck 
Dir: Ken Scott 2011 – 109 mins
Friday 2 November, 8.15pm

The biggest Canadian box office hit in 2011, Ken Scott’s comedy Starbuck follows a likeable middle-aged loser as he wrestles with regret and responsibility. Hapless deliveryman David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) gets parking tickets at every stop along his route, has thugs on his tail for massive overdue loans, and his girlfriend tells him she’s pregnant just before dumping him. These are the least of David’s concerns, however, when he returns home to find a lawyer in his kitchen. The past comes back to haunt him in the form of a class-action lawsuit launched by 142 of the 533 children who resulted from sperm donations he deposited over 20 years ago.

Starbuck will be preceded by Demoni, a short directed by Theodore Ushev.

 

Karakara  
Dir: Claude Gagnon 2012 – 101 mins
Saturday 3 November, 5pm

Gabriel Arcand plays Pierre, a retired professor in his early sixties who has decided to renounce sex and achieve spiritual peace until Junko (Youki Kudoh), a  40-year-old Japanese housewife arrives on his doorstep seeking refuge from her abusive husband. They end up making a short, unsettling trip around Okinawa, Japan, together. Though the confused intellectual would rather not get involved with this unlikely and unexpected lover, he decides to follow his destiny, wherever it may take him.

Karakara will be preceded by Anata O Korosu, a short directed by Phillipe David Gagné and Jean-Marc E. Roy

Laurence Anyways 
Dir: Xavier Dolan 2012 – 159 mins
Saturday 3 November, 7.30pm

The third Cannes award-winning film by 23-year-old writer-director Xavier Dolan (Heartbeats, I Killed My Mother), Laurence Anyways follows the story of Laurence and Fred, his girlfriend – a couple passionately in love who attempt to sustain their relationship and fight the prejudices of their family, friends and society when Laurence turns 30 and can no longer deny his desire to be a woman.  Winning two awards at Cannes including Best Actress in the festival’s “Un certain regard” category for Suzanne Clément and the Queer Palm and, as well as the award for Best Canadian Feature Film at Toronto International Film Festival 2012.he film had its UK premiere at this year’s BFI London Film Festival on 11 and 12 October.

Bestiaire ( Bestiary)

Dir: Denis Côté 2012 – 72 mins
Sunday 4 November, 4.15pm

The documentary explores the fascination humans have for animals, combining footage from a drawing class, a taxidermist’s workshop and a Québec safari park. The poet, essayist and naturalist Diane Ackerman has reflected on animal parks as venues for the discovery of interspecies shared identity, but also as places where humans focus “on the lives of other creatures to dispel the usual mind theatres that plague us.” Those notions are challenged as often as they are reinforced in Denis Côté’s soberly beautiful Bestiaire, but exact conclusions are left for the viewer to form.

Bestiaire will be preceded by Tout va Mieux (Everything is alright) a short directed by Robin Aubert.

Catimini (Behind Closed Doors)  
Dir: Nathalie Saint-Pierre 2012 – 112 mins
Sunday 4 November, 6.30pm

Four girls are living under the care of child protection services: Cathy, six-years-old, arrives in a new foster family, the Bilodeaus; 12-year-old Keyla is transferred into a group home for teenage girls; Mégane, a rebellious 16-year-old, ends up in a detention centre in late winter; on her 18th birthday, Manu leaves her youth centre and moves into her first apartment. In the hope of reconnecting with the few people that have meant something to her, Manu attends a reception honouring the Bilodeaus, one of her former foster families. She bumps into Keyla and Cathy, and ends up hanging out with Mégane. It proves to be a reunion that no-one will forget anytime soon. Behind Closed Doors won the Valois d’or prize at the fifth festival of francophone cinema in Angoulême.

Behind Closed Doors will be preceded by Ina Litovski, a short directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and Andre Turpin.