Funding Boost 'Elevates' Revolutionary Cinema

The UK Film Council's Prints & Advertising Fund is backing U2 3D, the first-ever feature length live action film shot and exhibited in breakthrough digital 3D. Released in late February by Revolver Entertainment, the film documents U2's 2006 Buenos Aires concert in their Vertigo tour and promises to be an exciting and immersive cinema-going experience.
The film is one of many titles to be backed by the Fund, which continues its work to support the release of specialised films and help increase viewing choices for UK audiences.
Revolver Entertainment receives £150,000 for U2 3D, enabling the film's release to widen from 30 to 62 screens.
In addition, as part of its strategy to increase opportunities for the British film industry to learn more about technological advances in film, the UK Film Council is also hosting special industry screenings of the film with a masterclass from the film's producers and director on the film's creative and practical journey from pre-production to screen.
Soda Pictures receives £150,000 for Michel Ocelot's Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest, an animated tale of two boys, one Christian and one Muslim, who are raised as brothers, torn apart and then reunited years later as rivals in a mystical quest.
The film's release will now expand from 25 to 50 screens with additional media spend covering the production of a new trailer and a TV advertising spot.
Pathe Distribution received £150,000 for Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the biopic of Jean-Dominique Bauby, high-flying editor of French Elle and father of two, who suffered a stroke at the age of 43 which paralysed his entire body, except his left eye.
The award allowed the release to double from 20 to 40 cinemas and fund a national television advertising campaign which raised awareness of the film, released on 8 February.
Artificial Eye received £4,662 for Fatih Akin's The Edge of Heaven in which a Turkish man travels to Turkey to look for the daughter of his father's former girlfriend, who has meanwhile fled to Germany after getting into trouble over her political activities.
In a bid to look for new ways of reaching art house audiences, Artificial Eye is launching on 10 London screens and the film will simultaneously be offered on Sky pay per view, on 22 February.
The price to Sky subscribers will be comparable with the cost of a cinema ticket and the film will be available for 'download' on Sky for a limited period only.
Further awards have been made to a range of independent and classic films allowing widened access to the films using the Digital Screen Network.
A list of the awards can be found at:
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/awards
(DS)