Events (Week Commencing 6 February)
1. THE BAIRD LECTURES 2023 – WILL TROTTER AND ADRIAN LESTER
RTS is delighted to announce that both Baird Medal recipients from last year’s RTS Midlands Awards will be taking part in our next Baird Lecture.
Esteemed Executive Producer Will Trotter will give a fascinating insight into the world of TV Drama produced in the Midlands and talk about his life developing such favourites as Land Girls, Doctors, Father Brown and Sister Boniface Mysteries and share his life behind the scenes.
Birmingham born actor, writer and director Adrian Lester CBE will tell about his life on screen and on stage. His performances include Trauma, Trigger Point, The Hustle, Riviera and many others.
Hosted by BBC Radio’s Nikki Bedi, this exciting event will take place at The MAC in Birmingham on Thursday 16th February from 6pm until 9pm.
Find more about the event HERE
2. FIXING THE SKILLS SHORTAGE: RECRUITING FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY
Tuesday, 21 February, 2023; 1pm – 2pm
Skills shortages are pressing across the economy, but are particularly acute in the creative industries.
In recent years these industries have delivered more economic value than the life sciences, aerospace and automotive sectors combined. But skills are currently the biggest single inhibitor to growth (Seetha Kumar, ScreenSkills)
The industry has the tricky challenge of developing a coherent and compelling narrative for both government and potential entrants to the many possible careers. The situation is multi-faceted, with hundreds of data points: this session will address issues such as what is happening in education, where are the mid-tier scarcities, and how should the industry address churn in some of the most vulnerable areas?.
Chaired by the Founder of Talented People, Kimberly Godbolt.
Panel:
- Seetha Kumar – Chief Executive, Screen Skills
- Kevin Blacoe – Head of Partnerships, C4 Skills
Register for the event HERE
3. Preview: Joyland
Location: Rich Mix, Date & time: Wed 15 Feb, 5:45pm
Set in bustling Lahore, the Ranas are, on the surface, a functional, patriarchal family.
The household is made up of Abbas, the elderly father, the older brother, Saleem and his wife Nucchi, and younger brother Haider and his wife Mumtaz. Much to the embarrassment of his traditional father, Haider is the one in his relationship who stays at home, whilst Mumtaz goes to work at the salon every day at a job that she loves. When Haider gets a job in an erotic theatre as a backup dancer for trans starlet, Biba, and starts secretly dating her, everything changes, and the cracks that have always been there, tear the family apart.
A THOUGHTFUL, WELL PERFORMED AND ENGROSSING DRAMA – DEADLINE
SADIQ’S DEBUT IMPRESSES WITH ITS SENSITIVE STORYTELLING AND VIBRANT VISUALS – VARIETY
This film is distributed by Studio Soho.
Book your tickets for ‘Joyland’ HERE
4. Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2023
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme marks its 20th edition with a celebration of Japanese cinema across the last 20 years – from much-loved masterpieces from the recent past to just-released future classics.
The theme for this year’s Touring Film Programme is The Evolution of Japanese Cinema Where has Japanese filmmaking come from? Where does it sit in today’s cinema world? And where might Japanese filmmakers head next? From veteran directors to new and emerging talent, the season features some the finest cinematic works to emerge from Japan since the first Touring Film Programme in 2004.
The Japan Foundation was founded in 1972 to promote international cultural exchange between Japan and the rest of the world, by organising projects and providing financial support through grant programmes in arts and culture, Japanese language and Japanese studies. Based in Tokyo, it has offices and centres in 24 countries worldwide.
Find more about it HERE
5. Underscore Studios x BFI
February 11th 2023 | 1pm to 3pm at Rio Cinema London
Join Underscore Studios for an electrifying and meaningful event that celebrates the works and narratives of UK-based working-class filmmakers. Underscore Cinema features a diverse selection of short films handpicked to provide an exciting and thought-provoking experience, culminating in a panel discussion with the filmmakers.
Get your tickets HERE
6. Poetic Justice 30th Anniversary Screening
Thursday 16 Feb, 6:00pm at Prince Charles Cinema
Join Prince Charles for a special 30th-anniversary screening of Poetic Justice. Written and directed by John Singleton and starring Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Regina King. Poetic Justice follows Justice, a poet mourning the loss of her boyfriend from gun violence, who goes on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland on a mail truck along with her friend and a postal worker who she initially cannot stand but soon helps Justice deal with her depression.
Get your tickets HERE
7. BFI FUTURE FILM FESTIVAL
16 to 19 February 2023
The BFI Future Film Festival is the UK’s largest festival for young, emerging filmmakers. The festival runs across four days with events and screenings taking place both online and in-venue at the BFI Southbank, all of which are focused on helping talented young filmmakers aged 16 to 25 to break into the film and screen industries.
The festival programme consists of Industry Events, Hotspots, Film Screenings and other events.
Get your tickets HERE
8. Masterclass: Authenticity in Games Narratives organised by BAFTA
Wednesday, 22 February 2023 – 7:00pm
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EU
Princess Anne Theatre
Join this masterclass panel with Jon Ingold and Corey Brotherson, as they breakdown scenes in their games with host Shay Thompson and share insights on the narratives they’ve worked on from Heaven’s Vault to Windrush Tales.
Audiences will learn how the writers have explored telling stories which break the mould in terms of representation with their settings and/or characters – and how they ensured authenticity when doing so.
Together, they will discuss what other works inspired them, the research they understood or relied on, and who they collaborated with.
Host
Shay Thompson is a presenter and journalist, specialising in entertainment and video games. A well respected member of the games industry, Shay is often sought out for various broadcast productions and has worked with Bafta, McLaren, Xbox, MusicWeek Magazine, BBC, Ubisoft and other brands. In addition to this, Shay has also appeared in advertising campaigns for Nintendo and Logitech.
Panelists
Jon Ingold is the co-founder of inkle, a multi-award winning independent studio making narrative games, notably 80 Days, Overboard! and Heaven’s Vault. Their writer-friendly scripting language for interactive fiction, ink, and his talks on dialogue construction and responsive narrative design are used in universities and studios worldwide. He’s won the Writer’s Guild award for Best Writing in a Videogame three times.
Corey Brotherson is an award-winning Writer, Editor and Creative Consultant who has built a 22-year career in the videogames industry, writing for over a dozen companies, including PlayStation, King and Apple. He is the co-creator and Narrative Designer/Writer for the in-development Windrush Tales, and worked as Lead Narrative Designer for Silver Rain Games on a currently unannounced EA Originals title.
Running time:
Approx. 1 hour 15 minutes
Accessibility
BAFTA is an arts charity that is open and welcoming to everyone. This means we want every visit to BAFTA 195 Piccadilly to be as enjoyable and comfortable as possible.
Get your tickets HERE
9. BAFTA Screening + Q&A – Phoenix Rise
Saturday, 4 March 2023 – 2:30pm
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EU
Princess Anne Theatre – Unallocated Seating
Join the creators and cast of BBC’s new drama, Phoenix Rise, which follows a diverse group of teens taking their first tentative steps back into mainstream education after being excluded.
Following a screening of two x 30 minute episodes, BBC Radio 1Xtra host, Nadia Jae, joins creators and lead writers Perrie Balthazar (Bad Sisters, Coronation Street, Ackley Bridge) and Matt Evans (EastEnders, Riviera, A Discovery of Witches) to discuss their new drama set in a West Midlands school. Perrie and Matt will be joined by BBC Commissioning Editor Amy Buscombe, and cast members.
Phoenix Rise is a bold, new school drama series that champions the underdog. This coming-of-age series follows six students who form an unbreakable bond as they navigate the trials and tribulations of school life. For them school becomes a hopeful place, a chance to finally right the wrongs of the past as they strive to find their place in the world.
Phoenix Rise will be released on BBC iPlayer in March. Developed by BBC’s Kids & Family Scripted Development Team and produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions.
Advisory age: 10+
Register for your ticket HERE
10. Subject + Q&A with directors Camilla Hall and Jennifer Tiexiera, and contributor Margaret Ratliff
A thought-provoking dive into the ethics and potential exploitations behind documentary filmmaking.
Friday 17 February 2023 18:10, NFT1 at BFI Southbank
The advent of streaming has seemingly ushered in a golden era for documentaries. But what happens to the subjects of these documentaries after the camera stops rolling? What responsibilities do filmmakers have towards the people whose stories they tell? This insightful film unpacks and examines the experience of documentary participants through interviews with several famous figures of the genre, including The Wolfpack’s Mukunda Angulo, Hoop Dreams’ Arthur Agee, and The Staircase’s Margaret Ratliff.
Get your tickets HERE