JUDGE DREDD CONQUERS FINLAND: DREDD 3D GETS THE NIGHT VISIONS AUDIENCE AWARD IN HELSINKI
DREDD 3D, Brit director Pete Travis’ praised big screen adaptation of the adventures of the iconic 2000AD comic book character Judge Dredd has won the Night Visions Audience Award 2012 at the Night Visions Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland. This marks the second time ever that the award – now given out for the fifth time – goes out to a British feature film. The first winner from the United Kingdom was James Watkins’ debut feature EDEN LAKE, which grabbed the first ever Night Visions Audience Award in October 2008.
Night Visions Film Festival, the biggest and the oldest film festival in Finland focusing on horror, fantasy and cult cinema, initially introduced the Night Visions Audience Award to increase the recognition of new horror and fantasy cinema in Finland and to improve the availability and distribution of contemporary genre films in the territory. Now the award has once more made its mark in the local market; according to the latest news, FS Film Ltd., the distribution company of DREDD 3D in the territory, is seriously re-evaluating its decision to release the feature straight to dvd and Blu-ray in the territory.
The Night Visions Audience Award is voted on site at the screenings by the audience and it is given out every year at the end of the Fall edition of the Night Visions Film Festival.
A total of 21 feature films and feature length documentaries released in years 2011 and 2012 – and all having their Finnish premiere at the festival – were eligible for the Night Visions Audience Award 2012. The first runner-up for the award was GOD BLESS AMERICA (USA 2011), Bobcat Goldthwait’s edgy mix of social satire and action-packed comedy. The second runner up was the non-genre entry END OF WATCH (USA 2012), a last minute addition to the festival lineup by the TRAINING DAY scribe David Ayer. Other popular contestants in the audience vote included Aleksander Nordaas’ Scandi folklore fantasy sensation THALE (Norway 2012), Hajime Ohata’s extremely Cronenbergian body horror study HENGE (Japan 2012) and ROOM 237 (USA 2012), Rodney Ascher’s fascinating documentary on Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING.
Arranged from October 31st to November 4, 2012, the Night Visions Film Festival also reached an all-time high in its admission figures. The total of almost 9 500 admissions showed an increase of roughly 1 500 from the Fall 2011 edition of the festival. The most popular new feature of the festival was GOD BLESS AMERICA, starring Joel Murray and Tara Lynne Barr. The best selling classic feature in the lineup was Paul Verhoeven’s ROBOCOP – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT, now shown on the big screen in Finland for the first time ever. Paul Verhoeven was also one of the guests of honor of this edition of the festival, along with John Waters, Joel Murray and a number of other international and local filmmaker guests.
Festival website:
www.nightvisions.info
Media enquiries:
Mr. Tuomas Jalamo, Night Visions Film Festival Public Relations
E-mail tuomas.jalamo@nightvisions.info
Mr. Mikko Aromaa, Director, Night Visions Film Festival
E-mail mikko.aromaa@nightvisions.info
