Nominations for THE QUEEN & I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE

THE QUEEN leads the nominations for British Independent Film Awards; I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ALONE wins two nominations at the Golden Horse Awards.

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) announced their nominees on Wednesday at Soho House. In its ninth year, the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) has established itself as one of the most important awards ceremonies in the British film industry and is regarded as a kick-off to the Awards Season. The BIFA 2006 will take place on Wednesday November 29th in Central London.

The highly-anticipated THE QUEEN leads the nominations race in all the leading categories such as BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM, BEST DIRECTOR (Stephen Frears), BEST ACTRESS (Helen Mirren), BEST SCREENPLAY and two nominations for BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT (for Make-Up and for Production Design). Dame Helen Mirren will also receive THE VARIETY UK PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR during the BIFA ceremony for her lead role in THE QUEEN.

Directed by award-winning director Stephen Frears and starring Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN focuses on Queen Elisabeth II (Helen Mirren) and her dealing of the immediate aftermath of the tragic death of Princess Diana. In cinemas in Singapore on January 4th.

On another note, at the 43rd Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan, I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE, directed by Taiwanese master Tsai Ming Liang and shot on location in Kuala Lumpur, has received nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Perlly Chua) and Best Sound effect. I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE will be released in Singapore in 2007.

Link /source: http://www.bifa.org.uk/
& http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/gh_main/gh-e-5.aspx

The Queen: http://www.thequeen-movie.com/
& http://www.thequeenmovie.co.uk/

The 43rd Golden Horse Award Competition Nominees

Best Feature Film

Crazy Stone
Exiled
Silk
Perhaps Love
After This Our Exile

Best Director
NING Hao ( Crazy Stone )
Johnnie TO ( Exiled )
SU Chao Pin ( Silk )
Peter CHAN Ho Sun ( Perhaps Love )

Best Leading Actor
Sam LEE ( Dog Bite Dog )
Francis NG ( Wo Hu )
KWOK Fu Shing ( After This Our Exile )
CHANG Chen ( The Go Master )

Best Leading Actress
SIQIN Gaowa ( The Postmodern Life of My Aunt )
LEE Sinje ( Re-cycle )
ZHOU Xun ( Perhaps Love )
Carina LAU ( Curiosity Kills The Cat )

Best Supporting Actor
Chapman TO ( Moonlight in Tokyo )
WU Zhong Tian ( The Touch of Fate )
GOUM Ian Iskandar ( After This Our Exile )
Joseph CHANG ( Eternal Summer )

Best Supporting Actress
Amy CHUM ( My Mother Is A Belly Dancer )
ZHAO Wei ( The Postmodern Life of My Aunt )
Nikki SHIE ( Reflections )
Pearlly CHUA ( I Don't Want To Sleep Alone )

Best New Performer
WU Zhong Tian ( The Touch of Fate )
Goum Ian Iskandar ( After This Our Exile )
Bryant CHANG ( Eternal Summer )
Joseph CHANG ( Eternal Summer )

Best Original Screenplay
NING Hao ( Crazy Stone )
SU Chao Pin ( Silk )
PAN Zhi Yuan, LIU Hsueh Jung ( The Touch of Fate )
TAM Ka Ming, TIAN Koi Leong ( After This Our Exile )

Best Screenplay Adaption
NING Dai, ZHANG Yuan ( Little Red Flowers )
LI Qiang ( The Postmodern Life of My Aunt )
Edmond WONG ( Dragon Tiger Gate )

Best Cinematography
ZHANG Li ( The Banquet )
Peter PAU ( Perhaps Love )
Mark LEE Ping Bing ( After This Our Exile )
WANG Yu ( The Go Master )

Best Visual Effects
NG Yuen Fai ( Re-cycle )
FOO Sing Choong ( Silk )
HO Siu Lun, Pornpol Sakarin ( Perhaps Love )
Eddy WONG, Victor WONG ( A Chinese Tall Story )

Best Art Direction
Tim YIP ( The Banquet )
Narongchai Aunn-Jai ( Re-cycle )
YEE Chung Man, Pater WONG ( Perhaps Love )
Emi Wada, Etsuko Aikou ( The Go Master )

Best Makeup & Costume Design
Tim YIP ( The Banquet )
YEE Chung Man, Dora NG ( Perhaps Love )
TAM Ka Ming, TU Hsu Chung ( After This Our Exile )
Emi Wada ( The Go Master )

Best Action Choreography
LING Chun Pong, WONG Chi Wai ( Exiled )
Donnie YEN ( Dragon Tiger Gate )
Stephen TUNG, Farah KHAN ( Perhaps Love )
YUAN Woo Ping ( Huo Yuan Jia )

Best Original Film Score
TAN Dun ( The Banquet )
Peter KAM ( Silk )
Peter KAM, Leon KO ( Perhaps Love )
LIM Giong ( Do Over )

Best Original Film Song
Longing in Silence ( The Banquet)
Crossroad ( Perhaps Love)
Urge ( Reflections)
Eternal Summer ( Eternal Summer)

Best Film Editing
DU Yuan ( Crazy Stone )
David Richardson ( Exiled )
Wenders LI, KONG Chi Leung(HKSE) ( Perhaps Love )
CHEN Po Wen ( Do Over )

Best Sound Effect
Jadet Chawang ( Re-cycle )
Kinson TSANG ( Perhaps Love )
TU Du Chi,GUO Li Chi,KE Yi Jun ( Amour- Legende )
TU Duu Chih, TANG Shiang Chu ( I Don't Want To Sleep Alone )

Confession Of Pain ~ Press Release from Hong Kong (25 Oct'06)

Media Asia Films’ HK$80m Christmas outing “Confession of Pain” will receive a pan-Asian release in mid-December. The film launched its promotional tour yesterday with a major press conference in Hangzhou. The two female leads, Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei, were present along with the directing duo Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. The two leading men were unfortunately absent because of schedule conflicts.

Xu is a renowned intellect in China, and she is pleasantly surprised to know that she and Shu Qi have the same birthday. This exhilarates Shu because she has been an avid admirer of Xu, yet they didn't share a single scene together in this film. Xu also likes her co-star and believe they both share the same personality traits.

Although the two male stars were absent, it certainly didn’t stop the press from talking about them. When being asked about the sizzling scene between Takeshi Kaneshiro and her, Shu Qi revealed a grin. “Actually, these scenes were not intimate at all. We just held hands, kissed and slept together. It's nothing special.”

Xu was more elaborate on the impressions with the male counterparts. “Takeshi is really handsome! He looks great in whichever camera angle, and that is truly remarkable. But Tony Leung is magnificent. When he's in front of the camera, his eyes can reveal the story behind his character. He is undoubtedly a gifted actor, and he can stop anyone’s heartbeat with a single glance!"

Our CONFESSION OF PAIN movie page

DEATH NOTE Tops Local Box Office

DEATH NOTE, the film adaptation of the popular Japanese manga of the same name, took the number one box office spot in Singapore last weekend. The movie grossed a total of SGD $ 495, 560 and attracted 54,133 moviegoers since its release last Thursday, on 25 screens throughout Singapore.

Together with its sneaks from October 13 to 15, the current box office (as at Sunday, October 21) amounted to SGD $ 626,168 with a total admission of 67,881. This is the first Japanese film to garner such positive results in since 2003. Golden Village Pictures and Encore Films are confident that DEATH NOTE will continue to do well when it moves into the second week.

DEATH NOTE tells the story of a gifted university student who possessed a special notebook, which was dropped by the God of Death.

The sequel, DEATH NOTE 2 the Last name, will be released in Japan and Hong Kong next Friday, November 3. Lead actors Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light), Ken'ichi Matsuyama (L) and Erika Toda (Misa) will be gracing the gala premiere in Hong Kong this Saturday, October 28.

DEATH NOTE 2 the Last name is set to open in Singapore on December 28, 2006.

Source: Golden Village Pictures and Encore Films

Movie Talent Search for Kelvin Tong's Men In White

InnoForm Media and Crocodile International are proud to announce a talent search contest for Kelvin Tong's upcoming movie Men in White. The talent search contest, I Want To Be A Movie Star is organized by clothing apparel giant Crocodile International, a partner in this movie project and initiated by InnoForm Media & Boku Films. This talent search contest hopes to uncover acting talents in Singapore and give these talents a chance to star in a movie.

The talent search is open to all male Singaporeans and permanent residents aged between 18 to 29 years. The closing date is 3rd November and the finals will be held on 18th November. This movie is on the lookout for a male contestant who will possibly get to star a lead role in Kelvin Tong's Men in White.

Interested candidates can submit their particulars and photos to the organisers via email to moviestar@cicrocodile.com or mail to:

"I Want To Be A Movie Star"
Crocodile International
3 Ubi Road Ave 3
#07-00 Crocodile House
Singapore 408857

The candidate cannot be represented by a talent agency or have an existing talent contract and must appear in a Crocodile shirt or outfit in the photo.

Lim Teck, General Manager of InnoForm Media says, "This is a great start to launch our exciting movie. We believe there are many potential candidates in Singapore who have the makings of a movie star. If there is a right fit, we will look into grooming and paving the way for him in the movie industry.

Terence Ang, Head of Marcom, Crocodile International says, "Being a homegrown brand, we believe in nurturing and giving opportunities to individual Singaporeans to jump start their career in any form of Arts scene. With presence in more than 10 Asia countries, Crocodile will provide a good platform for the selected candidate to gain international exposure."

Kelvin Tong, director of Men in White says, "The Singapore film industry is growing rapidly and we need our own Tony Leungs, Andy Laus and Tom Cruises. This talent search is a clarion call for all those who believe they can light up the big screen to step forward and be a part of Singapore cinema."

Men in White talks about four Singaporeans who die on the same day and find themselves back on the streets as clueless ghosts. This movie is scheduled to start production in December this year.