The Carl Foreman Award: A Short History
10 February 08
The Carl Foreman Award recognises and encourages the most promising new British directors, writers and producers.
BAFTA / Brian Ritchie
RECENT WINNERS
- 2007 – Matt Greenhalgh (writer, Control)
- 2006 – Andrea Arnold (director, Red Road)
- 2005 – Joe Wright (director, Pride & Prejudice)
- 2004 – Amma Asante (writer/director, A Way Of Life)
- 2003 – Emily Young (writer/director, Kiss Of Life)
- 2002 – Asif Kapadia (writer/director, The Warrior)
- 2001 – Joel Hopkins and Nicola Usborne (writer/director & producer, Jump Tomorrow)
- 2000 – Pawel Pawlikowski (writer/director, Last Resort)
Watch Carl Foreman Awards winner Matt Greenhalgh interviewed
The Carl Foreman Award For Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film recognises and encourages the most promising new British directors, writers and producers.
The award was introduced in 1998 and is sponsored by the Foreman Williams-Jones Foundation and Film Finances Inc. and includes a £10,000 cash prize.
At the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2008 the Carl Foreman Award was presented to writer Matt Greenhalgh for his work on the Ian Curtis biopic, Control.
A Short History
Born in Chicago, Carl Foreman made his mark in Hollywood with such notable screenplays as Champion (1949), which established Kirk Douglas as a major star, and The Men (1950), which launched the career of Marlon Brando. During the filming of High Noon (1952), for which he not only produced but also wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay, Carl was summoned to appear before the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee.
Refusing to “name names,” he was blacklisted and forced to move to Britain to further his career. In 1957 he won an Oscar with Michael Wilson for their screenplay of Bridge On The River Kwai. Carl went on to produce, write and direct films, including The Mouse That Roared (1959), Guns Of Navarone (1961), The Victors (1963), Born Free (1966) and Young Winston (1972). In 1976, he was honoured by his adoptive country with a CBE – rare for an American.
“The exceptionally high standard of previous Carl Foreman Award winners fittingly honours Carl’s memory,” says Eve Williams-Jones (formerly Foreman). “He was passionately committed to the training and development of new generations of filmmakers who understood that the medium not only had the potential to inform and enlighten, but was required to entertain as well.”
Richard Soames, Chairman of Film Finances, agrees: “The future of this great industry depends on new generations of filmmakers who hold in high regard their potential audiences around the world.”
Film Finances Inc., who are celebrating 57 years since their incorporation in London, guarantee over 200 films and TV productions annually in every part of the world. They have no involvement in the selection process for the Carl Foreman Award; however, they are delighted to have been involved with five of the previous Award winners, including Richard Kwietniowski’s Love And Death On Long Island and Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher.
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