Oval Space Cinema Club presents: Berberian Sound Studio

Continuing with its monthly series of independent film screenings, Oval Space Cinema Club is delighted to announce its Halloween special: Berberian Sound Studio, the multiple award-winning 2012 psychological thriller by acclaimed director Peter Strickland.

Curated with dedication to the art and power of filmmaking, Oval Space Cinema Club covers everything from groundbreaking political documentaries to art house explorations from across the globe. Always geared to adding something extra to the cinematic experience, Oval Space aims to engage and inspire film fans with a carefully selected program of Q + As with directors, heated panel discussions, open debates and more.

Set in 1976, the film follows mild-mannered and introverted sound engineer Gilderoy (Toby Jones) as he leaves the comfort of the home he shares with his mother in Dorking for a film studio in Italy. Having previously specialised in providing the sounds of babbling brooks and birdcalls for British natural history films, Gilderoy finds himself at the centre of a production for ‘The Equestrian Vortex’, a gory horror film by exploitation maestro Giancarlo Santini, requiring him to design sounds for mutilation, torture and terror.

Soon, life begins to imitate art and Gilderoy finds himself lost in a downward spiral of on-screen witchcraft, off-screen sexual intrigue and psychological mayhem as realities shift.

An homage to the art of analogue sound and a brilliantly executed deconstruction of the Italian horror genre, Strickland’s masterpiece features an excellent soundtrack from Broadcast, a signature band of Warp Records and has won multiple awards, including Best Film at the Toronto Film Critics Association, Film of the Year at the Evening Standard London Film Awards and Best Actor nods for Toby Jones at the Evening Standard London Film Awards and the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).

Berberian Sound Studio Picks Up Most Wins at 2012 British Independent Film Awards

Berberian Sound Studio picked up the most wins at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards last night Sunday 9th December.

The film won four Moët British Independent Film Awards in the following categories:

Best Director - Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio) - WINNER

Best Actor - Toby Jones (Berberian Sound Studio) - WINNER

Best Achievement in Production - Berberian Sound Studio - WINNER

Best Technical Achievement - Joakim Sundström, Stevie Haywood AMPS IPS - Sound Design (Berberian Sound Studio) - WINNER

Commenting on the wins Philip Knatchbull, CEO of Curzon Artificial Eye said, “Artificial Eye are delighted that Berberian Sound Studio has been honoured with four awards at this year's British Independent Film Awards and are proud to continue supporting outstanding British film talent”

Winner of the Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor awards at the 2012 Film 4 Frightfest, Peter Strickland’s disturbing, eerie chiller is a must-see for fans of the work of Dario Argento, Roman Polanski and David Lynch and features a revelatory central performance by Toby Jones and a superb soundtrack by British indie electronic band, Broadcast.

Berberian Sound Studio is release on DVD & Blu-Ray and VOD 31 Dec 2012 (stayed tuned for review) and is available now on Curzon on Demand.

The soundtrack to Berberian Sound Studio, composed by renowned Warp-signed band Broadcast (aka Trish Keenan and James Cargill) is released a week later, on Jan 7th 2013. Time Out said of the film that the “stylistically ambitious, morally radical, thematically complex work…deserves the highest praise”. This turns out to also be an apt description of the film’s sublime soundtrack.

Initially conceived as the soundtrack to The Equestrian Vortex, the film-within-a-film (watch opening credits Below) around which Berberian Sound Studio unfolds, it would eventually spill outwards to encapsulate the entire world Strickland had created and populated with eccentric, magnetic characters. On it’s own, the music sets a sinister and atmospheric tone that still exists well within Broadcast’s sonic universe.



synopsis:It’s 1976 and timid, Dorking-based sound engineer, Gilderoy, has been transplanted to Italy’s run-down Berberian Sound Studio to work on “The Equestrian Vortex”, the latest low-budget horror movie by notorious exploitation maestro Giancarlo Santini. Gilderoy’s task is a seemingly simple one: to create, record and mix the sounds of bloodcurdling screams, limbs being severed and the insertion of red hot pokers into human orifices, mostly using a variety of everyday household items such as old vegetables and a hammer. But Gilderoy is totally unprepared for the graphically grotesque images on show, the effect they have on him and for the unusual working practices of his employers. As he becomes more deeply involved in his work, the line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred and, very subtly, Gilderoy’s life begins to imitate art in a nightmare scenario from which he may never escape.
Buy Soundtrack :Berberian Sound Studio

15th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards Nominees & Jury Announced

The nominations for the 15th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced today, at St Martins Lane, London by actor and BIFA Patron, Adrian Lester.

Joint Directors, The Moët British Independent Film Awards’ Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: “In this our 15th year, we are delighted to welcome back six-time former host James Nesbitt. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated Pre-Selection Committee who watched over 200 films in order to produce the 2012 Nominations, which once again reflect the diverse range of British film talent, and also welcome this year’s appointed independent Jury who will now spend the next month considering the nominated films.”

The highest number of nominations this year goes to Broken with 9 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Debut Director for Rufus Norris, Best Actor for Tim Roth and two Best Supporting Actor nominations for Cillian Murphy and Rory Kinnear. Sightseers and Berberian Sound Studio both picked up 7 nominations each.

Nominations for Best Actress go to Alice Lowe for Sightseers, Andrea Riseborough for Shadow Dancer, Elle Fanning for Ginger & Rosa, Judi Dench for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Along with Tim Roth for Broken, leading men hoping to take home the Best Actor award include Riz Ahmed for Ill Manors, Steve Oram for Sightseers, Terence Stamp for Song for Marion and Toby Jones for Berberian Sound Studio.

Directors who have delivered dynamic debuts this year and are fighting for the Douglas Hickox Award are Bart Layton for The Imposter, Ben Drew for Ill Manors, Rowan Athale for Wasteland, Sally El Hosaini for My Brother the Devil and as mentioned previously Rufus Norris for Broken.

Best supporting Actor nominations go to Billy Connolly for Quartet, Domhnall Gleeson for Shadow Dancer, Tom Wilkinson for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the two Broken actors Cillian Murphy & Rory Kinnear.

Alice Englert for Ginger & Rosa, Eileen Davies for Sightseers, Maggie Smith for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Olivia Colman for Hyde Park on Hudson and Vanessa Redgrave for Song for Marion are all nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award.

Emelie De Vitis, Marketing Director for Moët & Chandon commented: “Moët & Chandon is delighted to support BIFA for the third year running. The nominations again reveal the amazing depth of film talent in Britain and we look forward to toasting the winners' success along with BIFA’s 15th birthday on December 9th’.

Amanda Nevill, Chief Executive of the BFI, comments: “At 15 years old, the BIFAs are now firmly established as a key date in the UK film industry calendar and we’re delighted to be supporting this year’s awards. The BIFAs are the UK’s only awards focusing entirely on independent British films, as such they really help to shine a spotlight on the vast range and breadth of excellence in independent UK filmmaking - helping to promote independent British films to new audiences, and setting a focus on the Best of British just as the international awards season begins.”

The Raindance Award nominees for 2012 include: Frank, Strings, Love Tomorrow City Slacker and Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet. This award honours exceptional achievement for filmmakers working against the odds, often with little or no industry support.

Elliot Grove, Founder Raindance Film Festival and Moët British Independent Film Awards added: "The Raindance Award has become the beacon for new talent. These five films show what Raindance is all about: great acting, storytelling and production values, each made with limited resources against impossible odds."

The Pre-Selection Committee of 70 members viewed nearly 200 films, out of which they selected the nominations, which were decided by ballot.

The winners of The Moët British Independent Film Awards are decided by an independent jury comprised of leading professionals and talent from the British film industry.

The Jury for 2012 includes:
Chair - Alison Owen (Producer), Adrian Hodges (Writer), Christine Bottomley (Actress), Danny Leigh (Film Critic), Iain Canning (Producer), Jamie Thraves (Director/Writer), Jina Jay (Casting Director), John Boyega (Actor), John Fletcher (Marketing Director, Paramount), Lesley Sharp (Actress), Maria Djurkovic (Production Designer), Michelle Eastwood (Producer), Nick Angel (Music Supervisor), Paul Franklin (SFX Supervisor), Tom Hiddleston (Actor), Tristan Goligher (Producer).
The winners will be announced at the much anticipated 15th awards ceremony which will be hosted by actor and BIFA Patron, James Nesbitt, who returns for his seventh year on Sunday 9 December at the impressive Old Billingsgate in London.

The Moët British Independent Film Awards is proud to announce the following nominees for this year’s awards:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM Sponsored by Moët & Chandon
Berberian Sound Studio
Broken
Sightseers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Imposter

BEST DIRECTOR Sponsored by AllCity & Intermission
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Wheatley – Sightseers
John Madden – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio
Rufus Norris – Broken

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR] Sponsored by 3 Mills Studios
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Drew – Ill Manors
Rowan Athale – Wasteland
Rufus Norris – Broken
Sally El Hosaini – My Brother the Devil

BEST SCREENPLAY Sponsored by BBC Films
Abi Morgan – The Iron Lady
Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Amy Jump – Sightseers
Mark O'Rowe – Broken
Paul Andrew Williams – Song for Marion
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio
BEST ACTRESS Sponsored by M.A.C
Alice Lowe (Tina) – Sightseers
Andrea Riseborough (Colette McVeigh) – Shadow Dancer
Elle Fanning (Ginger) – Ginger & Rosa
Judi Dench (Evelyn Greenslade) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady

BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed (Aaron) – Ill Manors
Steve Oram (Chris) – Sightseers
Terence Stamp (Arthur) – Song for Marion
Tim Roth (Archie) – Broken
Toby Jones (Gilderoy) – Berberian Sound Studio

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alice Englert (Rosa) – Ginger & Rosa
Eileen Davies (Carol) – Sightseers
Maggie Smith (Muriel Donnelly) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth) – Hyde Park on Hudson
Vanessa Redgrave (Marion) – Song for Marion

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Sponsored by Sanderson & St Martins Lane
Billy Connolly (Wilf) – Quartet
Cillian Murphy (Mike Kiernan) – Broken
Domhnall Gleeson (Connor) – Shadow Dancer
Rory Kinnear (Bob Oswald) – Broken
Tom Wilkinson (Graham Dashwood) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER Sponsored by Studiocanal
Elliott Tittensor (Tits) – Spike Island
Eloise Laurence (Skunk) – Broken
James Floyd (Rashid) – My Brother the Devil
Paul Brannigan (Robbie) – The Angels' Share
Zawe Ashton (Joyce Vincent) – Dreams of a Life

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION Sponsored by Company3
Berberian Sound Studio
Ill Manors
Sightseers
The Imposter
The Sweeney

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT Sponsored by Light Brigade

MediaNic Knowland Bsc– Cinematography – Berberian Sound Studio
Joakim Sundström, Stevie Haywood AMPS IPS– Sound Design – Berberian Sound Studio
Electric Wave Bureau – Music – Broken
Robbie Ryan – Cinematography – Ginger & Rosa
Andrew Hulme – Editing – The Imposter

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Dreams of a Life
London: The Modern Babylon
Marley
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
The Imposter

BEST BRITISH SHORT (Supported by the BFI)
Friday
Junk
Skyborn
Swimmer
Volume

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Rust & Bone
Searching For Sugar Man
The Hunt

THE RAINDANCE AWARD
Frank
Strings
Love Tomorrow
City Slacker
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution by an actor to British Film) To Be Announced

THE VARIETY AWARD To Be Announced

THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZEAnnounced at the Moët British Independent Film Awards on Sunday 9th December

Proud supporters and patrons of The Moët British Independent Film Awards include Mike Figgis, Tom Hollander, Adrian Lester, Ken Loach, Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Samantha Morton, James Nesbitt, Michael Sheen, Trudie Styler, Tilda Swinton, Meera Syal, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone and Michael Winterbottom.

The Moët British Independent Film Awards would like to thank all its supporters, especially: Moët & Chandon, BFI, 3 Mills Studios, BBC Films, Company3, M.A.C, Raindance, Sanderson & St Martins Lane – Morgans Hotel Group, Soho House, Studiocanal, Swarovski, Variety, AD Creative, AllCity, Intermission and LightBrigade Media.

To find out more, visit the official BIFA website at: http://www.bifa.org.uk

Good luck to all the nominees!

Frightfest 2012: Stylish Trailer For Berberbian Sound Studio

Horror fans know outside the Golden era of Horror films with Hammer, Italian horror and Giallo especially gave fresh impotence to the genre. It's thanks to a unknown  UK sound sound designer Gilderoy (Toby Jones) he helped to re-define the horror sound but as  the story goes in Berberbian Sound Studio  Peter Strickland's new film  that sinister side of the film maybe following him outside his work.

The film made it's world premier at last month's Edinburgh Film Festival (read Andrew's review) and will be playing at next months Film4 Frightfest in London just before its UK release. Artificial Eye Films  have released the films new official trailer which is highly stylised which arthouse and Giallo fans will both love.

Berberian Sound Studio will be released in UK&Ireland August 31st.

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Berberian Sound Studio official trailer - in cinemas 31 August Published via LongTail.tv

In the 1970s, a British sound technician (Toby Jones) is brought to Italy to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film. His nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche, driving him to confront his own past. Berberian Sound Studio is many things: an anti-horror film, a stylistic tour de force, and a dream of cinema. As such, it offers a kind of pleasure that is rare in films, while recreating in a highly original way the pleasures of Italian horror cinema.

EIFF 2012: Berberian Sound Studio Review

★★★1/2☆

Director, Peter Strickland (Katalin Varga) presents us with the truly unsettling look at the power of sound in his latest feature, the Toby Jones lead, Berberian Sound Studio - which makes its world premiere at this years' Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Set in the 1970s, Berberian Sound Studio follows British sound technician, Gilderoy, as he works in Italy on a gruesome horror film. Soon Gilderoy's work on this dark feature slowly begins to bleed into his everyday life.

Berberian Sound Studio is certainly not a horror film, instead more of a psychological thriller reminiscent of Hammer Films "Mini-Hitchcocks". This completely absorbing and brooding drama manages to be unsettling, rather than scary. Strickland's direction immediately emphasises a sense of foreboding, with the distinctive use of the sounds created in the studio capturing Gilderoy's troubling mental state.

The vibrant and unsettling power of the sound is so strong, that we never see any of the imagery linked to this gruesome horror film (apart from its blood red opening titles) it is simply talked about, yet seeing these sounds created still has a sinister impact. Who knew hacking a watermelon or smashing some courgettes on ground could have such a chilling impact.

Berberian Sound Studio is at its best when capturing the changing mental state of Gilderoy - most notably one frantic, dream-like sequence where the technician's life blurs with the Italian horror film as he believes there is an intruder in his apartment. Jones performance is terrifically understated, managing to capture both his initial coyness to his more extreme infuriation whilst working on the project. For an actor, that is traditionally cast in supporting roles, Jones proves to be equally impressive in a leading role.

Unfortunately, a utterly confusing and unnecessary twist ending spoils the foreboding and impact so carefully established throughout Berberian Sound Studio. This extreme twist is not given the build-up that it deserves only working as a method of shocking the viewer, but lacking any clear explanation or clarity. It marks a disappointing end to an otherwise well-crafted piece of cinema.

For the most part, Berberian Sound Studio is a unsettling, brooding psychological horror, boasting a magnificent turn from Toby Jones. The well-crafted narrative and powerful sound use are unfortunately spoilt by an over-ambitious twist ending.

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Toby Jones, Tonia Sotiropoulou , Cosimo Fusco
Director: Peter Strickland
Release: 28th June (EIFF) August 31st, 2012 (UK)