Cream of Cornwall short films to be showcased at Channel 4

The latest creative talent and films to emerge from Cornwall will be showcased at ‘The Cream of Cornish Films’ in London on Wednesday June 28.
The interactive event, held at Channel 4, includes a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitching opportunity for writers to impress representatives from Channel 4, BBC Films and the UK Film Council, and a screening of some of the very best short films from Cornwall.
The screening includes some of the highlights from the Cornwall Film Festival, recent O-region competitions, and the four UK Film Council Digital Shorts filmed in Cornwall in 2005/6. Many of the shorts have a uniquely Cornish slant. ‘If the population of Cornwall was 100 toy soldiers’, directed by Laura Hardman, is a quirky take on the socio-economic profile of the county, and Mark Jenkin’s ‘and that’s how I accidentally managed to confuse the eco-mob’, an ironic approach to environmental issues. Others bring a Cornish perspective to international issues, such as Tom Eldridge’s Beyond Iraq, recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
Five budding scriptwriters from the Uprising scheme – Cornwall Films’ talent development scheme for low budget dramas – will take to the floor for three minutes each to pitch their script ideas to an eminent panel including Channel 4, the UK Film Council, the BBC and top talent agents ICM. Presenting ideas ranging from a comedy set in a single parent camping club to a tense rites of passage in an isolated estuary, all will be vying to catch the panellist’s imagination, glean those vital hints and tips and an insight into what it will take to catapult them onto the big screen.
To give the event a true flavour of Cornwall, Rodda’s Creamery, Boddington Berries Jam, and Prima Bakeries will be providing a classic Cornish cream tea – providing a chance for the Cornish writers, directors and producers attending the event to network with the wider film and TV industry.
Pippa Best, Project Director for Cornwall Film, said: “There is fantastic creative talent in Cornwall, and this is a chance for us to share their potential with a wider audience. This event really does put us in the limelight and rightly so, there is plenty for us to celebrate.”
(GB)