FROM BRITAIN WITH LOVE – Presented By The Film Society of Lincoln Center, UK Film Council & Emerging Pictures

Film Society of Lincoln Center, UK Film Council & Emerging Pictures presents FROM BRITAIN WITH LOVE
June 11 – July 9
 
6 indie UK films will screen in 10 US cities launching with TOAST starring Helena Bonham Carter

The Film Society of Lincoln Center, UK Film Council and Emerging Pictures announced the details today for plans to showcase six recent independent films produced in the United Kingdom for a release in more than ten cities stateside from June 11 – July 9. 
 
Curated by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and in partnership with Emerging Pictures – the largest all-digital specialty film and alternate content theatre network in the United States – the showcase will premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on June 11 as part of the opening celebration for its state-of-the art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Each of the films will be shown once at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and once downtown at the IFC Center. Simultaneous screenings will be held throughout the country through the Emerging Pictures digital cinema network. The series is also supported by partners: UK Trade and Investment, BAFTA, and Creative Screen Associates .
 
Scott Foundas, Associate Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center said: “We’re delighted to be curatingFrom Britain with Love, which highlights the exceptional vibrancy of the British film industry, and offers our audience a wonderful opportunity to engage with new emerging UK talent. I hope that US audiences enjoy discovering these wonderful films and see for themselves the vitality and diversity the British film industry has to offer.”
 
From Britain with Love (http://www.frombritainwithlove.org/) will be a ‘first’ in making high quality independent British films accessible to audiences across the United States, and will feature the screening of each film on multiple screens in digital cinemas. The entertainment experience will be enhanced by presentations of ‘virtual’ in-conversation events with key talent from the films, including directors and cast, via online webcasts. 
 
The project was inspired by and follows on the success of an earlier, March 2010 UK/Indian initiative, From Blighty With Love which screened seven UK independent films – including MAN ON WIRE, EASY VIRTUE and IN THE LOOP – across 2K digital cinemas in three Indian cities: Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. The project‘s public relations campaign, online and cinema program succeeded in reaching over 35 million people, and sold a thousand tickets to India’s English-speaking audience. 
 
From Britain With Love will include three films making their US Premiere: TOAST, IN OUR NAME, THIRD STAR and three films that have had select festival screenings across the country: A BOY CALLED DAD, AFRICA UNITED and NEDS. The full line-up includes:    

•  A BOY CALLED DAD (80min)  

Director: Brian Percival 
The debut feature from BAFTA short film winner Brian Percival follows the story of a boy thrust into early adulthood when he becomes a father at the age of 14. Newcomer, Kyle Ward, delivers an impressive performance as the young boy and Ian Hart (BACKBEAT, HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE) plays the boy’s father forced to confront his son’s newfound situation and help usher him into a life with increased responsibilities, that neither of them have any choice but to embrace. 
**Monday, June 27, 6 PM, IFC Center
**Saturday, July 9, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater       

• AFRICA UNITED (98min)  

 Director: Debs Gardner-Paterson
The extraordinary story of three Rwandan children who walk 3000 miles to the World Cup in South Africa, Gardner-Paterson’s adventure focuses on a fantastic journey undertaken by the kids as they attempt to trek across seven countries, negotiating their way through a series of glorious, dangerous, hilarious and often bizarre situations  on the way to their goal. The cast includes Eriya Ndayambaje, Rogernsengiyuma, Sayu Joanita Kintu and Sherrie Silver. 
**Wednesday, June 15, 8 PM, Walter Reade Theater 
**Sunday, June 26, 11 AM, IFC Center     

• IN OUR NAME (90min)  

 Director: Brian Welsh
Winner of ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ for lead actress Joanne Froggatt at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards, the film follows the experiences of a British soldier following her return to civilian life after a tour of duty in Iraq. Haunted by the responsibility she feels for the death of an Iraqi child during her service, she becomes obsessed with protecting her own daughter. IN OUR NAME marks the first time a British film has dealt with the aftermath of war from a female point of view. The film also stars Mel Raido and Chloe-Jayne Wilkinson.
**Monday, June 13, 8 PM, Walter Reade Theater
**Saturday, June 25, 11 AM, IFC Center   

•  NEDs (124min)  

Director: Peter Mullan
Written and directed by the Cannes award-winning Scottish actor (MY NAME IS JOE), NEDs stars Conor McCarron as a young man who joins a gang of NEDs (Non-Educated Delinquents). As his rage and frustration within their savage life on the streets spin him further and further out of control, he finds himself left with one extraordinary chance at redemption. The cast includes Mullan, Louise Goodall and Gregg Forest.
**Thursday, June 23, 8 PM, IFC Center
**Saturday, July 2, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater   

•  THIRD STAR (92min)  

Director: Hattie Dalton
The feature directing debut by BAFTA short film winner Dalton, THIRD STAR stars Benedict Cumberbatch (star of Danny Boyle’s National Theater production of Frankenstein and Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE) as a young man diagnosed with a terminal illness who joins three of his lifelong friends for an adventure in a stunning coastal retreat. The closing night film at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival, THIRD STAR also stars JJ Feild (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER), Tom Burke and Adam Robertson.
**Monday, June 20, 8 PM, IFC Center
**Saturday, June 25, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater   

• TOAST (96min)  

Director: S.J Clarkson 
Based on the best-selling autobiography of food writer Nigel Slater, TOAST is a delicious love letter to the tastes and smells that a young boy associates with his journey into adulthood. Starring Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (THE KING’S SPEECH) and Freddie Highmore (CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY) and adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lee Hall (BILLY ELLIOT, Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE) the film follows the boy’s difficulties communicating with his father following his mother’s death – all seen through his connection to food. The film also stars Ken Stott.
**Saturday, June 11, 8 PM, Walter Reade Theater
**Sunday, June 19, 11 AM, IFC Center     

Sarah McKenzie, the UK Film Council’s Head of Export said: “This initiative is another example of how the UK Film Council has worked hard to open up UK film to international markets and audiences, and to promote our home-grown talent to new viewers. We’re extremely excited to announce this ambitious partnership with the prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center and Emerging Pictures, and the opportunity to develop audiences for UK independent films in the US, and build income for the UK economy.”
 
Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, located at 165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway and The IFC Center, located at 323 Sixth Ave. at West 3rd Street. For ticket information, visit filmlinc.com <http://filmlinc.com/> and ifccenter.com <http://www.ifccenter.com/> .


SCREENING SCHEDULE      

TOAST
Saturday, June 11, 8 PM, Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, June 19, 11 AM, IFC Center     

IN OUR NAME
Monday, June 13, 8 PM, Walter Reade Theater
Saturday, June 25, 11 AM, IFC Center    AFRICA UNITED
Wednesday, June 15, 8 PM Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, June 26, 11 AM, IFC Center 
 
THIRD STAR
Monday, June 20, 8 PM, IFC Center
Saturday, June 25, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater
 
NEDS
Thursday, June 23, 8 PM, IFC Center
Saturday, July 2, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater
  
A BOY CALLED DAD
Monday, June 27, 6 PM, IFC Center
Saturday, July 9, 11 AM, Walter Reade Theater

For more information on From Britain with Love go to www.frombritainwithlove.org  

 Film Society of Lincoln Center

 Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Centeroffers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, currently planning its 49th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, opening June 2011. The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42BELOW, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, key

WNET New York Public Media, Royal Bank of Canada and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com

About the UK Film Council   

•  
•  From April 2011 Lottery funded film activity was relocated from UK Film Council to the British Film Institute and inward investment to Film London.
•  Since its creation in 2000 the UK Film Council backed more than 900 films, shorts and features, which have won over 300 awards and entertained more than 200 million people around the world.
•  Films backed by the UK Film Council include The Kings Speech, The Guard,West is West, Streetdance, Submarine,Man on Wire, Nowhere Boy, In the Loop, Happy-Go-Lucky, Bend it like Beckham, The Constant Gardener, Gosford Park, Red Road, St Trinian’s, This is England, Touching the Void, Vera Drake and The Wind that Shakes the Barley.
•  For more information visit: www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk <http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

 The UK Film Council Export Unit supports the export of UK films, talent and services internationally