Swansea Bay Film Festival

The Swansea Bay Film Festival was a film festival that took place in Swansea, Wales. It was criticised for being poorly run, and participants said that they felt "duped" or "scammed".[1][2]

Festival mission

This is a festival that promises to "honour the individual voice".[3][4] Its goal is to provide a worldwide public forum for independent and experimental film makers and to offer educational outreach.[4] The Swansea Bay Film Festival is a qualifying festival for the British Independent Film Awards.[4][5] The Academy of Media, Recording, Interactive, Television and Stage Arts (AMRITSA) are organising the event and the festival's "Special Selection Committee" will comprise seasoned filmmakers, representatives from The City and County of Swansea, The Dylan Thomas Centre, and The Department of Adult and Continuing Education at Swansea University.[4][6]

Critical response

  • Director Michael Attardi says, "The Swansea Film Festival is better than Cannes."*[7] On the other hand, the festival has been described by previous participants as "a sham"[8] and "the worst film festival.".[9] In June 2011 The Guardian headlined the Swansea Bay film festival as a 'disaster'.[2] Catherine Zeta-Jones has resigned[10] as patron of the Swansea Bay Film Festival and Michael Sheen has resigned as vice president following criticism of the festival.Festival organiser Binda Singh has been singled out for the most criticism.

Winners

2010 - main categories

  • Best International Documentary:From Ararat to Zion (Armenia)- Edgar Baghdasaryan and Fr Mesrop Aramian
  • Best International Feature Film: Carmilla Hyde (Australia) - Dave De Vries
  • Best International Environment and Ecological Film: Poison Wind (USA) - Jenny Pond
  • Best in the Festival: Shooter (UK) - Ronnie Goodwin

2009 - main categories

  • Best Documentary: War of the Gods (USA) - Jennifer Abbott
  • Best International Feature Film: Blue Bus (USA) - Phil Scarpaci
  • Best Feature Film: Gods of Circumstance (USA ) - Justin Golding
  • Best in Festival: Jackson (USA) - JF Lawton

2008 - main categories

  • Best International Short Film: Appassionata (Germany) - Mirko Echghi-Ghamsari

2006 - main categories

  • Best Feature Film: Footsteps (UK) - Gareth Evans
  • Best Feature Film Under 75 Minutes - Teenage Wasteland (UK) - Andrew Jones (filmmaker)
  • Best Short Film (Under 20 Mins) : Tomorrow Never Dais (UK) - Anthony James
  • Best Noir: The Girl the Gun & the Desert (UK) - Alun D Pughe

References

  1. ↑ "Is Swansea scamming international film-makers?".
  2. 1 2 https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jun/27/swansea-bay-film-festival-disaster
  3. ↑ bbc.co.uk, May 29, 2008, "Swansea Film Festival:, Retrieved September 26, 2009
  4. 1 2 3 4 by Binda Singh, festivalfocus.org, Swansea Bay Film Festival information, Retrieved September 26, 2008
  5. ↑
    • "Film festival's top of the world". South Wales Evening Post. May 25, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  6. ↑ amritsa.com, website of The Academy of Media, Recording, Interactive, Television and Stage Arts (AMRITSA), Retrieved September 26, 2008
  7. ↑ "Anything Cannes can do we can do ... closer.(News)". Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales). June 15, 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
  8. ↑ http://www.montereyherald.com/marccabrera/ci_15238957
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf6f6cIKvCQ
  10. ↑ Wales Online Report
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