"Donkeys" Director Morag McKinnon is Scots Hot!

In the press: The List has compiled a list ;) of The Hot 100 2010 that includes some familiar names and faces to those at Sigma. Notable on the compilation is"Donkeys" director Morag McKinnon, ranked at an impressive number 27.

Respected short and TV director McKinnon has been on our radar for a while now and with her debut feature Donkeys (a follow up of sorts to Andrea Arnold’s Glasgow-set drama Red Road) she did not disappoint. It’s one of the year’s best films. (PD)

One of the stars of Donkeys, actor Martin Compston (Red Road), also made the cut, coming in at 21:
The boy’s got soul
Who knew a lad from Greenock could dance as well as he does in enjoyable period drama Soulboy? It’s been a crucial year for Compston, very strong performances in Soulboy and Donkeys aside, this 26-year-old did not stop working, and as a result he has a very healthy roster of future releases.

Also on the list are two from Sigma's next release, Perfect Sense.
Wonderful composer Max Richter is listed at 98:
Off the scale composer
Following 2010 album Infra – the fruits of his collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor and visual artist Julian Opie for the Royal Ballet – the Fat Cat-signed, Edinburgh-based composer’s upcoming calendar includes scoring David McKenzie’s Ewan McGregor-starring film Perfect Sense

Finally, Perfect Sense (and Young Adam) actor extraordinaire Ewan McGregor is noted at number 90.

Thanks to List!

Sigma Films Relaunches with New Website, Plus New Photo of Ewan McGregor & Eva Green in Perfect Sense

Check it out: Sigma Films of Glasgow, Scotland have relaunched their official website, now sporting a very lovely new redesign! Included are pages on some of their outstanding films, both short ones and the main features (more to be added soon, including ONE OF JAMIE SIVES IN WILBUR HINT HINT PLEASE ;P) as well as an official news page, Film City Glasgow section, associates and a contact/feedback page. Of note are a few new photos from David Mackenzie's forthcoming "Perfect Sense," including one new one of Ewan McGregor (shirtless!) & Eva Green, as well as a gorgeous high res photo of a similar one we saw earlier this year.
Stay tuned, for its all onward and upward for this great crew at Sigma!
Congratulations guys, nice work! :)

Photos from Filming of Ciaran Foy's "Citadel"

Production is nearing an end on Sigma Film's newest effort CITADEL and luckily today we have some new photos to show you.

First, many thanks to Blinder Films who have released in glorious high res the photo we saw here earlier of star Aneurin Barnard in his role as Tommy for the new joint Sigma/Blinder Films production "Citadel." Excellent!

Then, again via the personal blog of DoP Tim Fleming we can see some additional and very dramatic shots of Aneurin Barnard from the film, from scenes that take place in the mysterious tunnel and facing those demon child hunters that threaten the main character. Top notch work; this film just looks to be fantastic, can't wait!

Finally, thanks as always to the hard working fantastic crew, Mr Fleming has also posted a pic of what seems to be the camera crew. Prop man Paul Lambie also has tweeted quite a bit during the production (including some great twitter photos you gotta check out yourself here), and noted they are currently over in Dublin for a few days on the film as well.

Citadel is due for release next year.

Al Plays Guitar

Al, he plays guitar....


Last August, we were treated to brief footage of Sigma's own Alastair Mackenzie in his new role as Monty in Todd Tucker's family 'horror' film Monster Mutt. As noted here several times (most recently last month) the film is coming out on DVD on January 4, and the company has released a new music video to help in this endeavor. In the new video, at around the 1:33 mark, we see a familar face, in his spiffy wig and robe and all, enjoying a late night rock band session, where Al plays guitar :D wheee! I LOVE YOU AL! Enjoy!

Video Interview: Colin Kennedy on "I Love Luci" at Interfilm Berlin Festival

What a good Monday this has turned out to be, as now we have a special treat in the form of a rare video interview with Sigma's own Colin Kennedy! Speaking about his hit short film "I Love Luci," Colin describes how he came to discover the hilarious story of missing teeth and love, as well as comments on his two stellar stars, Camila Rutherford and Colin Harris. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT: I Love Luci continues to earn honors, as Luci was indeed a WINNER at interfilm Festival Berlin, winning in the International Competition section for "Best Fiction" CONGRATULATIONS COLIN, BRIAN all at Sigma and team Luci! yay! :)

David Mackenzie Comments on "Perfect Sense" Screening at Sundance Film Festival

With the Sundance Film Festival set to take place next month, the press machine is now cranking up. As such, we are lucky today to see a new comment from Sigma's own David Mackenzie on his latest film "Perfect Sense" which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Via Trust Nordisk:

David Mackenzie, who directed the award-winning HALLAM FOE (2007), is delighted about being a part of the festival: “It's wonderful to be having the World Premiere of Perfect Sense at Sundance, in the company of the kind of independent, trailblazing, edgy films that the festival is famous for”.

There are also two new description of the film (which runs 90 mins) now online for us. First, from the Trust Nordisk piece which reads:

"PERFECT SENSE tells the story about Susan, who is a scientist searching for answers to important questions. So important that she has given up on other things, including love - until she meets Michael, a talented chef. Suddenly everything starts to change. While Susan and Michael are experiencing new and unforeseen depths of feeling, all around the world people are also beginning to feel strange - something is affecting the emotions. Susan and Michael find themselves embarking on a sensual adventure, experiencing head-spinning, stomach-tightening moments of pure connection. Is this because they are falling in love or is it because the world is falling apart? A life affirming look at what it means to love and be loved in these turbulent times."
As first reported here on this blog, Perfect Sense will debut on January 24, with the Sundance Film Festival website now updated with this date, as well as a week's worth of screenings; plenty of chances for attendees and others to catch the film at various events in both Park City and in Salt Lake City (last screening date, Sun, Jan. 30th.) There is also a second description of the new film starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green at the site, which reads as follows:

When Susan (Eva Green), an epidemiologist, reemerges from an affair gone sour, she encounters a peculiar patient—a Glasgow truck driver who experienced a sudden, uncontrollable crying fit. Now he is calm, but he has lost his sense of smell. Susan learns there are 11 cases like him in Glasgow, 7 in Aberdeen, 5 in Dundee, and 18 in Edinburgh. In fact, Great Britain has 100 cases, with additional ones reported in France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, and they all appeared in the last 24 hours. Although Susan’s encounter with Michael (Ewan McGregor), a local restaurant chef, holds the promise of new love, the world is about to change dramatically. People across the globe begin to suffer strange symptoms, affecting the emotions, then the senses.

Indie Wire's The Playlist has a short recap of the film online today as well, noting again the name change etc, as well as a brief mention of David's other new film "You Instead" that will premiere later in 2011. Finally, big kudos and thanks to very cool Jon & co at ReelScotland for not only the shoutout mention in their piece on Perfect Sense for Sundance, but for also for the credit on info which very rare these days heh, and much appreciated.

Bonus: On this blog we were able to see some wonderful filming photos (see my coverage at this link), but one truly excellent photo of note can be found on Flickr from "one day alive" (he also shot Colin I think?), showing this lovely black & white capture of a gaffer on the "Perfect Sense." You can see here lovely face at the top, but I really love the whole photo for a close up shows her tattered belt, clapboard bearing David mackenzie's name sense info etc, and her also sporting lots of tape :) Just an ace photo, so so well done, love it!

Filming Through the Snow: "Citadel" on Location Video, More

While news has um frozen to a slow Icetrickle due to the tundra that has descended upon seemingly most of us in the northern part of the world lol, the hearty folk at Sigma Films continue on with filming for Ciaran Foy's "Citadel." Note that even Colin Kennedy has taken to sporting a staypuff production man look for the inclement weather lol LOVE HIm!. Weather is dreadful to be certain yet things progress onward even so as noted by and many thanks to crew member extraordinaire and props man Paul Lambie, we can now see some video he shot of the frozen location below:



Paul also tweets his harrowing adventures this past week, on location in various places like a Yokerhill hospital or a hilltop cemetery in Glasgow or and noted that even star James Cosmo got stuck in the snow (just like so so many of us all around the world it seems lol) Be sure to follow Paul here for more! You can also see some very cool location photos (mostly pre-blizzard bomb photos lol altho a few more recent) on the personal blog of the superb cameraman Tim Fleming who is shooting Citadel. good stuff indeed! Citadel continues through snow wind rain and hail for a few more weeks yet before off to Dublin and wrapping later this month.

(Updated)Jamie Sives Attends BIFA Awards

More Jamie Sives goodness to keep our mind off the dread snow and cold...new pics of Jamie and his friend JJ Feild at last night's British Independent Film Awards YAYAY! Video soon, stay tuned! :) (click for large size)

As we know, Jamie Sives was a jury member this year for the BIFAs, and had avoided most of the press at the entrance to the event last night, so this is A GREAT TREAT, especially when seen with his good mate JJ. Benedict, his other good mate and one time co-star was also there and we were hoping for a shot of the three mates, but still this is WONDERFUL WOOHOO WHAT A NIGHT! Game of thrones preview and the BIFAs! :)

UPDATE: Thanks to Jamie who updated his IMDB page with several more pics from the BIFA, including new photos of him presenting the Best Foreign Film award.


Also new is a fun photo of Jamie, taken with his good mate Russell Brand at Russell's stag party at the West Ham United football match back in late September. (You can also spot Jamie in a different angle of the photo seen in the Metro)

Comes a White Horse: Jamie Sives & Inside Game of Thrones Preview

Behold, the rider on a horse of white!




Jamie Sives as Jory, seen in the new "Inside the Game of Thrones" preview from HBO.
Now that I have proper power, sat. and internet again!!! oy (right in the middle of the thing too at the Mildred pierce commercial break gah couldnt believe it-how long till Spring?) here are some screencaps of the new preview I made last night before all went astray lol. Love the scar on Jamie and he looked great working with Sean Bean too!Video here at the making of site WHERE YOU CAN SEE AN ACTUAL CLIP OF JAMIE TALKING WITH SEAN BEAN or below, thanks to Movieweb :)



Be sure to check out Westeros who have very good screencaps of the whole thing including three HIGH RES ones of our Jamie (sooo great to see Joseph Mawle, Jamie's co-star in the Passion who is such a great actor). If you subscribe to the iTunes podcast as I do, dearly hoping the finer quality video of this will be up in a few days (or week), so hanging tight for that! Meanwhile, have to say am most impressed with this (Sean bean= excellent!), roll on April! :)

Finally, while a couple days old, sorry!, the ever wonderful Kate Dickie, gave a new interview to the Guardian, where she spoke of not only her role in the upcoming HBO series Game of Thrones, but also of her work on Sigma Films on Red Road and Donkeys.

Sigma Aint Afraid of No Snow

Sigma ain't afraid of no snow !!!!

;)

Neither storm nor hail nor budget crunches nor the wretched snow blitz that has befallen most of the UK and Europe of late can stop production on Sigma Film's latest effort: Citadel. In a press release issued by co-producers Blinder Films of Ireland, we heard from producers Katie Holly and Sigma's own Brian Coffey regarding the effect, if any, the terrible weather is having on the shoot for Citadel:

“In these truly Siberian conditions we’ve had to face all kinds of issues – cancelled flights, impassable roads, freezing conditions – a snow plough was even drafted in to preserve this already ambitious schedule. It’s ironic given that we’re shooting a film where the central character is afflicted with agoraphobia that we have to spend so much time out of doors! We’re just thrilled that we have such an amazingly resilient, adaptable and committed cast and crew who are battling the elements to get us through and we are literally ploughing on despite everything that has been thrown at us. Spirits are high, the performances are amazing, the material fantastic and Citadel’s off to Dublin come wind, hail or snow.”

No word on who might be manning that snowplow lol (prob Gillian who is afraid of NOTHING :D just kidding but still AWESOME!)

As first reported here on this blog earlier, production has indeed begun on Ciaran Foy's Citadel with production based out of Film City Glasgow and on location in the area for the next few weeks, then one week in Dublin (more at this link) Again, as noted previously, the new film "features Aneurin Barnard (Ironclad, Hunky Dory, Guinea Pigs) in the lead role of Tommy, alongside Scotland’s finest, James Cosmo (Braveheart, Troy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Runway) and Wunmi Mosuka (I am Slave, One Night in Emergency ) as Marie. Co-stars include Ingrid Craigie and Amy Shiels"

Citadel is due to be released in theatres next fall

David Mackenzie's "Perfect Sense" with Ewan McGregor, Eva Green to Screen at Sundance Film Festival!

At long last, I am thrilled to confirm those rumors: David Mackenzie's "Perfect Sense" with Ewan McGregor & Eva Green will indeed screen at the Sundance Film Festival next month. YAY!

Previously known as "The Last Word" the newest motion picture from Sigma Films' own David Mackenzie will premiere at the US festival next month, with a tentative date set for JANUARY 24. I will update with more, ticket info etc as soon as the official Sundance website formally releases that info.

As part of the PR process, some NEW & GORGEOUS HIGH RES photos for "Perfect Sense" have been released (click on each pic for the High res please), including my favorite director (looking less beardly and ever handsome above)
this new photo of Ewan & Ewen : D
The always fabulous Eva Green and another of Chef Ewan :)

LINKS TO LARGE PICS ON MY FLICKR AS FOLLOWS
CHEF EWAN HERE
EVA GREEN HERE
EWAN EWEN HERE

DAVID MACKENZIE HERE