Film4 announces winners of Scene Stealers

24 August 2012

Scene Stealers - the jury

 

Film4.0 has announced the winners of Scene Stealers, its international talent search which tasked aspiring filmmakers to reimagine scenes from past Film4 productions in just two minutes or under.

The Brothers Lynch (Keith and David Lynch) have been announced as first prize winners  with their ‘steal' of a scene from Shane Meadows' This is England, which reimagines a visceral speech by Stephen Graham's skinhead Combo as a plausible piece of oratory by a right-wing politician. They win a £5000 development grant and mentoring from Film4.0 to develop an original short film project, alongside the winning film being shown on the Film4 channel, and ahead of the UK premiere of Lawless at Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House on Monday 27th August. (Watch it here: http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/england-scene-steal). 

Luke Aherne's Trainspotting 2018 (http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/trainspotting-2018) was named the best of the rest of the entries with a ‘steal' of Danny Boyle's seminal film, adeptly reworking the opening ‘Choose Life' speech to fit a society and a time where choice isn't necessarily available. Luke's film will also be played on the Film4 channel and at Film4 Summer Screen on Monday.

Due to the high standard of entries, the jury created a Special Jury Prize, which goes to Ross Johnston's ‘steal' from Shane Meadows' Dead Man's Shoes, an interpretation of the scene filled with tension and imagination. (http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/dead-mans-shoes-1)

The Jury also made special mentions of Stefan Davis' Attack the Block 2: War of Shadows, Simon Glass's Dogspotting, Darryll McGowan's Dead Man's Shoes: A Tale of Revenge, Andromeda Godfrey's A Stolen Scene of Elizabethan Proportions and Simon Jago's Attack the Block - Movie Maniacs.

The winners were selected by a jury of filmmakers and industry execs: BAFTA-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, BAFTA-nominated filmmakers Lone Scherfig and Joe Cornish, film journalist and critic Charles Gant, Film4 Channel Editor David Cox and Film4.0 Commissioning Executive Anna Higgs.

Scene Stealers was launched by Film4.0 Commissioning Executive Anna Higgs as one of the first initiatives under the Film4.0 banner, with the aim of discovering brilliant new untapped talent. 

Anna says: "I was hoping that we'd find some gems by looking for talent in this brand new way for Film4, but I've been totally bowled over by the incredible response and the standard of entries to Scene Stealers.  The flair, invention and creativity that poured in from every corner of the UK and around the world has been simply amazing, and is a real testament to the strength and diversity of grass-roots filmmaking.  Huge congratulations to our winners, I can't wait to work with them - and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more from all our filmmakers in the future."

Scene Stealers received almost 500 entries, with iconic moments reimagined from a wide variety of Film4 productions including Sexy Beast, The Iron Lady, In Bruges, Attack the Block, Looking for Eric, Dead Man's Shoes, Trainspotting, 127 Hours, Kill List, The Last King of Scotland, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, The Crying Game and Rita Sue and Bob Too.

UK WINNER
This Is England (Scene Steal) / The Brothers Lynch
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/england-scene-steal
The jury said: "Meadows writes dialogue rooted in character, culture and situation - his characters are not mere mouthpieces for clunky speechifying - but it's impressive how the filmmakers here have taken a piece of rhetoric by Steven Graham's Combo, and made it work as a plausible piece of xenophobic oratory by a right-wing politician. But maybe this is a comment on all political discourse: how much is success about vision and leadership, and how much is it about repackaging the electorate's fundamental prejudices? And there's a lot more going on than that in this film. This is an ambitious, multi-layered work that is also impressively highly achieved."

INTERNATIONAL WINNER
Trainspotting 2018 / Luke Aherne
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/trainspotting-2018
The jury said: "This film may be smaller in production scale and cast of characters than many of its competitors, but is testament to the power of a strong single idea, well-executed. This film has something to say, and it doesn't pull its punches. It reminds us that, two decades after Irvine Welsh wrote Trainspotting, even the soulless, diminished life of starter homes and hire purchase furniture that Renton and Co reject is no longer, for many, an attainable goal. This famous piece of narration was predictably a popular choice for the scene stealers, but this filmmaker takes it in a new direction, revising it and imbuing it with new meaning. By subtracting the antic energy, and replacing Welsh's jokey anti-consumerist satire with something much more disquieting, a quiet rage, the film forces us to reconsider the text for a present and future time."

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Dead Man's Shoes / Ross Johnston
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/dead-mans-shoes-1
The jury praised this film for "immediately engaging the audience with its dramatic tension and intense, low key acting."

SPECIAL MENTIONS
Attack the Block 2 (War of Shadows) / Stefan Davis
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/attack-block-2-war-shadows
The jury said: "Stefan Davis's entry stood out because it's done with so much style and commitment. Instead of copying a scene from the film, it does a great job of replicating the atmosphere, then builds on the story, imagining how Moses' character might develop in a sequel. It's really well done with limited resources - great sound, a strong sense of character driving the story, and a great solo lead performance, all building up to a cool reveal."

 

Dogspotting / Simon Glass
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/dogspotting-0
The jury gave a special mention to Dogspotting: "For the team doing such a good parody of Trainspotting with a religious twist. A lot of hard work has gone into the casting, using what appear to be the same locations, everything right down to the title sequence / poster at the end."

Dead Man's Shoes A Tale Of Revenge / Darryll McGowan
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/dead-mans-shoes-tale-revenge
The jury gave a special mention to this entry: "For the skill of telling the story through the use of close up shots, the excellent use of sound, the editing and for telling a story without dialogue."

A Stolen Scene of Elizabethan Proportions / Andromeda Godfrey
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/stolen-scene-elizabethan-proportions
A special mention to this entry was given "for its wit and original, unpretentious idea"

Attack the Block - Movie Maniacs / Simon Jago
http://scenestealers.film4.com/entry/attack-block-movie-maniacs
The jury said: “This tongue-in-cheek take on Attack the Block was a really enjoyable, well put together piece of comedy which also put a huge amount of effort into the whole feel of the film, with effects and soundtrack very much taking great inspiration from the original.”

 

Editor's Notes

Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television's feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established. Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, films like Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire  and 127 Hours, Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, Steve McQueen's Hunger and Shame, Mike Leigh's Another Year, Chris Morris' Four Lions , Richard Ayoade's Submarine,  Joe Cornish's directorial debut Attack The Block , Lone Scherfig's One Day, Ben Wheatley's Kill List, and Paddy Considine's debut feature Tyrannosaur.
Recent releases include, Ben Palmer's The Inbetweeners Movie,  Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea, Carol Morley's Dreams of a Life, Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, Steve McQueen's Shame  and Pawel Pawlikowski's The Woman In The Fifth.

Forthcoming releases include Bart Layton's The Imposter, Sophie Fiennes' The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, Walter Salles' On The Road, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio, Roger Michell's Hyde Park on Hudson, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, Ben Wheatley's Sightseers, Martin McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths , Danny Boyle's Trance  and Michael Winterbottom's Untitled Paul Raymond Story (working title).

In 2011 Film4 launched its pioneering role in exploring innovation in filmmaking with the appointment of Anna Higgs as Head of Film4.0.   Film4.0 is a talent and idea driven hub within Film4 that works with emerging and established talent, supporting them to tell unique stories and connect with audiences in new ways.

For further information visit www.film4.com/productions
@Film4Insider