Image c: 2008 Universal Studio

ICA announces ‘Booker at the Movies’ season

Christopher Hampton among speakers to discuss adaptations

8 May 2008

The ICA announces today (8 May 2008) the programme for The Booker at the Movies season which begins on 8 June 2008.

The special series of events has been brought together by the Institute of Contemporary Arts and The Booker Prize who celebrate their 60th and 40th anniversaries respectively.

The series of events will ask 'does a good book make a good film?' and will be an opportunity for authors to talk about the experience of seeing their work made into film and for directors to discuss the process and challenges they faced.  Writers, directors, screenwriters and critics will discuss the complex process of turning winning words into winning cinema in panel discussions and Q&A's as part of the season.  

The talks will be accompanied by the screening of four films adapted from Booker-prize winning authors and novels, and the events will run over consecutive Sundays this summer - 8, 15, 22 and 29 June 2008

The events will support cinematICA, a fundraising initiative to secure the future of ICA cinemas.

In total, 39 winning and shortlisted Booker books have been made into films or are currently in production.

The Booker at the Movies will feature:

Sunday 8 June - screening of Possession with AS Byatt
Sunday 15 June - screening of The Van with Roddy Doyle
Sunday 22 June - screening of A Month in the Country with Simon Gray
Sunday 29 June - screening of Atonement with Christopher Hampton

‘We are delighted to be presenting The Booker at the Movies season,' says Ekow Eshun, ICA Artistic Director. ‘Not only does it give us the opportunity to show some great films, but also to explore the fascinating and complex process of turning literature into cinema. Stimulating dialogue is a central aspect of the ICA's mission and so it feels particularly appropriate to further a conversation between film-makers, writers and audiences about whether that abstract, ‘intangible dimension' - as Ingmar Bergman called it - which lies at the heart of writing translates to the screen.'

Ion Trewin, Administrator for the Man Booker Prizes, adds: 'More than a quarter of all Booker prizewinners have been turned into films, and some great ones, The English Patient and Schindler's Ark - both Academy Award winners - among them. And another 25 shortlisted novels have been filmed too. Atonement, Notes on a Scandal and Empire of the Sun stand out in my mind. The prize has acted as an invaluable catalyst for some of the most imaginative film-making of the past four decades.'

The season will go on sale to ICA members live on the ICA website today (8 May 2008) but will go on sale to the general public on Monday 12 May.

For more information you can read the full press release for The Booker at the Movies or visit www.ica.org.uk.

 

 

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