Common Ground is today (29 June 2013) in competition for the Silver Castle at FEST 2013 in Espinho, Portugal.
Fingers crossed that the film meets a good reaction and that it acquits itself well in competition.
The film was made for a mere £500. To get this far is a wonderful achievement.
Well done all who made Common Ground.
And if you happen to be in or near Espinho, please go along to support the film…!
Common Ground competes for the Silver Castle at FEST 2013 today!
Common Ground is today (29 June 2013) being screened at FEST in Espinho, Portugal.
The film, which was made for a mere £500, is today in competition for the Silver Castle (Castelo de Prata).
Fingers crossed! And if you are in Portugal, specifically Espinho, please go along!
Beg Steal Borrow collaborator Charlotte Wolf has just released “A Shot”, her new music video for London-based indy band Extradition Order.
The video was shot by Beg Steal Borrow regular Tom Maine.
Extradition Order were also scheduled to appear in God Particles, a Beg Steal Borrow production that we had hoped would be filmed towards the end of 2012, but which for logistical and other reasons remains ‘in development.’
Keep an eye out for that film should it ever materialise…!
In the meantime, check out Charlie’s video here.
Charlie has also been busy of late shooting – again with Tom – the short film Happily Ever After?, written by Segun Murray Ogunsheye and featuring the voice of Nigel Andrews.
Happily Ever After? recently screened at the Vibe Gallery in Bermondsey, where it met with a very warm reception. It was made under the auspices of Firehouse Creative Productions, a collaborative network of filmmakers based in London and elsewhere.
Charlie has also been producing Insomniacs, directed by Charles Chintzer Lai and starring Vanessa Kirby and Imogen Stubbs. This project is in post-production, so more no doubt is to follow…!
Beg Steal Borrow’s Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the production and post-production of Ur: The End of Civilization in 90 Tableaux has been a success.
Within a week of launching the campaign, and thanks to the wonderfully generous pledges of numerous benefactors, £1,391 has been raised for Ur in just seven days.
A full list of benefactors will follow when the Kickstarter campaign reaches its close – in 24 days on 19 July (just before production for Ur begins in Monpazier, France).
But just because we have reached our target of £1,000, this does not mean that we cannot put to good use any money that further kind souls wish to pledge. Any money will be useful for the production of the film and/or for post-production costs like festival submission.
So if you are interested in donating, please do by following the link to the Kickstarter site here.
Ur is a film about six characters in search of a zombie apocalypse, a kind of art house zombie film set in the south of France. It features Beg Steal Borrow regulars Dennis Chua, Laura Murray and Alex Chevasco, as well as newcomers Edward Chevasco and Rosie Frascona.
Beg Steal Borrow has launched a Kickstarter campaign for our latest production, Ur: The End of Civilization in 90 Tableaux.
The goal of the campaign is to raise some money (£1000 being our target) for the production, post-production and the distribution of the film.
For, while the film is pretty much in place in terms of its production, monies raised via Kickstarter will go towards equipment (need a new hard drive to edit, for example, as well as various props and funds for make-up, possibly some sound equipment), and those all important post-production festival entries!
But!
It is not simply a case of supporting the production. All who donate money will be named in the credits to the film. All gifts of £10 will also earn their donor a DVD copy of the film when it’s ready.
Those generous souls who give more can also receive art work, t-shirts and canvas prints from the film. Check out the campaign website here for more information…!
Of course, the Kickstarter campaign is also intended to raise the profile of Ur as we move towards our production period and beyond. So if you fancy helping to spread word of mouth about this film, then please re-post this.
Ur is a film about six characters in search of a zombie apocalypse. It will be shot in a minimalist, art house style reminiscent of Joanna Hogg, Gus van Sant and the Lumière brothers.
The cast consists of William Brown, Alex Chevasco, Edward Chevasco, Dennis Chua, Roseanne Frascona and Laura Murray. The crew consists of Tom Maine (DOP), Julia Poliak (AD), Alexandra Brown, Ella Chevasco (make-up) and others.
Talented young actress Roseanna Frascona has joined the cast for Ur: The End of Civilization in 90 Tableaux.
Rosie, who graduates this summer from LAMDA, will play… Rosie, a young lady taking time off in France after the end of a torrid relationship.
Rosie has appeared in numerous plays, and is starring in a growing number of short films and features, although Ur lays claim to being her most substantial feature role yet.
Rosie joins Beg Steal Borrow regulars Alex Chevasco, Dennis Chua and Laura Murray in the cast for Ur, which features six principle characters.
The other cast members are William Brown and Alex Chevasco’s brother, Edward Chevasco, who will make his Beg Steal Borrow début.
The film will be lensed by Beg Steal Borrow stalwart Tom Maine, with Common Ground AD Julia Poliak also returning. Alexandra Brown will also be helping out on the film.
Make-up will be done by Ella Chevasco, in particular work on the all-important zombies. And there may even be cameo roles from Berry and Charles Chevasco, thus ensuring participation from the whole Chevasco family…!
Ur tells the story of the zombie apocalypse, but not as you’d expect to see it. This will be a minimalist, art house zombie flick, in which the end of civilization takes us back to the beginnings of cinema.
Here’s an image of Rosie:
Common Ground has been accepted into FEST 2013, Portugal’s most up-and-coming film festival.
The film is one of ten features in competition and it will be screened on Saturday 29 June in the Casino de Espinho.
Here is the trailer on the festival’s YouTube channel:
The festival takes place in Espinho, Portugal, and runs from 24 June to 1 July.
The festival also includes Training Ground, which is a series of masterclasses offered by leading professionals from the film world.
Speakers this year include Oscar-winning actress Melissa Leo (The Fighter), British director Peter Webber (The Girl with the Pearl Earring), DOP Christian Berger (Caché), editor Tariq Anwar (American Beauty, The King’s Speech), director Scandar Copti (Ajami), production designer Stephen Altman (Gosford Park), screenwriter LM Kit Carson (Paris, Texas), actress Marika Green (Pickpocket), Variety film critic Martin Dale, and distributor Saul Rafael (Lusomundo).
We are honoured to have been selected for the festival – and are keeping our fingers crossed for the competition!
Beg Steal Borrow Films’s last effort, China: A User’s Manual (Films) has been granted its own page on IMDb.
To see the page, follow this link here.
The film is a travelogue written by Christian Bouche-Villeneuve as he travels around China with his companion, Sancho Panza.
Christian’s musings and letters to and from Sandor Krasna form the soundtrack to the film, as we see them go in search of the real China and to understand what on earth what on might mean when one says ‘the people’.
In late July 2013, Beg Steal Borrow will be putting into production its latest film – an art house zombie flick set in the south of France.
The film is about a bunch of generation Zers who spend their time around the pool on the beautiful estate of Blondel, near Monpazier in France. And then the zombie apocalypse happens – only they don’t necessarily know it.
The cast is set to include Beg Steal Borrow regulars Alex Chevasco, Dennis Chua, Nick Marwick and Laura Murray, as well as performances from Edward Chevasco (Alex’s highly talented brother!), William Brown and others.
Tom Maine will, as ever, be heading up the photography of the film, while the production team will include Andrew Slater and maybe Deanne Cunningham and Charlotte Wolf (although both might at present be a bit too busy with other projects).
However, the project is in need of a title…! William Brown has two alternative titles, one slightly more pretentious than the other. The first is the simple Generation Z, while the slightly more pretentious option is Ur: The End of Civilization in 90 Tableaus.
Which do you think we should opt for? If you want to let us know, write to begstealborrowfilms@gmail.com.
It is with great pleasure that I’d like to share some informal feedback that I have received on various Beg Steal Borrow films.
First of all, the great Mohsen Makhmalbaf contacted me briefly to write: “I like En Attendant Godard.”
Secondly, the prolific Josh Hyams also wrote to say that that he “thought your films are beautiful.”
And thirdly, the excellent academic David H. Fleming wrote to say:
“China: A User’s Manual: I adored it. Really. It spoke with me. To me. It was like memories and thoughts I too have had. A prosthetic memory. Like I was on the back of the screen mirror. I knew some of the stories of course from talking to you. But they were also like reruns of my memories. Memories I did not know we shared. It’s so dense and yet light and free. Antonioni, Marker, the third-image. The epistolary form so like Montesquieu’s Persian Letters in light and sound. I had read almost all the books and stories you mentioned. Knew all the films and scenes you were referencing. The news stories and made up ones too. And recognised a China that I know and feel. I felt like you were talking to me. And wondered if it was not me, and I did not know you, would it be the same. We need to do something with this film out here.
“I really like Common Ground, too. Haunting… It was a dream-like recollection of Afterimages and to a lesser extend En Attendant Godard. Totally appreciate you sending them. A breath of fresh air.”
What wonderful feedback from such esteemed people. I am humbled, but also inspired by this feedback. Many thanks! Let’s carry ourselves with confidence to the next Beg Steal Borrow shoot, provisionally titled Endemic, scheduled for shooting in France in July 2013!
begstealborrowfilms.com 