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Speakit Films
Speakit Films is a British film production company established in 2004 by writer, director and producer team Nick Francis and Marc J. Francis. The company is best known for the award-winning 2006 Sundance hit '' Black Gold'' and the acclaimed BBC, ARTE and VPRO co-production '' When China Met Africa''. Their work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, the Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation, the UK Film Council, CNC and EU Media Fund. Speakit's films have been released in cinemas and on television in over 40 countries (e.g.: BBCChannel 4 Arte France, PBS, NHK, Al-Jazeera, NRK, SVT, VPRO, YLE, National Geographic and SABC). In addition to producing feature documentaries, Speakit makes short films and works with organizations to help them tell their own story. Productions *'' Black Gold'' (2006) *'' When China Met Africa'' (2010) *''Madam President'' (2012) *''A Life on Hold'' (2012) *''Rain is Beautiful'' (2012) References External links * Film productio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Documentary Films
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception hat remainsa practice without clear boundaries". Early documentary films, originally called " actuality films", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length, and to include more categories. Some examples are educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic. Social-media platforms (such as YouTube) have provided an avenue for the growth of the documentary-film genre. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feature Films
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinee programs, especially in the US and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on weekends. The first narrative feature film was the 60-minute '' The Story of the Kelly Gang'' (1906, Australia). Other early feature films include ''Les Misérables'' (1909, U.S.), '' L'Inferno'', '' Defence of Sevastopol'' (1911), ''Oliver Twist'' (American version), ''Oliver Twist'' (British version), ''Richard III'', '' From the Manger to the Cross'', ''Cleopatra'' (1912), ''Quo Vadis?'' (1913), '' Cabiria'' (1914) and ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). Description The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Films
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in some cases, distributed by major companies). Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films. It is not unusual for well-known actors who are cast in independent features to take substantial pay cuts for a variety of reasons: if they truly believe in the message of the film; they feel indebted to filmmaker for a career break; their career is otherwise stalled or they feel unable to manage a larger commitment to a studio film; the film offers an opportunity to showcase a talent that hasn't gained traction in the studio system; or s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Gold (2006 Film)
''Black Gold'' is a 2006 documentary film that follows the efforts of an Ethiopian coffee union manager as he travels the world to obtain a better price for his workers' coffee beans. The film was directed and produced by Marc James Francis and Nick Francis from Speakit Films, and co-produced by Christopher Hird. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Synopsis The film focuses on the coffee growers of the Oromia Region of southern and western Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. It follows Tadesse Meskela, the General Manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he visits coffee-growing regions in Sidamo and Oromia (including the Kilenso Mokonisa Cooperative in the Bule Hora woreda in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region), as well as a coffee processing center, a coffee auction house, and his union's headquarters in Addis Ababa. He also travels to England and the United States in an effort to promote Ethiopian coffee by eliminating the numerous m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
When China Met Africa (film)
''When China Met Africa'' is a 2010 documentary film by Nick Francis and Marc James Francis. Set on the front line of Chinaʼs foray into Africa, it follows the lives of a Chinese farmer, a road builder, and the Zambian trade minister. ''When China Met Africa'' was an international co-production involving BBC Storyville, Arte France, VPRO, the Sundance Institute, CNC and the Media Fund, and produced by Speakit Films and Zeta Productions. The film played at international film festivals including Rotterdam Film Festival, Munich, Goteburg and at the Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York, where it won best film. It was released in cinemas in the UK in 2011 and was seen on television around the world. ''When China Met Africa'' was characterised by The Guardian as 'An eye-opening documentary that puts into concrete images that truism of the geo-political commentariat: that China is a new economic superpower' and The Times summarised it as 'A rare, grass-roots view into one of the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
