The documentary screened on 5 October, as part of Antigua Barbuda day, in front of a packed Grandroom theatre and received a warm reception by all in attendance.
Thank you to the Festival organisers, President Sandie de Freitas, Vice President Norman Hart and Festival coordinator Nairnder Dhaliwal.
Now the film festival circuit has come to a close for my documentary, I can now share the full film with you.
Thank you to all who had a hand in making this film a reality and, as always, I want to acknowledge the man who inspired this film, my father the late, great Richard Etienne Snr.
From Noel Clarke to Terry Pheto – here’s who won what at the climax of Britain’s biggest film festival for diversity. This year’s 5th annual ceremony was staged at Met Film School, Ealing Studios.
Terry Pheto’s performance as a long-suffering wife and domestic abuse victim won her international success on Saturday evening – one of three awards for the anthology drama Faces. The film was the biggest winner at the VIP ceremony, picking up prizes including best actor for Aki Omoshaybi and best feature for director Joseph A. Adesunloye.
There was another film success for director Richard Etienne, winning best documentary for The iD project - My Dominica Story to add to his earlier Caribe Film festival gong and director Greg Hall, winning best short film for Smack Edd (sponsored by Met Film School).
In the live script category (presented by Kelly Edwards from HBO), there was success for Jo Southwell (‘Loyalty’), Eno Enefiok (Asylum) and Malcolm J Solomon (Raped).
The final award of the night was presented by actors Ashley Walters (Top Boy, Bulletproof) and Wil Johnson (Adulthood, Outlander) and accepted by Noel Clarke for recognition of 20 years of outstanding contribution to the film and TV industry. It was an emotional moment for Clarke who received two standing ovations from the packed audience, one at the start of his speech and one at the end. Moments after watching a summary of his accomplishments, Clarke said “the interesting thing about it and maybe that’s just testament to what I do is that I don’t feel like I’ve achieved anything. I don’t mean that in a sympathetic way. I haven’t done half of what I know I can do or what I know I want to do and so for me a lot of that stuff is just work it’s just what I do. I get up in the morning and I want to create. I want to succeed not just for myself but for others.”
The winning films and scripts were pooled from 51 submissions selected by the board of the British Urban Film Festival, chaired by it’s founder Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe. The submissions were showcased during the week-long festival - now in it’s 14th year - at Met Film School, Ealing Studios. The full list of winners at the 2019 British Urban Film Festival awards
Short film (sponsored by Met Film School)
Smack Edd (Dir: Greg Hall) - WINNER Eli (Dir: Colin Gerrard) No Exposure (Dir: Marcus Thomas) Paparazza (Dir: Aurora Fearnley)
Blessing Anyiam-Osigwe best actress
Elinor Machen-Fortune (Acceptable Damage) Seyi Shay (Lara and the Beat) Terry Pheto (Faces) - WINNER Zoe Ranson (Stray Dog)
Best actor
Vector (Lara and the Beat) Elijah Baker (Acceptable Damage) Eddie Linina (Stray Dog) Aki Omoshaybi (Faces) - WINNER
Best documentary
Block and Censor (Dir: Awei Chen) The ID Project – My Dominica Story (Dir: Richard Etienne) - WINNER The Mayor’s Race (Dir: Loraine Blumenthal) Song for our People (Dir: Mustapha Khan)
Live Script (presented by HBO)
Loyalty (Written by Jo Southwell) - WINNER Asylum (Written by Eno Enefiok) - WINNER Raped (Written by Malcolm J Solomon) - WINNER
Victor Adebodun best feature
Faces (Dir: Jospeh A. Adesunloye) - WINNER Acceptable Damage (Dir: Lavinia Simina) Lara and the Beat (Dir: Tosin Coker) Stray Dog (Dir: Luke Hefferman)
British Urban Film Festival honorary award - RECIPIENT
Another month, another film festival and I’m so proud to announce that The iD Project won the Film Reel Award 2019 at the Caribe Film Festival in Miami. The award is in recognition of the production quality of my independently-funded film.
Taking you back to 1 April 2019 – the first time the world (well, a select few) got to see my documentary in its full glory. I must admit, I was extremely nervous and sat the front so that I couldn’t see anybody’s reactions.
How was the film received? The video reveals all…
Thank you to the supporting charities SarcoidosisUK and Dominica Relief Fund. Also, thank you to the Courthouse Hotel for hosting the screening of my film.