Happy Birthday BFI -A Report from the Party

CCI lecturer Dr Harvey Cohen and centre Director Dr Richard Howells were in distinguished company as guests at the British Film Institute’s 75th birthday party.

The first part of the event was a mixture of film clips and guest appearances from directors such as Terence Davies (“Of Time and the City”; “Distant Voices, Still Lives”) , Stephen Frears (“The Queen”; “Dangerous Liaisons”), Gurinder Chada (“Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging”; “Bend It Like Beckham”) and Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Ultimatum”; “Bloody Sunday”, along with actors such as Leslie Phillips and Jaime Winstone.

Of course, the after-show reception is often the most fun about these sorts of things. Lost in CCI spotted Drs Howells and Cohen in catching up with Terence Davies (an old friend of ours) and composer Michael Nyman (“The Libertine”; “The Piano”), who is also a King’s College London alumnus. Nyman was overheard quizzing Cohen about the CCI lecturer’s forthcoming book on Duke Ellington (Chicago University Press).

You overheard it here first.

Night of the AdEaters

Our friends at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising have been in touch to tell us about what they describe as a night of the “world’s best advertainment”. Indeed, they go on to say it’s “set to be the creative celebration of the century” (well, they are practitioners in advertising…).

According to Kate Stanners, Creative Partner, Saatchi & Saatchi and Chair, IPA Creative Forum, “Night of the AdEaters is set to be an explosion of wacky, powerful, funny, sexy, informative and creative advertisements – many of which we will never have seen before. Added to which there is some fantastic entertainment on the cards to make this a must-see event.”

The show will celebrate over 350 of “the finest, most amazing, artistic and creative television and cinema advertising from around the world, including the best Russian, Asian, African, South American and UK advertising. It will also be interspersed with a menagerie of entertaining acts, and hosted by rapping elderly comedy drag queen Ida Barr; think Granny meets Missy Elliott!”

The show takes place at the Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AH on Thursday 16th October. Doors open at 6pm, the reel will commence at 7pm and it is due to finish at 1am.

Tickets cost £25 (inc.VAT) or £10 (incl.VAT) for students (valid student card required). To buy tickets, and to view the creative work, visit www.adeaters.co.uk or contact Sophie Walker on 020 7201 8224.

The IPA and the MA CCI are connected through Centre for Cultural, Media and Creative Industries Research Director Dr Richard Howells, who was on the judging panel for the IPA awards, 2007.

London Design Festival

Our friends at the London Design Festival (an MA CCI internship host for two years running) have announced the schedule for this year’s festival, from 15 to 19 September. See here for further details.

“What Happens Next”?

The German Embassy in London has contacted Lost in CCI to tell us about a competition with prizes of work placements in the arts, media and communications in Germany. It’s open to students in all subject areas, and you don’t have to speak German!

What you have to do is imagine an encounter between a famous German and a famous British personality. Where does it take place? And what happens next?

Submissions may be in written, audio or visual media. Full details are available at http://london.daad.de

The deadline is October 24.