The members of the Michael Powell Award jury were announced by the Edinburgh Film Festival today.
The 2007 jury includes Sundance Film Festival director Geoff Gilmore, British novelist Jonathan Coe, star of Pawel Pawlikowski's Michael Powell Award winner My Summer Of Love, Natalie Press, the award-winning Scottish star of Red Road Kate Dickie and American film critic Jay Weissberg.
Named in honour of one of Britain’s most original filmmakers, and inaugurated in 1993, the Michael Powell Award – sponsored by the UK Film Council – is given to the best new British feature film in the Festival and celebrates imagination and creativity in British filmmaking.
Lenny Crooks, Head of the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund said: "Rewarding imagination and creativity in British filmmaking, the Michael Powell nominations recognise British films both by established film-makers and newcomers, and reflect the breadth of UK film-making today."
For the first time, the Michael Powell Award jury will also be judging an award to honour the best performance in a British feature film. In spite of the illustrious guest list over the past 60 festivals, EIFF has never had an acting award and it is thanks to the generous support of PPG the award can be launched in 2007.
The titles eligible for the Michael Powell Award and PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film 2007 are:
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Control
Extraordinary Rendition
Hallam Foe
My Life as a Bus Stop
Saxon
Seachd - the Inaccessible Pinnacle
Special People
Sugarhouse
The Waiting Room
WAZ