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Biography |
Born in Helsinki in 1967 to British parents.
In 1996 he graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki with an MA in documentary filmmaking.
Since 1990 he has been directing independent documentaries that have won numerous awards both nationally and internationally.
His films are human-interest stories with strong central characters whose lives are followed over a long period of time.
Typical to his films is a blend of tragedy and comedy, melancholy and exuberance. |
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Festival
- Screenings |
Nordisk Panorama, Malmo, Sweden, 2008
Doc Leipzig, International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2008
Nordische Filmtage Lubeck, Germany, 2008
Amazonas Film Festival, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, 2008
Aarhus Filmfestival 08, Aarhus, Denmark, 2008
Hot Doc’s Doc Soup, Toronto, Canada
Film Museum Munich, Munich, Germany
32nd Goteborg International Film Festival, Goteborg, Sweden,
DocsBarcelona – International Documentary Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Transmediale 2009: Deep North – Festival for Art and Digital Culture, Berlin, Germany |
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Awards |
Nordisk Panorama, Malmo, Sweden, 26.9.–1.10.2008
Honorary Mention in the category of Best Nordic Documentary |
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Filmography |
2007 The Skiers
2004 What Comes Around
2004 Isolinnankatu
2001 Rooms Of Shadow And Light
1999 Losing Its
1996 Different Trains
1994 Don’t Tell Daddy
1993 Suckers
1992 You Kill Me
1991 Protege
1990 Young, Free & Single
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Contact |
John Webster
Millennium Film Oy
Koskikartanontie 12
75530 Nurmes
Finland
Tel: +358 13 -5110 100
Fax: +358 13- 5110 111
E-mail: millennium@millenniumfilm.fi,
kristiina.pervila@millenniumfilm.fi |
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Composers |
| | Screenwriter, Director: | John Webster
| | Production: | Millennium Film, J W Documentaries, Magic Hour Films
| | Producer: | Kristiina Pervila
| | Camera: | The Webster family
| | Additional cinematography: | Tuomo Hutri
| | Sound Designer: | Pietari Koskinen
| | Editor: | Niels Pagh Andersen |
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Summary |
Director John Webster convinces his wife and their two small children that the whole family should go on an oil diet, yet without having to give up their a middle class suburban lifestyle.
All the everyday things that we don/t do, or that we can/t help doing, make up recipes for disaster.
In this comedy of errors they find themselves questioning their values and putting to test their will power and ultimately, their happiness.
When I began making this film in the spring of 2005 I knew that climate change, for most people, was a subject too awful to think about.
If they were going to sit through the film I would make, they had to be given a few laughs.
Eventually I decided to focus the film on why it is so hard for people to change, even when we know we have to.
I put myself and my family as the central characters in the film – we would change, we would go on an oil diet.
What I hadn’t expected, was that for much of the laughs in the film, I would be the butt of the joke – I, the mono-focused male.
Inadvertently, I had made a film about the relationship between a man and a woman, about those little power struggles that tug and pull within the family, and about balancing security with change, ideals with practicalities.
I hope that Recipe for Disaster is a thought provoking, entertaining and hopefully also inspiring film about climate change, and what it can mean for every family. |
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Distribution |
Marja Pallassalo
The Finnish Film Foundation
Kanavakatu 12
00160 Helsinki
Finland
Finland
Tel: +358 9 6220 3021
Fax: +358 9 6220 3050
E-mail: marja.pallassalo@ses.fi
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