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Brick Lane bags best director prize at Rainbow Film Festival

3/ 6/2008

BRICK Lane director, Sarah Gavron received the best director prize at the 9th Rainbow Film Festival.

The prize was awarded during the Festival closing night ceremony which took place on 1June, at Rich Mix, East London. Gavron's cinema adaptation of Monica Ali's novel, which caused controversy amongst the local Bangladeshi community when first released, screened at the Festival with record breaking ticket sales.

Said Gavron: "I feel very honoured to have won the best director award at the Rainbow Film Festival. I could not have made this film without the professional input of many members of the Bangladeshi community who came on board as cast and crew and shared their expertise.

"I am very grateful to them and also to many others who opened their doors to us. It was fantastic to learn about the culture of Bangladesh and it was clear how much this community are contributing to London and Britain culturally, economically and politically.

"The Rainbow Film Festival provides a wonderfully unique and important opportunity to see films from Asia and I am proud to have been part of it. Thank you to the Director of the festival and all the people who work to make the festival such a success."

Esteemed Evening Standard film critic and chairman of the Festival, Derek Malcolm, said he was particularly glad that Sarah Gavron had won the award despite the fact that her film had proved controversial among the Bangladeshi community. "It shows there is a lot of support for her in that community", he added.

The 9th Rainbow Film Festival runs until Saturday 7 June at the Brady Arts Centre. All this week's screenings are free. The Festival continues to celebrate the diversity of Asian culture this year with 24 films from 10 countries, including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Turkey and the U.K. As well as showcasing established artists, the Festival gives a voice to emerging local talent.

For film times and more information visit wwww.rainbowfilmsociety.com

The Rainbow Film Festival is supported by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council and Film London Regional Investment Fund for England, and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Rainbow Film Society is a non-profit and voluntary socio-cultural organisation, devoted to visual arts and films. The aim and objective of the Society is to advance the education of the public in the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of arts, particularly the art of film and allied visual techniques. The society organises regular film screenings, lectures, discussions, workshops and exhibitions.