COMMA FILM NEWS:

Congratulations to Kate Jessop, whose first ever Comma film 'Desires', based on a poem by Gaia Holmes, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Virgin Media Shorts Prize, from over 1400 entrants. The main prize will be judged by a panel including Kevin Spacey and Gurinder Chadha, but there will also be a People's Choice Award. To vote for your favourite film (and be in contention to win a video camera yourself), click here. You need to register to vote, and you only get one vote. Earlier this year 'Desires' was screened simultaneously in Los Angeles, New York and various venues across Canada, Australia and New Zealand as part of International Women's Week! Congrats also to Kate for picking up the Femme de Fantastique award at January's London Short Film Festival, for her new film 'When the Telescope Came'.

Congrats also to Andrew Haigh who has been selected as one of the Cinema Extreme finalists adapt the Comma short story Five Miles Out. He has received production funding of around £50K from the UK Film Council in conjunction with Film Four to produce an adaptation of Sarah Tierney's story from Comma's Bracket anthology. Read more about Andrew in Screen Daily.

ABOUT COMMA FILM:

COMMA FILM is a new strand of Literature Northwest's activities, run in conjunction with Comma Press, dedicated to fostering links between developing filmmakers and writers across the North of England.

Since October 2006, the project has coordinated active collaboration between filmmakers and writers, leading to the adaptation of short, previously published texts - either ultra-short 'poem-films' (1-4mins) or dramas based on short stories (5-15mins) - through a series of challenges and screenings. Driven by nothing more than the filmmakers' own enthusiasm, and without any direct funding (in all but two cases), the project has already resulted in over 30 new films, and promoted some of the best new filmmaking talent in the region; with a simple philosophy of distinguishing and emphasising the importance of the writer, and the original text, in the filmmaking process.
For all the lip-service currently being paid to the importance of the writer, this is the only project to entirely separate the roles of the director and original writer, by commissioning adaptations exclusively.

Stage 1 of the project has been to commission a series of 'film-poems': very short filmic interpretations of poets' work, using poets from or based in the North of England. This first stage has seen seven screenings to date at the following festivals: Manchester Literature Festival Oct 06 (Cornerhouse), Huddersfield Literature Festival Mar 07, Chorlton Arts Festival May 07, New Islington Festival Sep 07, National Poetry Day and Manchester Literature Festival Oct 07 (at Cornerhouse), and Salford Film Festival Nov 07.
These screenings have featured films by Kate Jessop, Gwen Osmond, Lisa Risbec, Charlotte Caetano, Sharon Keighley, Scott Davenport, Sarah Eyre, James Fisher, Rob Dunne, Tom O'Grady, Christine Flannery, Mark Haig, Fiona Collins and Adam Barker.
The work interpreted included poems by Simon Armitage, Joolz Denby, David Constantine, Gaia Holmes, Helen Clare, Ed Barton, Shamshad Khan, Julian Daniel, Mike Garry, Segun Lee-French, Rebecca Goss and Eleanor Rees.

For an example of a past challenge click here

Stage 2 of the project will be to select a handful of filmmakers from the film-poem projects to work towards a small number of adaptations of short stories from various publications including The Book of Leeds, The Book of Liverpool, and Phobic. For enquires about any of these projects, email ra.page@commapress.co.uk

'Desires'

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes
Since first being commissioned in October 06, as part of Comma's first ever screening, 'Desires' has been shown at Birds Eye View (London, March 07), and was selected as part of their 'Best of BEV' showcase which took Kate and the film to the following international festivals: Film de Femme (Paris, March 07), Britspotting (Berlin, April 07) and St John's International Film Festival (Canada, Oct 07).
Link to YouTube page
More of Kate's films here: www.katejessop.co.uk

'Video Kid'

Directed by Charlotte Caetano
Based on a poem by Chris Woods.
Link to YouTube page

'Heart Wrap'

Directed by Lisa Risbec
Based on a poem by Shamshad Khan.
Link to YouTube page

'Claustrophobia'

Directed by Charlotte Caetano
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes.
Link to YouTube page

'Burger Man'

Directed by Sharon Keighley
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes.
Link to YouTube page

'Archaeology'

Directed by Lisa Risbec
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes.
Link to YouTube page

'Nothing'

Directed by Christine Flannery
Based on a poem by John Cooper Clark.
Link to YouTube page

OTHER POEM FILMS PRODUCED SO FAR:

Reverse Charge

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a poem by Simon Armitage

Role-Playing

Directed by Scott Davenport
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes

I Have Become a Stranger to My House

Directed by Gwendolen Osmond
Based on a poem by Helen Clare

Square Pears, Rare Bears

Directed by Sharon Keighley
Based on a poem by Ed Barton

Metformin

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a poem by Helen Clare

Holy Medal

Directed by Fiona Collins
Based on a poem by Joolz Denby

The Basement

Directed by Christine Flannery
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes

Beans

Directed by Sharon Keighley
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes

Bad Leg

Directed by Scott Davenport
Based on a poem by Ed Barton

Streets

Directed by Sarah Eyre & James Fisher
Based on a poem by David Constantine

When the Telescope Came

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a poem by Diana Syder

Images of War

Directed by Scott Davenport
Based on a poem by Chris Woods

Miles Platting Station

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a poem by Simon Armitage

Rain

Directed by Scott Davenport
Based on a poem by Segun Lee French

Waiting

Directed by Fiona Collins
Based on a poem by Julian Daniel

Exposure

Directed by Fiona Collins
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes

The Anatomy of Structures

Directed by Adam Barker
Based on a poem by Rebecca Goss

Flood

Directed by Tom O'Grady
Based on a poem by Eleanor Rees

Towers

Directed by Christine Flannery
Based on a poem by Rebecca Goss

Ham

Directed by Sharon Keighley
Based on a poem by Julian Daniel

The Basement

Directed by Christine Flannery
Based on a poem by Gaia Holmes

Pride

Directed by Charlotte Caetano
Based on a poem by Michelle Green

The Loss

Directed by Kate Jessop
Based on a short story by David Constantine

Violins and Pianos are Horses

Directed by Lisa Risbec
Based on a short story by CD Rose

Tell Me

Directed by Gwen Osmond
Based on a short story by Zoe Sharp

The Wife and the Waitress

Directed by Scott Davenport
Based on a short story by Alice Kuipers

The Dogs

Directed by Caleb Shaffer
Based on a short story by Hanif Kureishi

Five Miles Out

Directed by Andrew Haigh
Based on a short story by Sarah Tierney

Market Forces

A short story reading by Shamshad Khan
Filmed by Tony White

Digging Deep

A short story reading by Ramsey Campbell
Filmed by Tony White