News

Stars: Canada Lee, Charles Carson, Sidney Poitier, Joyce Carey, Geoffrey Keen, Vivien Clinton, Michael Goodliffe, Albertina Temba, Edric Connor, Lionel Ngakane, Charles McRae | Written by John Howard Lawson | Directed by Zoltan Korda

Released in celebration of Black History Month, Studio Canal reveal this 4k Restoration of the seminal British classic from 1951, Cry, The Beloved Country. Not only do you get the 4k restoration of the movie from director Zoltan Korda, but there’s also new extras, and archive footage including a documentary on cinema under apartheid and a 16-page booklet.

So, why is the movie so important? Now over 70 years old, it features a moving, and emotional story, played out by some fabulous actors and, it feels very much ahead of its time covering the racial injustices of the period.

Cry, The Beloved Country was shot on location in South Africa (with interior shots in the U.K.), which was...

David Oyelowo wins for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr; Amma Asante collects award for Belle.

Us civil rights drama Selma and its director Ava Duvernay scored a hat-trick at the Screen Nation Film & Television Award in London on Sunday (Feb 15).

David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr in the drama, won best male performance in film, while a public vote named Selma the favourite international movie.

A further public vote named Selma director Duvernay favourite female screen personality.

Period drama Belle won Gugu Mbatha-Raw best female performance in film while director Amma Asante collected the award for achievement in film production.

The event, known as the ‘black Baftas’, was also attended by stars including Idris Elba.

Charles Thompson, founder and CEO of Screen Nation, said: “We’re not a diversity quota anymore and never have been. We’re mainstream.”

Winnersuk Screen Awards

Rising Talent

Aaron Fontaine – Actor in HollyoaksAntonia Thomas – Scrotal RecallGeorgina Bobb – Producer...

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o take prizes at awards celebrating diversity.

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave was the big winner at the 9th Screen Nation Film & Television Awards in London last night.

The period drama won Favourite International Movie (made by or starring British talent), beating competition from The Butler, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and House at the End of the Street.

Chiwetel Ejiofor won Best Male Performance in a Film for his role in 12 Years a Slave, an award he previously picked up at the Screen Nation awards in 2003 for his role in Dirty Pretty Things.

Lupita Nyong’o, who co-starred alongside Ejiofor in McQueen’s period epic, picked up Favourite Female African Intl. Rising Screen Talent at the awards, which celebrate diversity in film and television.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom did not leave empty-handed as Naomie Harris was awarded Female Performance in Film.

Biyi Bandele’s Half of A Yellow Sun was...

Posthumous award announced as nominations revealed for the 9th Screen Nation Film & Television Awards.

Guest announcers Fernand Frimpong Jnr, from Vox Africa, and Venus vs.Mars actress Letitia Hector revealed the nominations in London (see below for full list).

Felix Dexter, the late comedian and actor, will be posthumously awarded the Edric Connor Inspiration award.

Actor-director Bill Duke, best known for his roles in Commando and Predator, is to receive the Outstanding Contribution award.

Honorary awards will also be bestowed on classic works such as Do the Right Thing, The Cosby Show and Desmond’s.

The awards ceremony will take place at Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel in London on Feb 23. The ceremony will be hosted by the Ali Baba, known as the Godfather of Nigerian comedy, and Caroline Chikezie, best known for her role in Us series 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Voting for the nominees in all categories will be open to the public from today (Jan 23) until...

Posthumous award announced as nominations revealed for the 9th Screen Nation Film & Television Awards.

Guest announcers Fernand Frimpong Jnr, from Vox Africa, and Venus vs.Mars actress Letitia Hector revealed the nominations in London (see below for full list).

Felix Dexter, the late comedian and actor, will be posthumously awarded the Edric Connor Inspiration award.

Actor-director Bill Duke, best known for his roles in Commando and Predator, is to receive the Outstanding Contribution award.

Honorary awards will also be bestowed on classic works such as Do the Right Thing, The Cosby Show and Desmond’s.

The awards ceremony will take place at Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel in London on Feb 23. The ceremony will be hosted by the Ali Baba, known as the Godfather of Nigerian comedy, and Caroline Chikezie, best known for her role in Us series 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Voting for the nominees in all categories will be open to the public from today (Jan 23) until...

Looking back at the early days of cinema allows us not only the opportunity to see the development of our favourite medium but also discover the hidden gems which may have been forgotten.

Network Releasing are shining their own particular light on some of the lesser-known films from one of the most important studios in British cinema history. The Ealing Studios Rarities Collection Vol. 1 (out on the 8th of April) contains early works from directors such as Carol Reed and Basil Dean and we’ve got a clip and a couple of rare production images from the wonderfully named Cheer Up! for you today.

A struggling playwright hopes to market a musical comedy that he has written in collaboration with another equally penurious composer. Anxious to secure the backing of a millionaire, the two composers only succeed in making him angry — until, following a chain of misunderstandings, they finally emerge triumphant.

BBC radio producer who created the serial Journey into Space

The BBC radio producer and writer Charles Chilton, who has died aged 95, created a classic radio serial, Journey into Space, various series exploring the America of the past, and the one-off programme that eventually took to stage and screen as Oh! What a Lovely War. At the start of his career, radio could still attract audiences greater than those for television, and as well as producing popular comedy series such as The Goon Show and Take It from Here, Chilton devised some of its most distinctive material.

The first series of Journey into Space, broadcast in 1953, was described as "groundbreaking". "Well, it has to be," Chilton laughed in response. It took Captain Jet Morgan, played by the future MP Andrew Faulds, and his crew to the moon. They went on to Mars in the remaining two parts of the trilogy,...