Host In Tears As Trump Film Gets US Broadcast

 Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Environment, Featured, Information, News  No Responses »
Jan 272012
 

One of America’s biggest stars, Rosie O’Donnell, has admitted to millions that she was “moved to tears” by the hit feature documentary You’ve Been Trumped when the film’s director was the main guest on her show last week.

Trump Swing

Footage of what the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) described as filmmaker Anthony Baxter’s “violent arrest” was broadcast across  America for the first time.

The broadcast prompted scores of outraged viewers to hit Twitter and Facebook to voice their anger at the actions of Donald Trump, the Scottish Government and Grampian Police.

On The Rosie Show, Baxter revealed how Freedom of Information requests made by the Sunday Herald have only heightened concerns that Grampian Police “have been acting like Donald Trump’s private security force”.  He also accused the force of carrying out a “whitewash cover up enquiry’ into his arrest.

The arrests of Baxter and his colleague Richard Phinney whilst making their film in 2010 prompted fierce criticism from the NUJ. The union described the police’s actions as “a breach of human rights” with “important implications for press freedom”.  

Meanwhile, O’Donnell is urging Americans to watch what she describes as “an amazing film”. She admits to crying during the scene where hundreds of people walk across the bulldozed dunes of the Menie Estate, to show of support for local resident Michael Forbes, accused by Mr Trump of “living like a pig in a slum”.

You’ve Been Trumped will be screened again in Chicago on 22 March, prior to its being rolled out for screenings in Europe as well as in Washington DC, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Arizona and other major American cities.

Clips from The Rosie Show…
http://www.oprah.com/rosie/The-Rosie-Show-Rosie-Takes-on-Trump

You’ve Been Trumped has won a total of eight international film festival awards

WINNER: Starz Denver Film Festival, USA
WINNER: Take One Action Film Festival, Scotland
WINNER: Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, Michigan
WINNER: DaKINO International Film Festival, Bucharest
WINNER: Hamptons International Film Festival, New York
WINNER: Edindocs Film Festival, Edinburgh
WINNER: Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, Nevada City
WINNER: Sheffield International Documentary Festival UK

Michael Moore hand-picked You’ve Been Trumped for his Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan where it won the Special Jury Prize. It is now well on course to be the most successful cinema feature documentary ever produced in Scotland.

Yet Another Award For ‘You’ve Been Trumped’

 Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Environment, Featured, Information, News  No Responses »
Nov 222011
 

‘You’ve Been Trumped’ scoops Best Documentary award at one of America’s biggest film festivals ~ Jury calls film ‘deeply troubling’ ~ Salmond stays silent.  With thanks to Tripping Up Trump.

baxter-and-moore-at-traverse
Feature documentary ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ has won its fifth major award – clinching the Best Documentary Prize at the 34th Starz Denver Film Festival, Denver, Colorado, USA.

In winning the award, ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ topped an impressive list of 59 of the year’s very best documentaries from around the world.

Other winners at the prestigious ceremony at the city’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House included actress Judy Greer, Scottish actor Alan Cumming OBE, and Hollywood star James Cromwell – who personally congratulated Montrose based director Anthony Baxter on ‘You’ve Been Trumped’s achievement.

The jury statement read,

“We decided upon a film that tells a story about a greedy capitalist and a community trying to save its home.   We admired the filmmaker’s perseverance and his reluctance to insert himself into the David and Goliath story.

Deeply troubling, amusing, and rousing all at the same time, the winner of the 2011 Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary Film is You’ve Been Trumped.”

Mr Baxter told the audience of several thousand filmgoers and Denver dignitaries,

“The Trump Organisation has called our film ‘a failure’ and me ‘a fraud’ whilst the local residents have been branded ‘a national embarrassment for Scotland.’   I’m proud to accept this award on their behalf.”

You’ve Been Trumped’ has now won a total of five major film festival awards – including a Special Jury Prize at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, the Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Social Justice Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival in New York, and the Green Award at the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival.

The filmmakers are currently seeking distribution for ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ in the United States, and a major viral campaign supported by Karine Polwart is underway.  The Scottish singer-songwriter has donated her new song, inspired by the film and called Cover Your Eyes, to ‘You’ve Been Trumped’s crowd-funding campaign.

‘You’ve Been Trumped’ will be returning to cinemas in Scotland this weekend, when it plays at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Scotland’s First Minister has been invited to the screenings through an open letter from the film’s director.    Alex Salmond’s private office, has yet to respond to the request.

For further information on ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ visit www.youvebeentrumped.com or on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youve-Been-Trumped/187472834621346

‘You’ve Been Trumped’ has now won the following awards:

Victor Rabinowitz Social Justice Award – Hampton’s International Film Festival
Special Jury Prize – Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival
Best Documentary (Maysles Brothers Award) – Starz Denver Film Festival
Best Film – Edindocs Film Festival, Edinburgh
Green Award – Doc/Fest (UK)

‘You’ve Been Trumped’ Wins Edindocs Festival Award

 Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Featured, Information, News  No Responses »
Sep 302011
 

You’ve Been Trumped – the documentary film branded ‘a failure’ by Donald Trump has just won its third major documentary award – and first in Scotland – clinching the Scottish Screen Archive Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the Edindocs Festival in Edinburgh. Suzanne Kelly reports.

Antony Baxter (port)
The award means the film will be archived as an important piece of Scotland’s history and stored at The National Library of Scotland ‘forever’.

This latest award follows two other major festival awards for the film.

In June You’ve Been Trumped won the Green Prize – the top environmental award for UK documentaries – at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival.  And in August, the film scooped the Special Jury Prize at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan.

You’ve Been Trumped was rejected for funding by Creative Scotland and passed over for this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. 

However, it has proven to be a hit at some of the world’s most prestigious documentary festivals and will shortly be screened in Australia, Taiwan, Bermuda and at several major film festivals in the United States.

You’ve Been Trumped tells the story of Donald Trump’s attempts to build what he claims will be ‘the greatest golf course in the world’ on a supposedly protected environmental site in Aberdeenshire.   The plan involves building 1500 houses and a luxury hotel on what scientists have described as ‘the crown jewels of Scotland’s Natural Heritage.’

You’ve Been Trumped has just begun a Sheffield Doc/Fest winners’ tour – playing at major independent cinemas across the UK and is also part of the Take One Action Film Festival which takes in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.    The film is also due to return to cinemas in Aberdeen and Dundee next month.  Meanwhile, You’ve Been Trumped will be travelling to the Vancouver International Film Festival later this month and will unspool for its official New York premiere in early October.

Director Anthony Baxter said:

“It’s a great honour for You’ve Been Trumped to be recognised as an important historical document and reassuring to know that future generations will be able to learn lessons from the environmental destruction that’s been unfolding on the Menie Estate for precious little economic benefit.”

Scottish folk singer-songwriter Karine Polwart (“exceptionally subtle and melodic” Q Magazine) is currently penning a new song inspired by events captured in the film, which will be unveiled when You’ve Been Trumped is screened at the FilmHouse in Edinburgh on 2nd October as part of the Take One Action Film Festival.

Footnotes:

  • You’ve Been Trumped (UK, running time 95 minutes) was made by Angus based independent production company Montrose Pictures Ltd.
  • The film score features music from world the world renowned Sigur Rus and the band’s front man Jonsi.
  • Many of You’ve Been Trumped’s future screenings can be viewed here – with more dates to be added.
  • Latest news on the film can be seen here.
  • For further information call Montrose Pictures: +44(0)1674 677 233 or email: projects@montrosepictures.co.uk