Film4 Picks Up nine BAFTA Awards

9 February 2009

Film4's spectacular awards season success continues after scooping an impressive nine awards at last night's BAFTAs including Best Film and Director for Danny Boyle's Film4 funded Slumdog Millionaire, Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh's In Bruges and The Carl Foreman Award For Special Achievement By A British Director, Writer Or Producer For Their First Feature Film for Steve McQueen's Hunger.

Tessa Ross, Controller of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama said:

"It is wonderful that the BAFTAs have recognised and rewarded so many British films this year - it's an incredibly exciting time for the UK film industry. Film has always been core to Channel 4's DNA and I can only hope as the Channel's future is debated the value of Film4's contribution to the landscape of British film is acknowledged and protected. At Film4 our mission is to support and develop new and established talent and we are thrilled that they are being celebrated on a global scale. Creatively it's important to take risks and to strive to achieve something exceptional and when those risks pay off it is immensely gratifying."

Slumdog Millionaire picked up a total of seven awards including Adapted Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy's script based on the novel Q&A and Music for A. R. Rahman's original score.

Slumdog Millionaire, which was originally optioned and developed by Film4 and subsequently co-financed with Celador, has already picked up 10 Oscar nominations and four Golden Globes, and has held the no.1 slot at the UK box office for the past four weeks taking over £15 million.

Film4 co-funded In Bruges won one award for Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh's script.

Steve McQueen's Hunger, an original C4/Film4 co-commissioned by Jan Younghusband in Channel 4 Arts and Peter Carlton at Film4 and which took Cannes by storm last year, picked up one award - The Carl Foreman Award For Special Achievement By A British Director, Writer Or Producer For Their First Feature Film.

The full details of nominations are as follows:

• Best Film - Slumdog Millionaire - Christian Colson
• Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
• Director - Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle
• Original Screenplay - In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
• The Carl Foreman Award - Hunger - Steve McQueen
• Music - Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman
• Sound - Slumdog Millionaire - Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp
• Editing - Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens
• Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle

For more information visit www.channel4.com/film

 Notes to editors:

 About Film4

Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television's feature film division. The company develops and co-finances film productions and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established.

Film4's most recent releases include Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire; Steve McQueen's Cannes award-winning Hunger; Bob Weide's How To Lose Friends and Alienate People; Martin McDonagh's In Bruges; Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, which won a Golden Globe for actress Sally Hawkins following her Silver Bear at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival; Sarah Gavron's Brick Lane; Anand Tucker's And When Did You Last See Your Father?; Chris Waitt's Complete History of My Sexual Failures and Olly Blackburn's Donkey Punch. Up and coming Film4 projects include Michael Winterbottom's Genova; Fabrice de Welz's Vinyan; Mark Tonderai's Hush; Duane Hopkins' Better Things; Alexis Dos Santos' Unmade Beds; Gerald McMorrow's Franklyn; Ken Loach's Looking for Eric; Paul King's Bunny and the Bull; and Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.

Press contact: Debra Johnson at Taylor Herring PR

020 8206 5151 or 07930 333 932; debra.johnson@taylorherring.com