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BAFTA-Nominated Shorts to Screen Online and in Cinemas

19 January 2017

BAFTA Shorts, supported by American Airlines, will be made available on Curzon Home Cinema and screened at UK and international venues

London, 19 January 2017: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced today that this year’s BAFTA-nominated short films, supported by American Airlines, will be available to watch exclusively on video on-demand service, Curzon Home Cinema, from 27 January. Audiences across the UK and overseas will also be able to see a compilation of this year’s BAFTA-nominated short films and animations in cinemas from 10 February. BAFTA Shorts 2017 is supported by American, the world’s largest airline; connecting customers to leading film and entertainment destinations around the globe.

The nominated films, which were chosen by a jury of leading industry figures, represent the best of British short filmmaking, and showcase innovative and exciting British talent. The winners, as voted for by the wider BAFTA membership, will be announced at the EE British Academy Film Awards on 12 February at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

For the first time, the BAFTA-nominated shorts will be made available to watch online through Curzon Home Cinema. This marks the first time that audiences across the UK and Ireland will be able to view a compilation of all eight nominated shorts online prior to the awards ceremony.  Since 2010, Curzon has been at the forefront of expanding the horizons of film distribution with the launch of its premium video on-demand platform. Andrew Haigh’s BAFTA-nominated 45 Years (2015) became the first film to gross over £1 million at the box-office whilst being simultaneously released online via the platform. At this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards, Curzon will also be honoured with the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.

For a fifth year BAFTA is partnering with the Independent Cinema Office (ICO) to distribute the films in the UK in cinemas, and the British Council, which will tour the films internationally through its global network. Last year’s programme visited over 30 UK venues and travelled to a wide variety of countries including Spain, Latvia, Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine, Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At selected screenings, audiences will be able to take part in exclusive Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.

Previous BAFTA shorts nominees and winners have gone on to receive BAFTA recognition for their feature-length projects, including directors Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur), Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths), Chris Morris (Four Lions), Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy), Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) and David Yates (Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2), and producer Mark Herbert (This Is England).

Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Curzon to showcase the BAFTA-nominated shorts to an online audience for the very first time.  It is vital that the work of talented British filmmakers is given the widest possible audience.”

Phil Mordecai, Director, Curzon Home Cinema said: "We're delighted to be the exclusive online home for this year's collection of BAFTA nominated shorts. Congratulations to all of the filmmakers whose superb work we are very proud to be bringing to homes nationwide via our virtual Curzon venue."

A spokesperson from American Airlines Group said: “As the preferred airline of the global entertainment and film industry, American Airlines has always recognised the very best film makers and grassroots talent on both sides of the Atlantic. As a proud supporting partner of the BAFTA Shorts 2017, American is further cementing their commitment to the film industry in London.”

Jemma Desai Film Programme British Council said: “We’re really excited to be partnering up with BAFTA again for the 2017 line up. This year’s selection is a great window into the diversity of emerging Brit filmmaking talent and storytelling and we’re very much looking forward to unleashing this year’s nominees on international audiences!”

The international rollout of BAFTA Shorts 2017 Supported by American Airlines begins with a special premiere screening at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on Thursday 26 January.

To watch the BAFTA-nominated short films online from Friday 27 January, visit Curzon Home Cinema: https://www.curzonhomecinema.com/

For venues and showtimes of screenings, and to watch the BAFTA Shorts 2017 trailer, visit the BAFTA website: https://www.bafta.org/film/awards/british-short-film-british-short-animation

To book the BAFTA-nominated shorts for exhibition, visit the ICO website: http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/baftashorts2017

Interviews with the nominated filmmakers will be available on BAFTA Guru (www.bafta.org/guru), BAFTA’s online learning channel.

The EE British Academy Film Awards will take place on Sunday 12 February at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The nominated shorts in the BAFTA Shorts 2017 programme:

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

THE ALAN DIMENSION Jac Clinch, Jonathan Harbottle, Millie Marsh
A LOVE STORY Khaled Gad, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Elena Ruscombe-King
TOUGH Jennifer Zheng

BRITISH SHORT FILM

CONSUMED Richard John Seymour
HOME Shpat Deda, Afolabi Kuti, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell
MOUTH OF HELL Bart Gavigan, Samir Mehanovic, Allie Smith, Michael Wilson
THE PARTY Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming, Andrea Harkin, Conor MacNeill
STANDBY Jack Hannon, Charlotte Regan

For more information, please contact:

Charlotte Inett / Marie Zeraati at freuds
T: 020 3003 6350 / 020 3003 6418
E: [email protected] / [email protected]

Eleanor Pickering at BAFTA
T: +44 (0) 20 7292 5863
E: [email protected]

For photography, visit www.bafta.org/press/images.

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – featuring workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes – in the UK, USA and Asia; it offers unique access to the world’s most inspiring talent and connects with a global audience of all ages and backgrounds. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. To access the best creative minds in film, television and games production, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.

About American Airlines Group

American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, whose members serve more than 1,000 destinations with about 14,250 daily flights to over 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

About Curzon Home Cinema

Curzon Home Cinema is a unique premium at-home video on demand service curated by the expert Curzon team. Since 2010 the virtual venue has been pioneering the UK & Ireland film industry with its innovative day and date strategy; offering a totally new choice for film audiences, fledgling and established alike, to enjoy independent cinema releases instantly from the comfort of their own home the same day as they are released in cinemas.

In addition to our web service www.curzonhomecinema.com, Curzon Home Cinema is currently available on: BT TV, Virgin Media: TiVo®, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV and Freesat. Curzon Home Cinema’s extensive growth over last two years now makes Curzon available to over 7.5 million digital homes.  Furthermore, the new Curzon Player app is available via Apple, including Apple TV, and Android devices and is compatible with Google Chromecast.

www.curzonhomecinema.com

Curzon Home Cinema is part of the wider Curzon family which also includes the leading arthouse distributor, Curzon Artificial Eye and Curzon Cinemas which offer a quality cinema experience alongside the best programming team in the country.

About ICO

The ICO is the national organisation for the development and support of independent film exhibition in the UK. It was established in 2003 and exists to bring a wider range of films to a wider range of audiences.

The ICO’s primary aims include promoting diversity in exhibition content, audience and location. This is achieved through providing programming advice, film distribution, exhibitor and distribution training, project consultancies and implementing audience development strategies both nationally and internationally.

For more information and for details on BAFTA Shorts 2016 bookings, please visit http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/baftashorts2016.

About British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. It creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide.

British Council Film is the link between UK films and filmmakers and new international audiences. Together with the British Council’s global network overseas (7000 staff in over 100 countries and international collaborators) we work to profile the innovation, diversity, creativity and excellence of British films around the world,and work to find opportunities for creative exchange between UK filmmakers and international counterparts.. As part of its programme it provides a preview service for selectors from the world's major film festivals/markets (including Toronto, Cannes, Berlin and Sundance), operate a Travel Grant Fund that supports short filmmakers to travel to key international festivals and runs the UK Shorts Portal, an online screening platform designed to showcase the best new work from across the UK, exclusively for short film professionals.

For more information, please see www.britishcouncil.org/film