The Statutory and the British Film Council.

The statutory definition focuses on the maker, production cost, labour cost and previously filmed material. I think that the origin of the producer and cast are slightly ignored. This is because they focus on the pay the actors and staff get, not their true origin. I think that they have chosen to ignore this because most films with actors from different countries, who are acting in a film by a British director which is made in Great Britain, are immediately classed as British films.

The British council definitions for a British film are quite different to the statutory definitions. This is because the British Council needs at least three of the following six: A British producer, A British production team, A British director, a predominantly British cast, a subject matter that informs the British experience and A British identity as defined by the bfi in the release review in Sight & Sound. Whereas the statutory needs to meet all of the following tests to prove films are British: The maker test, the production cost test, the labour cost test and previously filmed material.

BAFTA Short listed Films

Cold Mountain (Anthony Minghella)
Looking at the information for this film I see that there are only a few English actors as the rest are American and Australian. This film was made in Romania and in America. The plot is of the American civil war which immediately explains why the filming locations were mainly based in southern America. Even though the director is British, I do not consider this film to be British. There is nothing truly British in it. It only meets one of the requirements in the British Council which is for British director.

Girl with a Pearl Earring (Peter Webber)
I have done some research for the British background of this film and have learned that a few of the actor, director and Archer Street Production are the only things that are predominantly British. I believe that the British council most probably not call this film British as it only contains one of the six requirements. Whereas the statutory holds more than one of the six requirements.

In This World (Michael Winterbottom)
With the information gathered, I have come to the conclusion that this film is not truly British. The director however is from England and certain pieces of the film were made in Europe, including Great Britain. The rest was made in places like Turkey, Iran and Pakistan with actors belonging to those countries. This only meets two of both requirements form the statutory and the British film Council. However the realism that we would normally find in British films is there with the plot/storyline.

Love Actually (Richard Curtis)
After looking this film up it was quite clear that this was defiantly a British film. This is because this film meats practically all of the requirements for the statutory film tests and about three of the British Council requirements. Even though the director and writer of Love Actually are from New Zealand, most of his work was made over in England. I consider the film to be British as the clips I have seen show some of the realism that you would find in a normal British film than you would in an American film.

Touching the Void (Kevin MacDonald)
I have had not much information in finding out where the actors come from in this film. However I did find one who was from Northern Ireland, whilst the director comes from Scotland. This shows that it has met two of the statutory tests whilst it meets around three of the British Council requirements. I don’t really feel that this film is truly British as none of it was made over in Great Britain. However it does hold the British realism the director gives it.