UK Filmmakers Win £50,000 Prize

Director Jan Dunn and Producer Elaine Wickham took the grand prize at the London Independent Film Festival over the weekend for their feature film 'Ruby Blue', which stars Bob Hoskins as a man accused by his neighbours of being a paedophile.
The prize, sponsored by Prime Focus London, secures a significant portion of the post-production finance for Dunn and Wickham's next feature.
The two filmmakers from Ramsgate found critical acclaim two years ago for their self-financed debut film 'Gypo', and 'Ruby Blue' is their second film together.
UK Director Julian Richards took the festival's prize for Best Director for 'Summer Scars' - his autobiographically inspired portrayal of Welsh youth.
Actor Bob Hoskins and Film London were each awarded the festival's 'Champion Of Independent Cinema' award, which annually recognises one celebrity and one organisation for outstanding service to the UK independent filmmaking community.
Festival sponsors Prime Focus London, Motorola and Archos were on hand for the awards ceremony on Sunday with prizes for the winning filmmakers.
Hosted at several screening venues across London, including the BFI Southbank, and Curzon cinemas, the London Independent Film Festival screened over 90 films.
The festival highlights the best in low-budget filmmaking every April and has been called: "a treasure trove of undiscovered cinematic gems" and "one of Europe's top indie film fests" by British Film Magazine 2008.
Further information is available at: www.londonindependent.org.
(KMcA/JM)