BREAKING NEWS!
* BEST ACTOR AWARD FOR NORMAN BOWMAN IN
I’LL WALK WITH GOD
* BEST ACTOR AWARD FOR NORMAN BOWMAN IN
SACRED! MUSIC FROM THE HEART
* BEST DIRECTOR AWARD FOR IAN WOODWARD FOR
I LOVE YOU TRULY
* GOOD WORK AWARD HONOURING CAST AND CREW OF
I LOVE YOU TRULY
* GOOD WORK AWARD HONOURING CAST AND CREW OF
I’LL WALK WITH GOD
We soon dicovered that If, on an Indian train journey, you mention Kolkata, capital of the West Bengal state, the first thing to come to people’s minds will probably be Howrah Bridge which connects the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. Spanning the Hooghly River in the breathtaking Bay of Bengal, it carries daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles, and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, making it one of the busiest cantilever bridges in the world.
Chances are, in fact, that after flying to West Bengal and then heading off to Howrah by rail, you will take a train to Howrah Station, as Encore Films UK did.
The station, below, is part of the largest railway complex in India, and a transport hub serving Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. Its scale and energy took our breath away. Our hosts told us that more than 600 passenger trains pass through the station each day requiring the use of all its 23 platforms.
So here we were in Howrah where Norman Bowman enjoyed huge success, winning the Best Actor award for his charismatic portrayal of the Rev Jim Watson in the award-winning film musical I’ll Walk with God. A further Best Actor award also came his way for his role as “the Singing Vicar” in Sacred! Music from the Heart.
It didn’t end there. There were other honours, bringing a Best Director award to Ian Woodward for I Love You Truly, plus the unique and much appreciated “Good Work” awards for the casts and crews of I Love You Truly and I’ll Walk with God. All this, quite simply, was the icing on the Indian Lemon blueberry cake for everyone there.
In fact, the honours for Norman Bowman arrived in the wake of the West End star’s other notable Best Actor awards for the same role at Austria’s Walser Film Days International Film Festival in Salzburg and, in the United States, at the GloryReelz Christian Film Festival in Detroit and the Christian Film Festival in Virginia.
I’ll Walk with God is on a rollercoaster right now with screenings all around the world, embracing such disparate, far-flung locations as Sweden, Israel, Austria, Chile, Nigeria, Russia, Malta, Japan, Spain, Canada, Azerbaijan, Italy, the Czech Republic – and a great many times throughout India, from north to south, east to west.
It is a similar story in the United States and the UK.
In fact, from Bollywood to Hollywood, Norman Bowman, Virginia Byron, Claire Heverin and the award-winning Encore Films Choir, are delighting cinema audiences everywhere with their talents in I’ll Walk with God.
“Why do you think,” asked the Indian High Commission in London, “that I’ll Walk with God is so popular in India and been screened so many times in our country?”
“Indian audiences, we all know, are crazy about films which contain lots of music, singing and sheer escapism,” replied director Ian Woodward. “I’ll Walk with God seems to fit the bill. Simple as that. At least, I think it is.”
And yet, if anything, Encore Films UK’s other success story, I Love You Truly, with Charlotte Frost and Richard Mark at the helm, has ovetaken I’ll Walk with God in terms of sheer quantity of festival screenings in India.
In one amazing week last autumn I Love You Truly was officially certified as One of the Top 10 Most Viewed Films Screened Online in India. A big thrill for the film’s cast and crew and creative team back home in England.
This is the power of three films – I’ll Walk with God, I Love You Truly and Sacred! Music from the Heart – where song and dance and music has played a key role in their fortunes wherever they have been screened.
Music and rhythm, song and dance, find their way into the secret places of our soul because it is part of our lives and always has been and always will be.
BEST ACTOR – NORMAN BOWMAN
I’LL WALK WITH GOD
BEST ACTOR – NORMAN BOWMAN
SACRED! MUSIC FROM THE HEART
BEST DIRECTOR – IAN WOODWARD
I LOVE YOU TRULY
BIG-SCREEN PREMIERE: THE CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL, VIRGINIA, USA, 25 FEBRUARY 2017
IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6545110/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
(PEOPLE WITH NAMES PRINTED IN RED IN THE CREDITS APPEAR IN PHOTO ABOVE)
Ian Woodward (Director), Ian Woodward (Screenplay), Ian Woodward (Cinematography), Ian Woodward (Editor), Charlotte Frost (Young Woman), Richard Mark (Young Man), Steve Carroll (The Priest), Stephen Lyons (The Storyteller), Andrea Gambell (Costume Designer), Daniela Rivera (Hair & Makeup), Paul Richardson (In Charge of Sound), Thomas Colwill (Boom Mic Operator), Anna Guinness (Gaffer), Cristabel Minnelli (Dance Director), Isabelle Thomas (Unit Photographer & Montage Photos), Ferenc Bartay (Music Advisor), Joe Connell (Location Manager), Jeff Winnert (Gaffer), Ana Sofía De Los Reyes (Continuity), Giorgia Andriani (Production Runner), Kathryn Bessant (Production Runner), Thomas Colwill (Production Runner), Judit Jakli (Production Runner), Iliyana Kotseva (Production Runner), Stefanie Woodward (Poster & DVD Design), Zenka Woodward (Props).
Encore Films UK (Producer)
IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5443866/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
(PEOPLE WITH NAMES PRINTED IN RED IN THE CREDITS APPEAR IN PHOTO ABOVE)
Ian Woodward (Director & Creator), Ian Woodward (Screenplay), Ian Woodward (Cinematography), Ian Woodward (Editor), Norman Bowman (Rev Jim Watson), Virginia Byron (Emma Crawford) and Claire Heverin (Holly Watson). With: José Castano (The Waiter), Natalie Anne Owen (The Organist), The Encore Films Choir Member, Joyce Agbonson (Choir Member), Lara Cooper-Chadwick (Choir Member), Anastasia Drew (Choir Member), Aude Florentin (Choir Member), Elisa Hayrapetyan (Choir Member), Daria King (Choir Member), Francesca Moran (Choir Member), Georgina Roberts (Choir Member), Laia Martinez Rubir (Choir Member). Anna Carpozi (Costume Designer), Caroline Peberdy (Hair & Make-Up), Paul Richardson (Sound & Boom Operator), Jamie Montgomery (Gaffer), Sandra Martínez Yáñez (Continuity), Natalie Anne Owen (Choir Vocal Coach), Zenka Woodward (Wardrobe & Props), Natalie Anne Owen (Production Assistant), Paul Richardson (Production Assistant), Dave Blissett (Production Runner), Connor Brennan (Production Runner), Sandra Martínez Yáñez (Production Runner), (Sound Assistant), Maisie Jo Wong (Sound Assistant), Don Shulman (Sound Assistant), Stefanie Woodward (Poster & DVD Design), Bogna Bargiel (Church Congregation), Sheila Barqueiro (Church Congregation), Jason Holden (Church Congregation), Helena Holmes (Church Congregation), Aleida Izquierdo (Church Congregation), Jason King (Church Congregation), Alexander Lloyd (Church Congregation), Alex Macino (Church Congregation), Jacqueline McCauley (Church Congregation), Francesca Moran (Church Congregation), Fiona Mulvaney (Church Congregation), Laurence Nobes (Church Congregation), Ellie Quinn (Church Congregation), Paul Sawyers (Church Congregation), Adam Sef (Church Congregation), Shante Stephenson (Church Congregation), Lottie Yinka (Church Congregation). Encore Films UK (Producer). Producton Support: Abbots Langley Parish Church, Anglican Journal of Toronto, Julia Beynon, Chris Bromwich, The Church Times of London, Mark Ellis, Rev Robert Fletcher, Robert Fortey, Dhiraj Gurung, Karen Hatton, Cliff Howell @ Compukare Solutions, Moor Park Golf Club, St John the Baptist Church (Aldenham), Tim Perkins, Janet Thomas, Dr Peter & Mrs Sue Tomson, Dr Christopher Treves Brown, Philip Woodward.
Encore Films UK (Producer)
