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News Archive: July 2005
X-Files Sequel Still Out There
Posted at 12:43 PM (PDT) on Friday, July 29, 2005
From Sci Fi Wire: Frank Spotnitz, co-executive producer of The X-Files, told SCI FI Wire that a second feature film based on the television series is still in the works. "My deal has been done�and I'm not exaggerating�for a year and a half," he said in an interview at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., where he was promoting his new series, Night Stalker. "There are other deals, and you can guess who the people are [who are] involved, and I don't know why they're taking so long. It's very frustrating to me. I hoped the movie would be done now." Spotnitz said that the lack of a deal has so far prevented him and creator Chris Carter from writing the script, but they know what the story will be and are looking forward to writing it. "Obviously, I'm very busy right now, but it means a lot to me," he said. "I would love to do it, and I wish that we could get all the business things in order so it could happen. ... These are things that happen between lawyers, and I'm not privy to it because it's not my deal. But I know [stars] David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] want to do it. I know Chris wants to do it. I don't know where the holdup is. But I hope it happens. I remain optimistic it will happen. If you'd asked me a year ago, I never would have believed it still wouldn't be in the works at this point." Spotnitz's new show, Night Stalker, premieres Thursday, Sept. 29, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Gillian's Birthday
Posted at 10:01 AM (PDT) on Friday, July 22, 2005
 Some of you have been asking where to send gifts for Gillian's birthday (August 9). Gillian would prefer no gifts for herself. Instead, she would really appreciate it if her fans would support the Zimbabwe Benefit Foundation which is in urgent need of donations. She is a member of the advisory board of this foundation and her husband is one of the directors.
The Zimbabwe Benefit Foundation was launched in May 2004, against a backdrop of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe and the desperate need to raise funds for welfare for victims of political persecution. Under the patronage of Archbishops Desmond Tutu and Pius Ncube, they have attracted a prestigious and influential advisory board, who have helped to keep the Zimbabwe issue on the world media and governmental agenda. With their support, ZBF has started to raise funds and deliver relief to the victims of political violence in Zimbabwe.
For instructions on how to give, click here. No donation is too small. Every little bit helps.
All donors may send us greetings for Gillian which we shall forward to her on her birthday. Please limit your messages to no more than 60 words. And please let us know how much you've donated so that Gillian may also be informed of the grand total raised.
Thank you very much for your support!
Gillian's Latest Book Rec
Posted at 9:55 AM (PDT) on Thursday, July 21, 2005
 Here's a new addition to Gillian's list of favorite books: "SATURDAY" by Ian McEwan
"Written with superb exactness, complex, suspenseful, reflective and humane, this novel about an expert on the human brain by an expert on the human mind reinforces his status as the supreme novelist of his generation." �- Peter Kemp, Sunday Times
"Refreshing and engrossing, Saturday has a pleasing intimacy... McEwan's superb novel amply demonstrates how good fiction, by dramatising unweildy and fraught ideas in a deeply personal narrative, can fashion the world into gobbets sometimes more digestible than factual reportage" � - James Urquhart, Independent
"His gift of observation, wonderfully precise, now comes thick and fast. There is nothing in this novel that feels forced. The author's mature attention illuminates equally everything it falls on....this [is a] profound and urgent novel." -� Tim Adams, Observer
"Saturday is a brilliant novel about post 9/11 Britain, about the fragility of middle-class liberal values and assumptions, and the escalating vulnerability of our small, democratic island. It is McEwan writing on absolute top form." -� Daily Mail
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Gillian's SSIB painting is back on the auction block
Posted at 1:13 PM (PDT) on Friday, July 15, 2005
 When Gillian was working on The Sweetest Swing In Baseball (25 March 2004 - 15 May 2004), each night she painted a picture on stage adding a little bit more with each performance. Gillian's vibrant and expressionistic work is an oil on canvas measuring 70cm x 50cm (27.5 x 19.7 inches). It's very light and only weighs 900grams (2 lbs.). The painting is in London, England. The winner will have to email The Royal Court Theatre at develop@royalcourttheatre.com for payment instructions and shipping fees. They will accept cheques or credit cards. Click here to access our eBay page. Please keep in mind that the money raised from this auction goes towards helping The Royal Court Theatre. "The Royal Court receives public subsidy, but it is only sufficient to enable us to stage 12 plays a year, whilst in reality we produce around 20 full productions annually. Donors and sponsors provide vital support in enabling us to sustain and develop our work with writers and to produce their plays in our two auditoria." -- Support the Royal Court Auction ends on July 22.
Spring Auction Update: Thank You!
Posted at 10:10 AM (PDT) on Friday, July 15, 2005
Dear Spring Auction Participants, Donors and Volunteers:
The GA.ws Spring 2005 Auction was a grand success, and it's all thanks to you! The auction would not have been possible without the generosity and loyalty of the fans as well as the hard work and dedication of the administrators. NF, Inc. would like to express heartfelt appreciation to all of you for contributing -- whether by making a donation, participating in the bidding, purchasing an item, spreading the word and getting others involved, or finding your own unique and personal ways to show your support. In our ongoing mission to raise public awareness and provide information and encouragement to those affected by NF, every effort counts. Every person who cares makes a difference. That means you!
As always, we would especially like to thank Gillian Anderson and her family and friends for donating their time, energy, and many extraordinary items to the auction. Their tireless work for the NF cause is nothing short of inspirational.
NF, Inc. would not be where it is today without the tremendous community of support which you all have helped to create. We hope to continue working together with each of you for years to come!
Sincerely,
Your friends from the NF, Inc. Board of Directors
TXF Mythology: Critic's Picks
Posted at 10:07 AM (PDT) on Friday, July 15, 2005
 The News & Observer
Critic's picks - DVDs
By J. Peder Zane
You're a 12-year-old boy. It's a nice quiet night. Suddenly, your house begins to shake, you see a blinding light, your sister, crying for help, starts to levitate. Then whoosh, she's gone.
This kind of haunts you. So, as an adult you go to work for the FBI, investigating their strangest cases, called "The X-Files."
You uncover evidence that aliens have not only visited Earth, but they're still here. The government knows all about it -- probably knows what happened to your sister -- but is denying everything in a massive conspiracy that involves the fate of the planet.
Given this knowledge, let me ask you a question: Would you ever take your eye off the ball, waste your time tracking down serial killers, roaming monsters or people who can control the weather?
Of course not! As a sane and rational inhabitant of a little realm we call reality, your life would be all-conspiracy all-the-time.
TV, however, is run by folks from fantasy land. So producer Chris Carter and the rest of the gang behind the 1990s hit series "The X-Files" routinely sent out FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and his partner Dr. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to investigate clever and creepy -- yet totally beside the point -- cases. I loved these episodes, but they made the show hard to believe.
That's no longer a problem, thanks to DVD. "Abduction" (four discs, 20th Century Fox) collects all 15 episodes from the show's first three seasons that deal directly with the conspiracy; later sets, including the installment slated for Aug. 2 release, will continue the storyline through the ninth and final season. As we meet such classic characters as the Cigarette-Smoking Man and the Lone Gunmen conspiracy buffs -- and enjoy Mulder's clever repartee -- these early episodes launch one of the most compelling storylines in TV history: a tale of love, obsession, lies and startling surprises.
Knowing how it all turns out, it is interesting to see how much of that very long story Carter had mapped out in the beginning; the fact that the show had a vision it stayed true to was one of its strengths.
As Carter notes in the short "Threads of Mythology Documentary," the conspiracy episodes (he calls them "The Mythology") were particularly popular because they were the most personal. They often involved Mulder's and Scully's families and were usually the episodes in which their platonic love would flower. The DVD also includes audio commentaries for five of the episodes.
Uganda boosted by Amin film
Posted at 8:02 AM (PDT) on Friday, July 15, 2005
From BBC News:
The Ugandan film industry has been given a great boost by the decision to make the film of Giles Foden's book The Last King Of Scotland in the country, its actors have said.
The film, which centres on the life of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, is currently in production in Kampala.
While it stars big-name Hollywood actors Gillian Anderson and Forest Whitaker, it also features a number of Uganda's top actors - such as Abbey Mukiibi, who plays Masanga, Idi Amin's right-hand man.
"We needed something to show the world we can act," Mukiibi told BBC World Service's The Ticket programme.
"We saw this as a break for us Ugandan artists to go out onto the international scene and prove we can do it.
"We're also proud to be part of our history, proud to be doing something for the good of our nation, proud to be part of a cast featuring alongside international Hollywood stars.
"But the biggest thing was that we wanted to prove a point to people - that movies can be done be in Uganda."
To read the rest of the article, click here.
Bleak House Press Release
Posted at 11:06 PM (PDT) on Thursday, July 14, 2005
From BBC.co.uk: Big, brave and bold: Autumn on BBC ONE BLEAK HOUSE
Gillian Anderson, Denis Lawson, Charles Dance, Alistair McGowan, Pauline Collins and Johnny Vegas lead a star cast in a groundbreaking adaptation of Dickens's Bleak House, written by Andrew Davies.
The skilfully crafted thriller and passionate indictment of the legal system is one of Dickens's most celebrated achievements.
Dickens wrote Bleak House as a monthly serial for popular consumption, complete with cliff-hanger endings that left his audience fervent for the next instalment.
Davies's adaptation is told in a series of half-hour episodes, to be shown twice weekly using the pace, multiple storylines and cliff-hanger endings more usually associated with popular drama.
This never-been-done-before adaptation of a timeless tale gives a fuller rendering of the book that is normally achievable in a classic adaptation.
The story revolves around orphan Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin), companion to Ada and Richard, the Jarndyce wards of court, whose connection to the aloof yet beautiful Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson) may bring ruin to both her and Jarndyce (Denis Lawson).
Charles Dance is the merciless lawyer Tulkinghorn, who seeks to uncover Lady Dedlock's dark secret. Johnny Vegas plays Krook, the drunken, sly shop owner/landlord; Alistair McGowan plays Jarndyce's lawyer, Kenge; and Timothy West is Sir Leicester Dedlock.
Alun Armstrong, Hugo Speer, Liza Tarbuck, Charlie Brooks, Matthew Kelly, Richard Harrington, Nathaniel Parker, Warren Clarke, Anne Reid, Richard Griffiths, Phil Davis and rising stars Carey Mulligan and Patrick Kennedy also star.
August Release For The Mighty Celt
Posted at 4:18 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, July 12, 2005
From Irish Film and Television Network Film News:
Irish distribution company, Eclipse, has confirmed Irish writer/director Pearse Elliott�s debut feature film �The Mighty Celt�, starring Robert Carlyle and Gillian Anderson, will be released in Irish and UK cinemas on the 26th of August 2005.
No release dates yet for other countries including the U.S.A.
Last King of Scotland
Posted at 3:18 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, July 12, 2005
From Channel 4 News at UgandanNetwork.com:
A British movie about Idi Amin
Bang! Bang! Bang! No not war in some urban side street in the Ugandan capital - but a scene from the Last King of Scotland, a British movie about Idi Amin, directed by Kevin Macdonald, of Touching the Void fame.
Idi Amin may be dead, but he's still an internal subject of discussion - they know he was a brute. You meet so many people who lost relatives to his tyranny. But many people also believed he gave Uganda a voice.
Either way the very fact that more than 50 westerners can pitch up here for 3 months and sit about in directors chairs with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cameras lights and effects is a signal not only of the safety and tranquillity of Kampala but also that the country has come to terms with its past - even to the extent to having a movie made about the old ogre.
In the scene I saw, the uncannily Amin-like Forest Whitaker trundles down the hill in a presidential merc into an infernal assassination attempt - hence the bangs. But this is what our programme is about tonight - not the movie, but that it is possible for a country to come from tyranny to significant economic growth. 
The Mighty Celt at Two More Film Festivals
Posted at 12:10 PM (PDT) on Monday, July 11, 2005
The Mighty Celt is included in the programmes of film festivals in Salerno, Italy and Brisbane, Australia.
The Zimbabwe Benefit Fund
Posted at 4:20 PM (PDT) on Friday, July 8, 2005
 For those who would like to help make a difference in Africa, Gillian recommends this charity - The Zimbabwe Benefit Fund.
Dear Friends,
I have been deeply, deeply distressed to see the wonderful, thriving, democratic country of Zimbabwe become a shadow of what it used to be. Zimbabweans are suffering and we hear there are numerous cases of human rights abuse and torture. It is a situation where we cannot stand by watching a tragedy unfold without becoming complicit through our apathy.
As a Patron I encourage you to support the Zimbabwe Benefit Foundation. The people of Zimbabwe desperately need our help and encouragement. I commend those who have established this foundation to make a practical contribution to alleviate the suffering of these people.
In South Africa a similar fund saved many of our people. Nelson Mandela himself might not have been saved from the gallows without the efforts of the international community and those who selflessly strove to see that justice prevailed.
I urge you to support this eminently worthy initiative and hope you will respond with compassion and generosity.
God bless you,
Desmond M Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus
Gillian is fine
Posted at 6:52 AM (PDT) on Thursday, July 7, 2005
Gillian and her family are fine. They were not in London when the attacks occurred. Our prayers and heartfelt best wishes go out to everyone. Let us know peace. For as long as the moon shall rise, For as long as the rivers shall flow, For as long as the sun will shine, For as long as the grass shall grow, Let us know peace.
More Recs from Gillian
Posted at 11:18 AM (PDT) on Saturday, July 2, 2005
Gillian recommends these books and cds:
Buskaid on Songs of Praise in Africa, BBC 1
Posted at 10:22 AM (PDT) on Friday, July 1, 2005
Dear Supporter, This is a brief message to alert you to the fact the Buskaid will be featured this weekend, Sunday 3 July, on Songs of Praise in Africa on BBC 1 at approx 5.30pm (straight after the Wimbledon Final). If you have any people on your contact lists who may be interested we would so appreciate it if you would kindly pass this message on. With all good wishes, Sonja Bass Administrator - Buskaid SA Related Links: Songs of PraiseAfrica Lives on the BBCThanks, Eris!
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