FLMSCL (pronounced Filmschool) is accepting submissions for RETinevitable 2, "an emerging director/ new technology/ installation- focused film festival" to be held in New York from September 12-24.

"We are at a seminal moment in filmmaking as the barriers between cinema and everything else are falling," says Adam Levite, one of the three FLMSCL curators.

Levite and his fellow educators David Levine and Francine Hermelin will assemble roughly 60 films, ranging in length from 30 seconds to 30 minutes to be presented at the second RETinevitable festival (the first was held in 1998). August 5, 2000 is the deadline for entries. Held in the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage, the festival is as much about the screening environment as it is the films being screened.

"We are taking inspiration from installation art and elements going into film production, like lighting, set, sound and production design," says Levine. "We thought it would be interesting to take those elements and build individual or multiple viewing stations. The kind of work we are showing will work well in that kind of environment."

Some past participants of FLMSCL events include Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Tomato, Mike Mills, Gus Gus, Harmony Korine, Sofia Coppola and Atom Egoyan. SH

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BA Gains Altitude

Director Gerard De Thame has teamed with production entity Beaucoup Chapeaux on a ground-and-atmosphere breaking new spot for British Airways created out of M&C Saatchi New York.

The 60-second spot is the first TV branding effort for British Airways created especially for the North American market by M&C's New York office. Delivering the central message that The British Know How To Travel, the high-end spot takes viewers into space and into the near future, providing a peek at what lofty standards in civilized travel really mean. The spot opens with what might be mistaken for a portrayal of positive east-west relations, as an American and Russian astronaut are shown to be happy, albeit cramped, in a typical, spare space station environment, complete with tubed food and clangy objects. The scene is then contrasted with a look at the accommodations facing a pair of British astronauts, who enjoy sumptuous fresh food, the day's paper and an interior that is more Bentley than government issue.

"British Airways has a heritage of doing wonderful big brand spots," says M&C creative director Marty Cooke. "We're hoping this is in the tradition of that work." Until now, the brand spots created in the UK have been picked up to run in the US. But now, says Cooke, the brand is in a different position in the US than in its home territory. "It's in a stronger position image-wise in the US now," says Cooke, hence the mandate to produce something special for the colonies.

The shoot took place in the UK at Shepperton Studios over about two and a half weeks and entailed a full complement of production and CGI solutions. A full- size space station model was created and London-based The Mill handled the effects work. While the story is simple, Cooke calls the production process the most complex thing he's been party to.