About the Crystal Palace International Film Festival

The CPIFF is organised by Harlequin Productions a TV Commercial Production Company in London aiming to promote independent film makers and talent from all over the world.

The festival provides opportunities for film makers to have their work screened at selected venues around Crystal Palace in South East London to a passionate audience of film professionals, journalists and the general public and the chance to win a Best in Category or a Best in Festival CPIFF award selected by a panel of celebrity and respected industry judges. The audiences get the opportunity to see top quality film making in genres and lengths that do not get main stream platforms.

The Judges

Johnny Vegas is one of the UK's best known comedians, his CV as a performer, writer and
producer is long, from starring in countless TV and radio shows to acting alongside Johnny Depp.

Quentin Miles Animation director at Cinesite, has directed special effects and animation on
some of the biggest films such as the Harry Potter, James Bond, Batman and X-Men franchises,
The Golden Compass, Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia and Disney Pixars' John Carter of Mars.
An impressive pedigree.

Mark Steel A familiar face on TV: 'Have I got news for you', 'What the papers say', 'The Mark Steel lectures',
Q. I. A regular on BBC Radio 4 including his own series 'Mark Steel's in Town', author of several books and a weekly
columnist for the Independent newspaper. Mark has also hosted the last two CPIFF Awards Nights.

Beverly Dixon
MD of Woolyback Productions, producer and executive producer of many TV and radio programs.

Mike Higgins
Mike is arts editor at the Independent on Sunday.

Martin Tempia Martin has produced TV for over 25 years working for the likes of Celador,
Hat Trick Productions and Polygram. He currently has his own projects in development with Channel 4 and the BBC.

Judging criteria

Each submission will be watched by industry professionals at Harlequin Productions. The films will be judged and scored on
Direction, Cinematography, Entertainment Value, Acting, Screenplay and Soundtrack where relevant to the category. Finalists
will be chosen and forwarded to the main judges who will choose a winner for each category. A 'Best in Festival' will also be
awarded.

The Festival

Over the festival period the finalists from each category will be screened at venues in Crystal Palace.
CPIFF awards, specially designed and hand-made, will be presented by Mark Steel at the comedy shorts
and awards night.

Crystal Palace is one of the coolest parts of London, a triangle of streets with bars and restaurants
of every cuisine, it is steeped in history, has great views overlooking London and 3 parks - one even
has dinosaurs and is the home of the national sports centre which hosts international athletics and
live concerts. Two transmitters stand out clearly in the skyline hence the design of the festival's logo and
award. In 1938 John Logie Baird, the inventor of television, made the world's first ever colour broadcast from
the actual Crystal Palace site after it burned down in 1936. The BBC still broadcast from here.

The CPIFF awards hand sculpted by Jonathan Rowlandson