Thandie Newton celebrates short film screen siren
To launch this year’s Virgin Media Shorts competition, which champions undiscovered UK film talent, award-winning British actress and Hollywood A-lister Thandie Newton has gone back in time to 1917 to celebrate the cultural and film icon that is, Theda Bara.
A cinematic sex symbol of the short and silent film era in the 1910s, Theda Bara played a glamorous and alluring Cleopatra in the 1917 movie, of the same name. As a star of both features and short films, Thandie pays tribute to the actress in a series of photographs taken by celebrity photographer Lorenzo Aguis to celebrate the 2010 Virgin Media Shorts competition.
Commenting on her involvement, Thandie said: “The history of the short film and its early stars isn’t something that’s well known or documented, so to kick off this year’s Virgin Media Shorts we wanted to do something that would commemorate one of the early legends like Theda Bara – she was a true, avant-garde screen heroine.
“Her spirit and passion is in essence what I’ll be looking for as a judge in this year’s Virgin Media Shorts entries. I’m honoured to be part of the judging panel alongside industry greats, and I’m excited to be helping unearth what could be the next big thing in British film making.”
Now in its third year, Virgin Media Shorts is the only short film competition to give British film makers the opportunity to have their work showcased to millions of people across the country on four screens - on 214 cinema screens, on TV, on mobile and online. Open for entries from today, the competition encourages film makers to upload their films for the chance to win a Grand Prize of up to £30,000 film funding, and the opportunity to work with Virgin Media to make their next short film.
Virgin Media Shorts aims to shine a light on the best up-and-coming British film talent with the help of a prestigious judging panel from across the film industry. This year, Thandie will team up with following judges to complete the panel:
British film director, best known for his directorial debut Moon, Duncan Jones
British film director, best known for Four Weddings & A Funeral, Mike Newell
Film critic and broadcaster, James King
Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose
Plus one very lucky competition winner!
Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said, “Virgin Media Shorts is an excellent opportunity for anyone who’s ever dreamt of having their work seen by not only some of the biggest names in the industry, but by millions of members of the public. For the past two years, we’ve provided a springboard for amazing new film making talent, and have been delighted to see our previous winners go on to be BAFTA nominated and honoured at Cannes.”
Last year’s competition attracted over 2,000 entries from film makers who uploaded their film through the Virgin Media Shorts website, and previous winners have already begun to make their mark on the film industry. Luke Snellin, winner of Virgin Media Shorts 2009, was nominated for a BAFTA this year for his winning entry, ‘Mixtape’. 2008 winners, Phil Sansom and Olly Williams, turned heads in Cannes with their winning film, ‘The Black Hole’.
The competition is currently open for entries and the deadline is midday on Monday 28th June 2010. Following this date, all entries will reviewed and short-listed down to just twelve films, which will go on to be shown for a whole year on 214 cinema screens across the country from September, as well as on Virgin1, on Virgin Media’s TV on demand, on the website and on mobile phones. The winning film will be announced at a glitzy awards ceremony in central London, later this year.
For more information on Virgin Media Shorts and to enter this year’s competition, visit virginmediashorts.co.uk.