2013 kicked off to a flying start at the NFTS with Masterclasses from Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire& The Full Montyscreen-writer Simon Beaufoy, Titan of TV Michael Grade, pioneer of German New Wave Cinema Wim Wenders and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Director Beeban Kidron.
Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy explained to students the importance of being bold when adapting books: "I discovered if you do a 'faithful adaptation' it doesn’t work. The more you reinvent the more faithful it feels, as long as you are keeping the soul of it the same."
Simon, whose films include Slumdog Millionaire, 127 hours, The Full Monty and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, said that when he's writing he "starts with the people and works the story out from the characters, because that's where the truth of the narrative is. If events lead character you've got melodrama, but if characters lead events then you've got drama."
Asked to give his advice to screenwriting students he replied: "There's a lot of craft in a screenplay, there's not much art, and the only way to get good at that craft is to practice."
Michael Grade, the former Director of programmes at BBC TV, CEO of Channel 4 and deputy controller of entertainment programmes at London Weekend Television gave his annual lecture to NFTS students. Following a screening of an episode of the multi-Emmy and BAFTA winning drama Downton Abbey, Michael Grade, who has been described as a pioneer of TV programming in the UK and “… so steeped in television you could pick up a signal off his cigar,” hosted a discussion about the series and the wider broadcast industry.
NFTS graduate Beeban Kidron revisited the School to talk about her 30 year directing career which, as well as landmark TV series Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, encompasses acclaimed documentaries and comedy features such as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, which sees Wesley Snipes and Patrick Swayze as drag queens, and the influential documentary Carry Greenham Home.
Baroness Kidron of Angel, who was made a member of the House of Lords for her contribution to film, is co-founder of Filmclub - an educational charity which sets up free after-school film clubs in state primary and secondary schools in England and Wales. She was recently awarded an NFTS Fellowship.
One of the most important figures of the German New Wave and one of the world's leading auteur film-makers - the Oscar nominated, Cannes & BAFTA winning Director Wim Wenders delivered a Masterclasses to a packed auditorium at the NFTS.
He was in conversation with Nik Powell for a 'Life in Pictures' Masterclass exploring Wim Wenders' remarkable body of work, which spans 3 decades, includes documentaries Buena Vista Social Club and Pina - both of which were Oscar nominated. His atmospheric fiction films include the Cannes winning Wings of Desire and Kings of the Road and the Cannes and BAFTA winning Paris, Texas. He is a founding member and president of the European Film Academy and currently teaches film as a professor at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg.
Asked what he thought was the most exciting developments in film, Wim Wenders said digital film and 3D were the most revolutionary and exciting. “There is no way that I could have made Buena Vista Social Club without digital film. It allowed us the luxury of time to build a rapport with the musicians and the financial freedom to film as much material as we liked (100’s of hours!) to the point that they didn’t notice us or the camera. And 3D has really exciting potential. The choreographer Pina Bausch had wanted me to make a film about her dance group for many years but I couldn’t find a way to make it work so I kept putting it off. Then I realised that 3D was the solution.”
The resulting documentary was nominated for an Oscar and described as ‘the creative marriage of two real artists, Pina and Wim.’ As one reviewer said: ‘Most documentaries put us inside people’s heads. The dazzling, experimental Pina puts us inside people’s feet.’
NFTS Students were also given the opportunity to hear a talk by Clare Stewart, the BFI Head of Exhibition and Artistic Director of the BFI London Film Festival and BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, who was in conversation with NFTS Head of Fiction Lynda Myles. She talked about programming and running international Film Festivals, gave insights into how festivals are programmed and advice on the best way for students to get their films into festivals.
