Birmingham Film Market open for applications

midlandsmovies • July 31, 2021
Birmingham Film Market open for applications

The Birmingham Film Market is a one-day pitch, sales and network event taking place 26 November 2021 at The Grand Hotel Birmingham designed to link film, TV and digital content makers from the Midlands with the industry professionals.

It’s been a tough time for the creative sector and harder for emerging and regional talent to get their projects developed, financed and produced.

Yet as filmmakers themselves, the BFM team know how hard it can be to get projects in the hands of the gatekeepers. And so with their knowledge, they want to help create opportunities and inject fresh and inclusive voices into the UK film and television industry, stimulating growth and investment in the region.

Places at the event are limited to no more than fifty filmmakers who register their projects, pending a selection process and one-to-one consultation with their team, pitching no more than three projects during the event.

Below is their full information for filmmakers interested in applying for #BFM2021

Anyone searching for finance for film projects, looking for distribution or has an idea for a TV series but no production deal in place should read on. The BFM are inviting filmmakers to join leading Film & TV Industry Executives at a one day commercial pitch and networking event on Friday 26 November 2021 at the historic Grand Hotel Birmingham. 

Apply now for a chance to pitch to leading film and TV production executives at the Birmingham Film Market 2021. Open to UK based filmmakers. Register by clicking here and submitting before midnight on 27th August 2021. 

In addition, if you have either a fully completed feature length film / a feature length project in development for SVOD / Cinema or a high end TV Drama (including multi-part TV series) apply today to get the opportunity to pitch to industry execs from companies such as: CURZON, Goldfinch, Creative England, Bad Wolf, Kit de Waal’s Portopia Productions, Bankside Films, Artemisia Films, Independent Film Company and Charlie Brooker’s Broke and Bones...with more still to announce. You can see the list of confirmed industry execs attending here: https://bit.ly/3iZysJv


Successful BFM 2021 applicants will be invited to their ‘Match Fit - Sales & Distribution Masterclass & Pitch Perfection’ event on 23rd November (Free to attend). In collaboration with the Birmingham Film Festival this is an opportunity to fine tune pitching skills, enhance understanding of the business side of the film industry and maximise chances of striking a professional.


Applicants to the BFM will also have a chance to win ‘The Steven Knight - Make it in Birmingham award’. Screenwriter, director and creator of Peaky Blinders; Steven Knight has created this award with the Birmingham Film Market to acknowledge and support filmmakers with exceptional stories from Birmingham and the West Midlands.


The winner will receive an exclusive award trophy, presented at the Birmingham Film Festival Awards Gala and and exclusive online one to one project development mentoring session with Steven Knight. See details of how to qualify here: https://bit.ly/3yaECNt

By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
On the 24th of April, the Midlands Art Centre opened its doors to Gobby Flicks Productions for a night of live comedy. Proceeds were raised towards the production of new short comedy films, directed and written by women.
By midlandsmovies April 25, 2025
Ti West’s The House of the Devil makes a wonderful companion piece to his film The Innkeepers. Both maintain the director’s referential approach to horror, incapsulating it in a slow burning 90 minutes that manages to build and maintain tension while cheekily winking to the audience and showing the mechanisms behind the scares.
By midlandsmovies April 21, 2025
Read the full list of nominees for the Midlands Movies Awards 2025
Show More