Very excitedly, and something that I’ve been looking forward to since the first trailer and details, Sci-Fi thriller THE MACHINE last night picked up the ‘Raindance Award’ at the Moët British Independent Film Awards 2013 (check out all the winners here) and is given to honour exceptional achievement for filmmakers working against the odds, often with little or no industry support.
THE MACHINE had its World Premiere earlier this year at Tribeca Film Festival and has since won Best UK Feature at Raindance Film Festival, Best Sci-Fi film at Toronto After Dark Film Festival and three BAFTA Cymru Awards for Special Achievement in Film, Best Costume Design for Chrissie Pegg and Best Original Music for Tom Raybould.
Directed by Caradog James, Produced by John Giwa-Amu and starring Toby Stephens, Caity Lotz, Denis Lawson, Sam Hazeldine and Pooneh Hajimohammadi, THE MACHINE is a sci-fi thriller set in the near future with a global war looming.As top MOD scientist Vincent (Toby Stephens) is briefed with developing the ultimate killing machine, he creates the first fully conscious robot, but against orders he makes it in the image of his lost love, plunging him into a battle for his survival.
Director Caradog James and Producer John Giwa-Amu had this to say:
“To have even been nominated for the awards was amazing, but to have won is a crowning moment of a long journey – it’s everything we could have hoped for. Thank you so much to all the wonderful people who’ve helped us along the way including our talented cast and crew and the financial partners who had faith in us so early on, namely The Ideas Factory, Content, Film Agency Wales, Welsh Assembly Government and our lead financier Altara Pictures.”
THE MACHINE will be released in UK cinemas 21st March 2014. For more information head to:
www.themachinemovie.com
www.twitter.com/TheMachineMovie
www.facebook.com/TheMachineMovie
The Moët British Independent Film Awards are decided by an independent jury comprised of leading professionals and talent from the British film industry. The Jury for 2013 included: Jury Chair – Penny Woolcock (Director), Antonia Campbell-Hughes (Actress), Art Malik (Actor), Ate de Jong (Director), Bart Layton (Director), James Floyd (Actor), Jill McCullough (Dialect Coach), Julien Temple (Director), Liza Marshall (Producer), MyAnna Buring (Actress), Natascha McElhone (Actress), Pippa Harris (Producer), Roland Gift (Musician), Sally El Hosaini (Director), Sandy Powell (Costume Designer) and Steve Hamilton Shaw (Producer). The Machine’s lead actress Caity Lotz was also nominated at this year’s BIFAs for Most Promising Newcomer.