Dance speaks up for Rushes Soho Shorts Festival

Charles Dance has been confirmed as the official festival spokesperson for the fifth Rushes Soho Shorts Festival which will be held between Saturday 26th July and Friday 1st August 2003.
Commenting on his role, Dance said: "I am really proud to be involved with the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival this year. Filmmaking is my ongoing passion and I wholeheartedly support the festival which helps to promote the art of filmmaking.
“Rushes Soho Shorts is a fantastic event helping filmmakers to get their work seen by the general public as well as industry creatives. I always relish the opportunity to work with and watch newcomers to the industry as it helps to keep me motivated and enthused. To see new talents emerge and continue to push boundaries is so exciting and a real privilege. I particularly enjoy watching the newcomer category, watching these films as they help to keep me on my toes!
“Most people know me for being on one side of the camera, but I am about to make my directing debut on a feature film called ‘Ladies in Lavender’, starring Dame Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, which starts shooting in September. That makes me a newcomer!”
Passionate about Short films, Dance said they are a fantastic way for creative and often aspiring talent to learn their craft whilst collaborating with experienced filmmakers.
The organisers at Rushes also announced that record producer, Nellie Hooper has agreed to be a judge for the music video category.
The five categories in this year's festival are:

• The Rushes Short Film Award
• The Sony Newcomer Award
• The Quantel Animation Award
• The Sound Music Video Award
• The Discreet/Tyrell Title Sequences & Idents Award

There have been over 1000 entries in this year's festival, celebrating the wealth of talent in short films across the five categories. The line up of talent in this year’s entries feature; Sue Johnston in ‘Boogaloo’, Gina McKee in ‘Eddie Loves Mary’’, Nick Moran & Mackenzie Crook (Gareth from ‘The Office’) in ‘Ant Muzak’, Alison Steadman & David Thewlis in ‘DIY Hard’, and Emily Woof, director of ‘Between The Wars’.
The festival will follow the same format as last year with free screenings being held in cafes, bars and cinemas all over Soho.
The week culminates in a celebrity packed awards night at Sound, Leicester Square, hosted by The Word’s infamous Terry Christian and sponsored by Sony.
Venues already confirmed for this year include: Soho House, Costa Coffee, Mr Young’s, Century, The Other Cinema, The Escape Bar, Blu, De Lane Lea and The Noise Bar.
(SP)