Me & My Latitude premiere

Friday 27 January2012

Short films by emerging filmmaking talent showcased at BAFTA HQ

Latitude is proud to announce that BAFTA will premiere two short-form films by emerging British directors on Monday 23rd January 2012. The films are the first productions resulting from Me and My Latitude, a unique collaborative project designed to nurture, support and provide a platform for emerging filmmaking talent in the UK. The initiative involves the Academy working in partnership with Festival Republic, organisers of Latitude, the UK’s leading arts and music festival.

She Want Soul by Director Sameer Patel and Knife Edge by Director Caroline Bridges will be shown at BAFTA’s Run Run Shaw Theatre, London, in front of an invited audience.  They will also take pride of place in the line-up for Latitude’s Film & Music Arena in 2012, which is partly programmed in partnership with BAFTA.

Sameer and Caroline were chosen to each make a short film about an artist preparing to perform at Latitude 2011, with the aim of reflecting the diversity and inventiveness of the UK arts scene.  The resulting intimate portraits of award-winning poet and writer Sabrina Mahfouz and 2011 Place Prize winning dance theatre company Lost Dog, give a striking and thought-provoking insight into what it is like to live and work as an artist in the UK today.

In She Want Soul visual poet Sabrina Mahfouz is presented in a unique and compelling way, shot similarly to a music promo, Sabrina is captured writing and performing as the vivid characters she creates. “In looking at the many identities Sabrina takes on in her poetry I was looking to make a statement about the New British Identity which I think Sabrina represents” writes Sameer about his film.  “The Latitude Festival added a backdrop that gave an interesting contrast to Sabrina's character”.

Knife Edge focuses on Lost Dog, as they prepare to perform their show, It Needs Horses, to a festival audience. Their rehearsal schedule is tight, the props have been left behind and the anxiety of putting the show on is palpable. As the company face these challenges, the performance becomes a creative interpretation of their anxiety dreams. Of the company Caroline comments, "Lost Dog's work relates to both dance and non-dance audiences on an emotional level. At times we all feel the need to perform or impress and so the performance anxiety felt by the dancers resonates with all of us."

BAFTA provided mentoring and professional support while Festival Republic selected BAFTA award-winning Executive Producer Beryl Richards to guide the Directors and gave unrivalled access to all the behind the scenes action at the festival with support from Latitude’s Arts Curator Tania Harrison.

Creator of Latitude and Festival Republic Managing Director, Melvin Benn, said:
“For me this project was all about working with and supporting upcoming talent.  Sameer and Caroline have not only created unique accounts of what it is to be a working artist in 2011 in their films, but they’ve also shown themselves to be future stars of British cinema.

I’m looking forward to introducing She Want Soul and Knife Edge to the thousands of cinephiles at Latitude 2012.”
 
Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive at BAFTA, added:
“BAFTA is immensely proud of the films made through the Me and My Latitude project. It was fantastic to see BAFTA members helping take promising new filmmaking talent to the next level. Not only do the films tell a story about the journey for those taking part in the project, but they also paint a bigger picture of the wonderful Latitude festival.”

Executive Producer, Beryl Richards, said:
“I relished the chance to help create a completely new filmmaking initiative at a time when funding opportunities are diminishing and creating significant challenges for emerging talent. Me and My Latitude is a good news story which I hope will continue to offer inspiration to talented filmmakers, such as Sameer and Caroline, who both produced outstanding films.”

Sameer commented:
'Me and My Latitude was a thrilling opportunity as it gave me creative freedom, access to a top festival and the best support I could ask for from BAFTA and Festival Republic.  I believe that Sabrina is one of the most talented writers and performers in Britain today and one to watch out for.'

BAFTA and Festival Republic are continuing their collaboration with further activities planned for 2012, due to be announced in the Spring.

Caroline said of the experience:
“It was an honour to be selected for the first ever Me and My Latitude documentary project. In addition to having the privilege of working with BAFTA and Festival Republic, working with Lost Dog was an inspiration. They are a truly talented company with a wonderful sensitivity and were so open with me when they were under a lot of pressure. I cannot thank them enough.”

Click here to listen to Caroline's thoughts from the evening.