The Festival organisers describe the British Gala films as: "The very best in homegrown cinema, from high-end studio product to raw low-budget work." This is the pool from which the Michael Powell award is generally selected.
Saxon and WAZ
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
(Country: UK/Ireland; Year: 2007; Director: Anand Tucker; Writer: David Nicholls, based on the book by Blake Morrison; Stars: Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth, Juliet Stevenson, Matthew Beard, Gina McKee, Sarah Lancashire, Claire Skinner, Elaine Cassidy)
Memories of living with a popular dad.
Control
(Country: UK; Year: 2006; Director: Anton Corbijn; Writer: Matt Greenhalgh, based on the book Touching From A Distance by Deborah Curtis; Stars: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Alexandra Maria Lara, Toby Kebbell, Craig Parkinson, Joe Anderson, James Anthony Pearson),
Official Site,
Trailer
The short, anguished life of Joy Division's lead singer.
Extraordinary Rendition
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: James Threapleton; Writer: James Threapleton; Stars: Omar Berdouni, Andy Serkis, Ania Sowinski, Jimmy Yuill, Hugh Ross)
An insight into the life of a man who is kidnapped and subjected to extraordinary rendition.
My Life As A Bus Stop
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Duncan Finnigan, Wilma Finnigan; Writer: Duncan Finnigan, Wilma Finnigan; Stars: John Stewart, Angela Coates, Duncan Finnigan, Eleanor Capaldi, Marc Watson)
Five friends attempt to make a movie together, but they each have very different ideas about what they want.
Saxon
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Greg Loftin; Writer: Greg Loftin; Stars: Sean Harris, Sarah Matravers, Michelle Connolly, Henry Kelly, Tony O'Leary),
Official Site
A man in desperate trouble with loan sharks is persuaded to undertake a dangerous investigation.
Extraordinary Rendition and Control
Sparkle
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Tom Hunsinger, Neil Hunter; Writer: Tom Hunsinger, Neil Hunter; Stars: Stockard Channing, Shaun Evans, Anthony Head, Bob Hoskins, Lesley Manville, Amanda Ryan, John Shrapnel, Peter Gordon),
Official Site
A young man and his mother move from Liverpool to London to pursue their dreams.
Special People
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Justin Edgar; Writer: Justin Edgar; Stars: Dominic Coleman, Robyn Frampton, Sasha Hardway, David Proud, Jason Maza)
A film-maker faces comic consequences when he tries to make something 'real' with a group of disabled teens.
Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Simon Miller; Writer: Joanne Cockwell, Iain Finlay MacLeod; Stars: Aonghas Padruig Caimbeul, Padruig Moireasdan, Crisdean Domhnallach, Winnie Brook Young, Dolina MacLennan, Coll Domhnallach, Daibhidh Walker, Vidal Sancho)
A young man visiting his dying grandfather finds himself once again entangled in the stories he was told as a child.
Sugarhouse
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Gary Love; Writer: Dominic Leyton; Stars: Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters, Andy Serkis, Tolga Safer, Teddy Nygh, Adam Deacon, Tracey Whitwell),
Official Site
A white collar worker meets a petty crook to buy some illegal merchandise, which happens to have been stolen from the neighbourhood psycho.
The Waiting Room
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Roger Goldby; Writer: Roger Goldby; Stars: Anne-Marie Duff, Ralf Little, Rupert Graves, Frank Finlay, Zoe Telford),
Official Site,
Trailer
Londoners' love lives explored in will-they/won't-they romance.
The Waiting Room and And When Did You Last See Your Father?
WAZ
(Country: UK, US; Year: 2007; Director: Tom Shankland; Writer: Clive Bradley; Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George, Selma Blair, Ashley Walters, John Sharian),
Official Site
A detective caught in a battle of wits with a killer is forced to pay for his past failings.
