The AMI’s (Ability Media International Awards), were launched two years ago to identify, celebrate and support, high-level creative work that encourages a more tolerant and inclusive world. They are an initiative from Leonard Cheshire, one of the UK’s leading charities.

Writer and producer Wayne Drew, Chairman of Ability Media, and the founder of the AMI Awards said:  “Ben receives his Award for his outstanding creativity, commitment and exceptional promise. It is such young people who are the future of International cinema and I truly hope that he will now have the opportunity to work in mainstream film production. His achievements to date are extraordinary, and his film displays keen insight, flair and originality ”.

Benjamin, started his career in the animation and visual effects industry in Australia. Then moved Singapore, then to London, and from there to Slovakia.

He was presented his award by Hugh Hudson the legendary director of the multi-academy award winning film Chariots of Fire.

On presenting the Award Hugh Hudson said: Benjamin Richards is now working with the  ‘Theatre with No Home' group in Bratislava, where all of the actors are either homeless or disabled. In his first film, which is about their work, he’s displayed a keen photographic eye, a passion for story telling and a sensitive and truthful approach to documentary production. To say that he was under pressure to produce it, is an understatement. From start to end the production took only 4 days, However, what he finally produced was truly exceptional”

By winning an AMI Award, Benjamin Richards is in very impressive company indeed as some of this year’s other award winners included: Glyndebourne Opera;  The Donmar Warehouse;  the author Mark Haddon;  TV’s Dr. Who, Matt Smith for his new film ‘Christopher and his Kind’;  style guru Gok Wan;  Channel Four Television and the BBC. 

More pictures here 

Eva Fúriková interviewing Ben Richards for the Slovak Radio International programme about his recent film Theatre With No Home and his experiences living in Slovakia working with the homeless and disabled whilst making his next film Haiku, a 2 year project expected to be released Summer 2011.

Listen to the interview here or download 

For the Bratislava program click here

For the regional info click here

I also produced the animated spot for the festival which you can watch on www.jedensvet.sk

My first stop is in the heart of Mudgee, hidden behind a cafe with a small sign in its window: ''Unattended children will be fed espresso, followed by a red cordial chaser and a free kitten.'' TheMudFactory is one for the kids.

With a devoted patronage of five- to 15-year-olds, a haphazardly divided shed acts as a production house for drawing, painting, print-making, mosaics, digital photography and ceramics.

Already, the offerings surpass those of any comparable art school I grew up with. We never had a character such as Peter Richards, with 15 years of experience in the movie and animation industry. Under his tutelage, TheMudFactory has its own kind of Industrial Light & Magic studio. ''Kids aren't good actors,'' he says, ''so we made them watch Edison's early films and imitate them.'' I'm shown a production of two boys remaking J. Stuart Blackton's The Enchanted Drawing (1900), where a man sketches objects on an easel and lifts them into reality. Even now the rudimentary effects are surprising and the boys found themselves minor celebrities when the short was shown at Mudfest, an international short-film festival held locally every March. It was the climactic light-sabre battle - absent from the original - that clinched the fan base.

Tim Jackson studies the links between lifestyle, societal values and the environment to question the primacy of economic growth.

As the world faces recession, climate change, inequity and more, he delivers a piercing challenge to established economic principles, explaining how we might stop feeding the crises and start investing in our future.

Clockwise from top left: Jane Fletcher (Leonard Cheshire Disability), Benjamin Richards (Apothecary Films), Clare Pelham (Leonard Cheshire Disability), Matúš Ježo and Veve Ježová.

More than 120 people attended the screening of two documentary films; Divadlo Bez Domova by Benjamin Richards and the Special Olympics by Axess Films.

Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Director of Innovative Projects, Jane Fletcher, said: “I am always excited to meet filmmakers who are committed to overcoming the odds to make their movie succeed. It is a particular honour to screen these two productions at the first Ability Media Film Festival here in Southwark.

“Both these pieces of work are an inspiring testament to how disabled people make the world a more inclusive and better place,” she added.

Full article here...