The highly prestigious Palme d’Or has been awarded to British Director Ken Loach (Kes, The Wind That Shakes the Barley) for his film I, Daniel Blake which was shot on location in London and Newcastle. The film depicts a middle-aged man who is forced to seek out government benefits after suffering an injury at work, meanwhile befriending a young mother who is on the brink of homelessness.
After announcements that Thailand and Romania would be receiving their own film incentive programmes, plans to create a Chilean incentive have been revealed at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Chile’s film industry has previously thrived on incredibly low production costs for filming on location, but with so many countries now announcing their own programmes, the timing seems right to address the issue.
Tech giant Google have joined forces with the Young Director Award 2016 to utilise the YDA platform as a showcase for their virtual reality technology. As part of the collaboration, a panel discussion about the cutting edge world of virtual reality with take place before the award ceremony to highlight the possibilities that this new technology brings, particularly to the world of filmmaking.
Plans have been unveiled to install an official film incentive programme in Romania before the end of the year, with talks currently being held between the Romanian National Film Centre and Romania’s Ministry of Culture. While the details of the incentive have yet to be finalised, in its current state it will offers tax relief of up to 30% to productions that spend a minimum amount of EUR30 million in the country.
The Bristol Film Office has released statistics regarding the amount of film and television productions shot within Bristol over the 2015-16 period. The report shows a 65% increase in location filming over the previous year, a staggering figure that aligns with the incredible success that the UK film industry as a whole has had in recent years.
As part of a press conference held at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, several Thai officials unveiled a brand new incentive programme to attract foreign productions and boost the country’s film industry. At its core, the programme will offer a cash rebate of 15% to any production that incurs a minimum local spend of THB50 million (USD1.5 million) but can be increased to 20% if additional criteria are met.
The adaptation of John le Carré’s crime novel Our Kind of Traitor was filmed in several European locations, much like the BBC’s recent adaptation of one of le Carré’s other novels, The Night Manager. The complete list of locations includes Marrakech, London, Finland, Switzerland and Paris.
The deadline for sending in applications for the Young Director Award 2016 has now been extended from the original date of May 15th, to May 22nd. This alteration will provide contestants with a chance to further assess their final pieces before submission and entice other candidates who couldn’t make the original deadline to apply.