news & events
Over the past eight years, Wallflower Press has hosted book launches across the globe. Countries we have visited during our travels include Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, The Netherlands and Australia.
In addition to our international launches, many of our events take place here in the UK and we are proud to have worked with many high-profile organizations including Curzon Cinemas, BFI Southbank, Tate Modern, the ICA, the Imperial War Museum, Riverside Studios, the Science Museum and the London Review Bookshop.
Please visit our listings section for details of our forthcoming launches, as well as news of special festivals, seasons and screenings. Scroll down for news and other information.
– End of Year Top 5 Cinephilia Moments!!
– New Electric Sheep magazine out 1 December!
– Shooting People are Ten
– Cinéphilia Film Book Shop
– International Film Guide Inspiration Award
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End of Year Top 5 Cinephilia Moments!!
As the year closes, some of our friends, authors and members of staff gave us their Top 5 cinephilia moments of 2008. Here's to another year of great cinematic memories:
Yoram Allon, Editorial Director, Wallflower Press
1. January saw the chance to eventually see 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days by Christian Mungiu - although a 2007 release elsewhere it was a long patient wait before finally seeing one of the most accomplished and powerful films in recent years, and the outstanding central performance by Anamaria Marinca displays an astonishing intensity and intelligence that crowned a triumph of truthful storytelling.
2. February heralded the publication of the resurrected International Film Guide and its launch at the Berlin Film Festival - this proud moment was only matched by the very successful presentation of the book at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and the announcement of the new dedicated website - www.internationalfilmguide.com - at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn in November, taking the project to new platforms and diverse readerships.
3. In June I had the pleasure to be invited on the Official Selection jury at the Festroia International Film Festival in Portugal and enjoyed very many excellent films that sadly haven't, and won't, secure(d) wide distribution, including the very powerful film Klopka (The Trap) by Srdan Golubovic - definitely one of the best films I've seen this year.
4. In July, the new Electric Sheep magazine was born - this has fast become the most innovative and interesting publication of film criticism in the UK and has been met with an incredible trade and critical reception.
5. October saw the opening of Cinéphilia, the destination film book store, off Brick Lane, east London - truly the exemplary 'cinephile moment of the year'!
Amanda O'Boyle, Sales and Marketing Manager, Wallflower Press
- watching Man on Wire at the Branchage Film Festival opening night gala
- seeing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly for the first time as part of the Clint Eastwood season at the BFI - and consequently discovering that I don't hate all Westerns
- the International Film Guide 2008 launch party and screening of Edge of Heaven at the Curzon Soho
- the Romanian Film Festival opening night party - music, dancing and an incredible feast at the Romanian Embassy
- learning to appreciate Colin Farrell in hilarious In Bruges
Jackie Downs, Editorial Manager, Wallflower Press
1. The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Bayona): at last, a properly frightening, character-driven chiller, relying on real human emotion and an authentic exploration of grief to lead its audience through the scares to tears. That sound in the auditorium at the end of the film was my heart breaking.
2. Widescreen: You can rely on Mark Cousins, in this collection of his columns for Prospect, to make a letter written to his 8-and-a-half year old self a profoundly moving expression of cinephilia: 'you are about to discover your passion', indeed.
3. Jason Wood's Q+As with John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, and with Terence Davies: very funny, very smart.
4. Giving a copy of Jason Wood's (him again) book of interviews, Talking Movies, to one of the interviewees, Nick Cave. Actually putting the book in his hands along with my business card inside. Am still waiting for his call.
5. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days: Christian Mungiu's breathtaking film about the lengths women are prepared to go to to help each other out : an important film, and a daring one. The last sequence, between the two friends whose relationship can never be the same again, is astonishing.
Jim Barratt, author of Bad Taste
1. One positive outcome of the decline in newspaper circulations is the boom in DVD cover mounts. 2008 was another good year, with fantastic giveaways from the likes of Erich Rohmer (Le rayon vert) and Alfred Hitchcock (The 39 Steps), proving yet again that the best things in life really are free.
2. I finally caught up with Son of Rambow, a joyful ode to childhood cinephilia. It has particular resonance because it was shot in and around Berkhamsted, where I grew up. The beautifully restored Rex Cinema has several prominent scenes in the film, and was a favourite haunt of mine at the time the film was set in the early 1980s.
3. The best big screen experience of the year has to go to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly at bfi Southbank. Popularly acclaimed as a 'Clint Eastwood film', its fly-blown, arid heart actually belongs to Eli Wallach.
4. I took part in a live online chat about The Hobbit with Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro, organised for fans by Weta. There was perverse fun to be had as the filmmakers tapped away patiently in response to a steady stream of inane questions from across the globe (e.g. 'are you planning to use some location in italy?').
5. For my money the best film talk of the year was delivered by M dot Strange at an event in London organised by Power to the Pixel. M dot, as he prefers to be known, is the DIY filmmaking genius behind the bizarre animated tale We Are The Strange. M dot explained how the movie in his bedroom, took it to Sundance and turned down Hollywood distribution deals before deciding to put the movie on YouTube and sell his own DVDs. Strange but true.
Mark Cousins, author of Widescreen: Watching. Real. People. Elsewhere
- The opening shots of Terence Davies' Of Time and the City at the Cannes film festival.
- Twirling umbrellas with Tilda Swinton during Singin' in the Rain at the Ballerina Ballroom in Nairn.
- Seeing Mamma Mia! in Gunnar Asplund's famous Skandia cinema in Stockholm.
- All the young actors coming in to the press conference for Lauren Cantet's The Class in Cannes.
- Seeing the documentary Sanrizuka - Heta Village at the Sheffield doc/fest.
- Getting to know Gaston Kabore at the Africa in Motion festival in Edinburgh
Ernest Mathijs, author of The Cinema of David Cronenberg and co-editor of the Cultographies series
1) In Bruges
2) The hassle around the upcoming Tintin adaptation
3) my discovery of Nicholas Ray's We Can't Go Home Again
4) The Dark Knight/Batman
5) the success of the Cultographies book series
Dan Shaw, author of Film and Philosophy
5. When Javier Bardem blew up his car outside the pharmacy to get the medical supplies he needed in No Country for Old Men (I didn't see it until it came out on cable).
4. The reveal of the color version of the Ivan Albright painting at the climax of the recently rereleased version of The Picture of Dorian Grey.
3. SPOILER ALERT!! When Casey Affleck sees the little girl that he has been searching for is being kept at the home of retiring detective Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone.
2. Adam Sandler doing his first hairstyle in Don't Mess with the Zohan.
1. The class discussion that ensued after I showed Being John Malkovich to my Intro class to illustrate problems of personal identity...I have never had so many hands up vying for my attention (and some explanation).
Rod Stoneman, author of Chavez: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: A Case Study in Politics and The Media (see illustration)
Jason Woods, author of Talking Movies
1. Gideon Koppel's Sleep Furiously. An astonishing documentary that proves the current strength and diversity of British cinema.
2. Laurent Cantet's The Class winning the Palme d'Or.
3. The BFI's DVD release of Chris Petit's Radio On. My favourite British film of all time finally gets the respect and attention it deserves.
4. Interviewing Terence Davies for The Guardian. A welcome return from the cold for one of Britain's greatest living filmmakers. In conversation Davies is witty, erudite and surprisingly self-critical. Good company too.
5. The success of Alex Reuben's Routes. Given limited screenings at a number of UK cinemas, this fantastic dance odyssey played to sell-out audiences. Very encouraging and one in the eye to all those that claim that the UK exhibition sector is overly cautious, commercial and conservative.
Electric Sheep: Into The White (out 1 December)
The winter issue of Electric Sheep explores celluloid snow with articles on Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World and John Carpenter's The Thing as well as Christmas slashers, film noir and snow, and cult Japanese 70s revenge tale Lady Snowblood. Plus interviews with Asif Kapadia and Jerzy Skolimowski, preview of the London Short Film Festival, reviews of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata, Béla Tarr's The Man from London and Lotte Reininger's Fairy Tale Films, and a comic strip review of Kamikaze Girls!
Shooting People are Ten
Shooting People, the institution that director Morgan Spurlock describes as: "a necessity for anyone who works, lives and breathes independent film", is proud to be celebrating its tenth birthday this year.
They want to share their presents with you. Join before the 10 December and get 10 weeks membership extra free. To join and see what else they've got planned, visit www.shootingpeople.org.
Shooting People is the international networking organisation dedicated to the support and promotion of independent film. Set up in 1998 as a bedroom project by filmmakers Cath Le Couteur and Jess Search, the network has grown from 60 friends to over 37,000 members across the UK and the US.
Wallflower Press Open a Shop!!
Wallflower Press are very pleased to announce that we have opened a shop! Not just any old shop, but the destination film book store!
CINÉPHILIA, 97 Sclater Street, off Brick Lane, London E1.
CINÉPHILIA will stock all Wallflower Press titles, mostly at discounted prices as with our online shop, as well as extensive stocks of titles produced by our friends at Kamera Books and Auteur Publishing. There will be a diverse range of general cinema and moving image titles, from film studies, animation and documentary to television studies, new media and artists' film & video. We will also be stocking an extensive range of titles from Focal Press and other publishers dedicated to the art and craft of filmmaking, as well as various trade and academic presses servicing the subject area.
In addition to a wide range of new titles, we shall also have a second-hand section, and a vibrant exchange programme (for example, bring in your old film books and if they are in saleable condition each can be exchanged for any new Wallflower Press title at a 50% discount!). There will also be a lending facility for all those students with essays to write for Monday morning! So, wonderful books to buy, borrow or browse...
We will also be stocking a full range of quality DVDs, from such excellent independent labels as Soda, Axiom, Dogwoof, Second Run, Index, ReVoir, Illuminations etc. In addition to these fine folk, there shall be a healthy display of DVDs released by the British Film Institute and other more institutionalised distributors.
Lastly, there shall also be back issues of quality film magazines, for your reading pleasure or research needs...
So, please visit CINÉPHILIA, the destination film book store
everything for the discerning cinephile!
www.cinephilia.co.uk - info@cinephilia.co.uk 020 7729 9533
Winners Announced
SHORT FILM CITY (Leeds International Film Festival)
AND
THE WALLFLOWER PRESS AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL STUDENT DOCUMENTARY FILM (Sheffield DocFest)
As you may remember from the last newsletter, this month Wallflower Press Editorial Director, Yoram Allon, was on the jury for not one but two short film competitions. We are delighted to announce the winners!
SHORT FILM CITY (Leeds Film Festival)
We are delighted to announce the winners for Short Film City, the new programme section launched this year. Yoram Allon chaired the jury.
FICTION
Winner: RENÉ (Tobias Nölle, Switzerland, 2007, 29 mins) - pictured
Special Mentions: MOMPELAAR/MUMBLER (Wim Reygaert & Marc Roels, Belgium, 2007, 22 mins) & ALEXANDRA(Radu Jude, Romania, 2007, 24 mins).
ANIMATION
Winner: SKHIZEIN (Jeremy Clapin, France, 2007, 13 mins 40 secs)
Special Mentions - THE PEARCE SISTERS (Luis Cook, UK, 2007, 9 mins) & MONSIEUR COK (Franck Dion, France, 2008, 9 mins 45 secs)
DOCUMENTARY
Winner: PLANE DAYS (Benjamin Kracun & Ewan McNicol, UK, 2008, 15 mins)
Special Mention: 52 PROCENT/52 PERCENT (Rafal Skalski, Poland, 2007, 20 mins)
EXPERIMENTAL Winner: VERTIGO RUSH (Johann Lurf, Austria, 2007, 19 mins)
Special Mentions: MOSAIK MECANIQUE (Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Austria, 2007, 9 mins 30 secs) & MAGNETIC MOVIE (Ruth Jarman & Joe Gerhardt, UK/USA, 2007, 5 mins).
FANTASY
Winner: I LOVE SARAH JANE (Spencer Susser, Australia, 2008, 13 mins 45 secs)
Special Mentions: TERMINUS (Trevor Cawood, Canada, 2007, 8 mins) & STAGMAN (Virginie Gourmel, Belgium, 2007, 23 mins).
OVERALL WINNER - BEST SHORT FILM LEEDS 2008 - RENÉ
THE WALLFLOWER PRESS AWARD
FOR THE BEST STUDENT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM
Sheffield DocFest
Sponsored by Wallflower Press, the Wallflower Press Award for Best Student International Documentary Film is a new award honoring the best student documentary in the programme.
Winner: Cyanosis (dir. Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami, Iran)
Special Mention: 12 Notes Down (dir. Andreas Koefoed, Denmark)
Second Winner of the International Film Guide Inspiration Award Announced!!
We are pleased to announce the second International Film Guide Inspiration Award has been awarded to Brian Hecker!
American debut filmmaker Brian Hecker has been awarded the first International Film Guide Inspiration Award given at an American film festival, at the Awards Gala at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Hecker won for his feature debut, the comedy Bart Got A Room, which closed the Festival. The film, a winning family comedy shot in south Florida, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2008 and has been picked up for distribution by Plum Pictures.First Winner of the International Film Guide Inspiration Award Announced!!
Quebec-based short filmmaker Guy Édoin has been awarded the International Film Guide Inspiration Award at the Awards Gala at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema. Édoin won for La Battue (The Beat), a 19-minute short drama which screened in the Fictions Quebec section of the Best Short Film Focus program of the Festival. The Festival, which celebrated its 37th edition this year from October 8 to 19 in the historic city of Montreal, is one of the world's most provocative showcases of new film talents.
The film was chosen by the Programming Committee of the Short Film Focus section of the Festival for its "unique visual style, daring content and expansive execution". The beautifully shot film takes place on a few acres of snowy woods in northern Quebec, where a pack of women are out hunting. Lost in the forest, a teenage girl tells her mother she is leaving the family farm. The film is as proud and as tough as its female protagonists. La Battue is the final film in the director's rural trilogy, which Les Affluents: Le Pont in 2004 and Les Eaux Mortes in 2006. All of the films were shot on the director's farm and dedicated to the region and its people.
See the latest pictures from Wallflower Press events.