We kicked off in style with a preview screening of Men Who Stare at Goats on November 3rd 2009. As a precursor to the main festival and a major coup, we secured a regional premiere of Men Who Stare At Goats, a new film from the book by British journalist Jon Ronson that stars George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. We were thrilled to welcome the film’s screenwriter Peter Straughan as our very special guest along with Jon Ronson & Luke Alkin.

Straughan is fast becoming one of the hottest screenwriting talents in the world, not bad for a lad from Gateshead! The evening, hosted by Ian Fenton, Director of Story Engine, explored adapting Ronson’s book for the big screen and Peter's personal journey from Gateshead to Hollywood. After the screening the audience shared thoughts about the stories behind the film and the paranormal world. Fireside chat Even though 260 people joined us for our special event it felt like eavesdropping on a fireside chat between long lost friends. Peter Straughan and Jon Ronson obviously work brilliantly together and were a joy to listen to. Luke shared his insights into the trials and tribulations of getting development money for "without any doubt the best script around" and they told us a few tales about characters in Hollywood, the military and paranormal circles.

The packed audience included paranormal and military experts as well as cinema lovers, Clooney swooners, film buffs and Ronson fans who shared their thoughts with us after the event. Missed the fun but want to join in? You can download your own goat mask tell us your paranormal stories on our facebook page and check out the much talked about script (watch out for more events as they unfold)

MAIN FESTIVAL MARCH 20TH - 28TH 2010

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while but I have been writing the first draft of my script, CONCRETE CAT. It's been wonderfully rewarding and gruelling at the same time. Six weeks of writing four days a week [still have the part time job]. Hardly had time to watch all the BAFTA screeners that were being sent out at the same time - though I had a marathon watch on Christmas and Boxing day. Love AVATAR ( I'm a total Cameron fan), also thought SKIN and BRONSON were amazing. Anyone seen JOHNNY MAD DOG? It's brilliant too! Why haven't the distributors released it even though it was in the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL?

Kate had some notes which were helpful for anyone writing a first draft: 1]Just tell the story. Don't get blogged down with details at this point. 2] Don't re-write until you come to the end of the draft. (Apparently a lot of writers get stuck re-writing Acts 1 or 2 and find it difficult to get to Act 3.) Well, I have just kept writing even if I thought a scene was shit, resisting the temptation to re-jig it till I had put the words THE END on my first draft. Yep! I felt it was crap when I wrote those words, but after I'd finished and read through it, I felt many of the scenes have great potential and I can't wait for Kate's feed back on the 19th so I can start re-writing. Until then I have the joys of filling out my tax return! Ugh!

Happy New Year.

Deola.xxx

Northern Stars young filmmaker’s academy for the region’s most committed and talented 15-18 year-olds who are truly passionate about filmmaking, supported by Tyneside Cinema, Yipp Films and Northern Lights Film Festival. If you love film and think you might have the talent to work in the industry one day, then Northern Stars is a unique training opportunity that will give you the chance to meet and work with the very best film professionals and prove that you’ve got what it takes. Northern Stars will give you practical experience, so you know exactly what it’s like to work in all aspects of filmmaking from scriptwriting and casting to directing and editing in a creative environment. The academy will develop your skills through evening and weekend workshops, an intensive training programme and project opportunities.

Deadline - December 16th 2009

For more information click here

As part of our "igniting ideas" and crossing boundaries experiments Northern Lights are loving working with Semiconductor & AV Festival on their gorgeous new work heliocentric. the work tracks the big northern light (the sun) as it orbits the earth with beautiful effect. We cant wait to see this stunning work which is a technological achievement and will challenge our view of the earth.

Many thanks,

Hayley

 even though 260 people joined us for our special event it felt like a fireside chat between long lost friends that we had a special ticket to eavesdrop on. Peter Straughan and Jon Ronson obviously work brilliantly together and were a joy to listen to. Luke shared his insights into the trials and tribulations of getting development money for "without any doubt the best script around" and they told us a few tales about characters in hollywood, the military and paranormal circles. Missing them already.

get your own goat mask and tell us your goat stories on our facebook page

NLFF 08 reached its climax last week with the announcement of the winners of the festival awards that audiences have voted for throughout the festival.

The NLFF 2008 Awards winners are:

Debut Feature Film Award
All of the debut feature films screened at NLFF 2008 were in competition for the Audience Award. This award for the best breakthrough film was judged by the festival audiences who were encouraged to 'rate' each film as they watched it.

We're delighted to announce that winning filmmaker was Director Amin Matalqa for Captain Abu Raed - the first feature film to come out of Jordan for fifty years! Star of the film Nadim Sawalha was at the event to accept the £5,000 cash prize on behalf of Matalqa.

New Script Development Award sponsored by Northern Film & Media All summer hopeful writers submitting script treatments to the first NLFF script prize. 85 entries were received from across the UK, with drama proving to be the most popular choice of genre (43). Both horror and thriller made it to double figures, comedy came up with six and there was a single western. The most popular story concerns were terror threats, identity theft, and atoning for past sins.

The winner of the NLFF Script Development Award was Deola Folarin with her drama THE CONCRETE CAT. Deola will now work with script editor Kate Leys for twelve months to develop her treatment into a feature screenplay. Throughout this period Deola will be keeping a blog about her experiences on the NLFF website so you can read all about her blood, sweat and tears at www.nlff.co.uk

The winning project was chosen by a panel that included screenwriters Peter Straughan (How To Lose Friends and Alienate People) and Michael Chaplin (Foyles War), BBC producer Ruth Caleb (Bullet Boy), author Richard T Kelly (Crusaders), and producer/director Patrick Collerton (The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off). The shortlisted projects were:

INCURSION by Louise Pennington
MY NAME IS FERDINAND by Simon Fellowes
RAZAK FACTOR by Conor Ibrahiem
THE NEW GIRL by Rachel Mathews
THE CONCRETE CAT by Deola Falorin

Deola said today:
"I am completely bowled over about winning the award and very excited at the prospect of working with Kate. THE CONCRETE CAT is a project that I am passionate about and that I have been researching for a while. I am really thrilled to be working on this, of all my projects, with someone of Kate's calibre.

All writers need first class editors and, as most are penniless, they cannot afford to hire one! This is just the type of award that should be given to more writers. I must also say that the glass statuette is so beautiful, I doubt I will ever receive one as lovely in appearance again - even should I ever win an Oscar!!"

Short Film Award
All of the short films in the NLFF International competition were eligible for this audience award. The winning short film was City of Cranes by Director Eva Weber... Eva received a cash prize of £1,000, plus 10 rolls of 16mm film, courtesy of Kodak.

Eva says:
"It was absolutely amazing to win the Short Film Award on Saturday - it's a wonderful prize and I still can't believe it and am so happy

I really enjoyed myself at NLFF 08, managed to see some amazing and met some great people - thank you so much for showing my film."

Graduation Award NLFF
One local graduation short had the opportunity to screen at the Closing Gala at BALTIC. The film unveiled on the night of the Awards was Gannin' Yem, by writer-director Ema Lea and producer Steve Martin who were present to accept the award.

Brian Gordon, NLFF Director said today:

"We would like to thank everyone who came and made this year's NLFF the best yet; for your support, for voting, and for all the feedback we've received, it's all welcome. We are extremely pleased by the positive response the 2008 NLFF garnered and look forward to taking next year's edition to even greater heights. We also salute our partners Culture10, Ipso Facto Films, the BALTIC, Side Cinema, and Star and Shadow Cinema; our funders and sponsors; and our wonderful, hard working volunteers - we couldn't have done it without them."

The NLFF Awards are supported by Gateshead Council.

David and Keith, along with producer Simon Thomas and director Brad Watson, joined four other finalists at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art with a final 15 minutes in which to sell their feature film, Different Shades of Graham.

A panel of industry experts including Clare Binns (Programming Director at City Screen), Brian Gordon (Director of The Northern Lights Film Festival) and Denise Parkinson, (Head of Film at Bauer Media) gave their verdicts but it has also been up to voting public to help decide who wins the £250,000 prize by voting for their favourite film online at www.the-big-pitch.com.

The evening - which was the closing gala of NLFF 08, was hosted by one of the most influential UK film cirtics, and Chair of The Critics Circle, Jason Solomons, who introduced the four finalists:

• Blackout, a dark neo-noir thriller directed by award-winning short film director Derek Boyes
• Different Shades of Graham, a non-linear psychological thriller where David T. Lynch, Keith Lynch and Brad Watson will share the directorial duties and each direct one of the three acts
• Til Jihad Do Us Part, a romantic comedy written by Shai Hussain that tells the story of Meena and her growing suspicions that her new fiancé may be a terrorist
• The Brightness, a satirical-comedy set in 2012 on the eve of the apocalypse, written and directed by Gary Reich

It was a tightly run contest, but Different Shades of Graham received the most votes and has won production finance from Moxie Makers for their film (minimum £150,000) together with a post-production deal with Molinare, guaranteed UK distribution with Soda Makers and international sales representation with Moxiehouse Entertainment.

The film will receive its red-carpet Gala Premiere as part of the Northern Lights Film Festival in 2009 all of which brings the total award to a staggering £250,000!

The Big Pitch forms part of NewcastleGateshead’s world-class programme of festivals and events in 2008 managed by culture10.

He extends his apologies to everyone involved

Jackie apologies for not being able to attend and hopes you enjoy the film

The competition was inspired by Año Uña’s unique format made entirely from photographic stills and was judged by Jonás Cuarón, writer & director; Eireann Harper, producer; Alfonso Cuarón, executive producer and director of Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245574/) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Chris Coen, UK distributor and producer of Funny Games US; Darius Khondji, cinematographer of Se7en, Evita, The Beach and Funny Games US; and Tom Munro, fashion photographer of Madonna’s Hard Candy.

Jonás Cuarón and Eireann Harper (producer and lead actress) will be interviewed by film writer and programmer Jason Wood at this special event.

See the blog

We're all working incredibly hard making sure that we update as regularly as possible and we hope to get content into your Podcast reader each day after some interviewing and then quick editing. We have an amazing team who are going to be the cogs in this engine and they will be working round the clock to make sure you can see what's happening.

If you'd like to find out more about the Podcast, or just watch the content online during the festival be sure to go to the Podcast page where there is more info.

The surprise? Sita Sings the Blues!

Sita is easily one of the most enjoyable films in the programme, and one of the funniest. It tells the sotry of Sita, an Indian goddess separated from her beloved Lord Rama (set in 'sometime' BC), and the interwoven tale of Nina, an American animator who moves to India to be with her husband, only to be dumped by e-mail (set in the here and now). The best parts are in between – when three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both the ancient tragedy and the modern comedy, squabbling and bickering over how the story goes. Sita Sings the Blues mixes a variety of different styles of animation to imaginative effect, and is set to a cracking 1920s score from jazz legend Annette Hanshaw. We think it's the perfect celebratory closing film, and hope you'll agree!

Sonita Sings the Blues has now been added to the features section of the website

We're also lining up a team Blog and a daily Podcast for during the festival so be sure to come back online to see what's new. There will be exclusive interviews from the people behind the films here at NLFF so it's definitely worth dropping by online sometime soon...

Check out the Profiles

VISIT THE NLFF 2008 PROGRAMME ONLINE

We can also reveal that the festival this year will be screening 1 International, 7 UK and 15 regional premieres in a programme that includes cutting edge drama, films focusing on topical issues, documentary, music film, short film, horror, family and a romantic comedy for good measure!

We are extending the deadline for applications from Friday 24th until lunchtime on Wed 29th of October.

The NLFF Script Development Package gives one writer the chance to work with an experienced feature film script editor for one year to develop their idea from treatment to first draft.

The winning treatment will be selected by a panel that includes screenwriter Peter Straughan, whose Men Who Stare At Goats is currently filming in the US with George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and Ewan MacGregor.

The developed script will be submitted to distributors and exhibitors, as well as production companies for input. These include Jason Wood, Programming Manager at City Screen Picturehouses.

For more information and an application form visit the Script Award Page

For queries contact: scriptaward@nlff.co.uk

Interested in screenwriting? Visit http://www.thestoryengine.com

Along with our revamped site and image, the Festival itself is transforming. You may be used to seeing the freshest films from Northern Europe coming alive on a cinema screen near you. And you will still get that, but we are expanding and are preparing to take on the world!

We have employed the services of some amazing new programmers who have been busy scouting the four corners of the World for the most groundbreaking and innovative work from the newest up and coming Directors, to bring back to the North East for your viewing pleasure.

For details on how the festival is accepting UK-wide submissions, and awarding a development package at the end of it, read on!

Over 2,000 people attended the festival weekend, details of which have now been archived on this site. The 6th Northern Lights looks set to return at the end of this year, complete with a new Artistic Director (could this be you?), the Big Pitch competition which was launched at NLFF 2007, and the latest short films from this years Northern Stars Young Persons’ Film Academy which kicked off at the beginning of this month.