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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
63
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Made In Britain

Time
has no meaning here. Hours scuttle past, sneaking away the day. Tramping
round the beachside marquee of the Brit-promoting UK Film Centre, sun
beating down and brain giving up, I was contemplating various
aliens-abducted-my-dog style excuses for the absence of today's column
(figuring, "Watched pretty waves," just wasn't going to cut it) when my
desperate eye chanced upon a fine pair of legs. This isn't the point at
which Cannes Canned descends to an unsightly level of lechery and lust
(that's next week), but it was with a firm grip on another's thigh that I
approached Simon - the cameraman who's drawn the short straw of accompanying
me around Cannes. The expression of bunny-in-headlights horror with which he
reacted to being presented with a severed leg is something I will cherish
throughout the festival. The limb in question belongs to Mike Kelt, a
special effects whiz whose company, Artem, has recently worked on both Troy
and Terry Gilliam's upcoming Brothers Grimm. It is uncannily realistic: its
chill fake flesh clammy against my hand; real human hair puncturing its
skin; bony, bloody stump freaking out everyone in sight (either that, or I
really do have a face for radio) (You do - Ed.). Mike is here to raise
business and bang the drum for behind-the-scenes British talent, as a
recently elected board member of the tentatively titled UK Post, an
association created to raise the profile of professionals toiling away in
the post-production work of editing, sound, music and special effects; an
organisation for what UK Film Council spokesperson Ian Thomson calls the
"unsung heroes" of our movie industry. Both appear confident in
British abilities, although no one is disputing Quentin Tarantino's
assessment , at the jury press conference, that Blighty's stars tend to
disappear to Hollywood. Dan Jolin, the features editor of Total Film, also
agrees with the banana-chinned auteur in his opinion that the UK needs to
make films with more variety. But the primary reason for Hollywood dominance
is obvious: money. For British product to consistently bust blocks on a
Hollywood scale, we need investment and daring. We need someone to go out on
a limb (I'm sorry. I can't help myself. I'm legless. Oh, no... Have I gone a
step too far? Etc etc.
THE GLAMOUR AND STARS OF CANNES IN PICTURES

"Sorry Marty, didn't see you down there..." Scorsese and DiCaprio promote Gangs Of New York in 2002.
The article continues on the following pages.