Orson Welles´ War of the Worlds

On 30 October 1938 - that's 69 years ago - Orson Welles dramatised the Martian invasion of Earth during an episode of his popular radio show. Many listeners believed the invasion was real, triggering a mass panic.

Adapting freely from H.G. Wells' science fiction novel War of the Worlds, Welles and his Mercury Theatre On the Air actors recast the story as a realistic sounding news broadcast.

Via Wired magazine.

New on Kamera: Malick

Fans of Terrence Malick's cinema, check out Sarah Manvel's review of Wallflower's title on the auteur, edited by Kamera Books' editor Hannah Patterson. We also have news on a festival in Bristol that is reviving the cinema of resistance, The Compass of Resistance International Film Festival.

British Independent Film Awards announce 2008 nominations

The nominations and jury members for the tenth annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) were announced today in London. The BIFA pre-selection committee viewed more than 150 films, out of which they selected the nominations with a handful of titles dominating most categories.

Anton Corbijin’s Control leads with ten nominations, And When Did You Last See Your Father? receives seven nominations, Hallam Foe follows with six, followed by Eastern Promises (five nominations), Notes on a Scandal (four) and Garbage Warrior (three). Other films to receive multiple nominations include Brick Lane, Black Gold, It’s A Free World, Sunshine, Exhibit A and 28 Weeks Later.

First time BIFA actor nominees include Anne Hathaway, Sam Riley, Kierston Wareing, Sophia Myles, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard, Bradley Cole, Armin Muehler Stahl and 2004 jury member Cate Blanchett. This year sees repeat nominations for actors Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Samantha Morton, Cillian Murphy and Toby Kebbell.

BIFA Directors, Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson say: “For the 10th year, the BIFA Nominations throw the spotlight on the UK’s wealth of new emerging talent. At the same time we are very proud to be honouring two very different and special British acting talents and careers with The Richard Harris Award and The Variety Award. All these ingredients promise to make our 10th anniversary a celebration of British film and filmmakers to remember.”

Ray Winstone is the recipient of The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor. Winstone, who is a three time BIFA nominee, won Best Actor for Nil by Mouth at the first Awards in 1998. Also this year, The Variety Award honours Daniel Craig for his contribution to bringing the international spotlight to the British film industry. Craig has also been nominated at BIFA three times and won Best Actor for his role in Some Voices.

BIFA’s new jury is comprised of professionals and talents from across the British film industry including: actresses Hayley Atwell, Archie Panjabi and Kathy Burke, actors Tony Curran, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew Macfadyen, directors Annie Griffin, Menhaj Huda, Neil Marshall and Peter Webber, LFF Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, producer Mark Herbert, cinematographer Brian Tufano, distributor Will Clarke and musician Nitin Sawhney.

The 10th awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 28 November 2007 at the Roundhouse in London and will be hosted by James Nesbitt.

New on Kamera: be a curator

Ever fancied curating a video art show? Now you can.

New on Kamera: young film critics in Rotterdam

Aspiring film critics take note: the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam are inviting applications for a scheme that gives critics younger than 30 years old the chance to mingle with the big boys and witness firsthand the mechanics of press coverage of a film festival. Full article here.

New on Kamera: The Times BFI 51st London Film Festival

Kamera's correspondent John Atkinson previews the 2007 edition of the London Film Festival, which starts today. Speaking of which, Naomi Watts will be interviewed on the stage of the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre on Friday, 19 October, at 6:30pm. Watts starts in the festival's Opening Night Gala Eastern Promises and Michael Haneke's American remake of Funny Games.

New on Kamera: Africa in Motion

Fresh content alert! Those of us who often wish we could see more of African cinema, should check out the news page to find out more about the upcoming African in Motion film festival.

Xala (1975, Ousmane
Sembene)

New on Kamera: Fast Food Nation

We have a review of Richard Linklater´s Fast Food Nation, which is out on DVD on Tartan.

Shooting of The Reader starts in Berlin

News has it that Bernard Schlink's lean, unadorned and haunting novel The Reader is being turned into a movie and shooting has just started in Berlin. The novel is a memoir of a German lawyer whose first love turned out be an ex-Nazi who then goes on trial. The choice of cast is somewhat at odds with the physical description of the book characters, with Nicole Kidman probably in the role of the narrator's object of love and Ralph Fiennes as, I would imagine, the narrator/protagonist - IMDB still doesn't mention which characters the actors are playing. Stephen Daldry directs. I'm curious to see how he will cinematically treat this difficult book to visualise. We shall see, as it were.

Latin American win at San Sebastian Film Festival

The FIPRESCI Prize (the Prize of the International Critics) went to the film "Encarnación" by Anahí Berneri (Argentina, 2007) at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which closed this weekend. The festival's website has a nice TV section where you can watch videos of the festival itself, which counted on the presence of stars like Demi Moore and Liv Ullman. Click here for more.