Brick Lane movie wins two awards
Monday, 08 Oct 2007 17:37
Dinard hosts an annual tribute to British film
The controversial film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane has won two awards at the Dinard Film Festival, only two weeks after its Royal Film Performance was cancelled.
Though royal officials claimed the scrapping of the movie's gala screening was due to scheduling problems, protests from residents of the real Brick Lane in east London against the book's "insulting" portrayal of their community are likely to have played an important role in the first cancellation of a royal performance since 1958.
But Sarah Gavron's film has received a warmer welcome in northern France, scooping the prize for the most popular film as well as being rewarded for its screenplay.
Gavron told the BBC that the sequences in Ali's novel which Brick Lane residents objected to did not feature in the film, the story of a Bangladeshi woman who moves to east London for an arranged marriage to an older man.
"We're hoping that once people get the opportunity to see the film they'll realise there is nothing in it to object to," she added.
The Dinard Film Festival is in its 18th year, with over 24,000 movie fans descending on the small Brittany town for a four-day celebration of British cinema.
Hallam Foe also won two awards, claiming the jury prize and the cinematography award.