Producer’s are rarely, if ever, nominated for BAFTA’s ‘Outstanding Debut’ award, as has been reported by the Guardian’s film critic, Adam Dawtry, although this year, two producer’s have that honour and will be at BAFTA’s Awards on the 21st February, and both are from the same indie company, Arturi Films. Elizabeth and David are available for interview and can provide production stills from their film.

Nominated for their feature Mugabe and The White African, which is currently on release in cinemas in London and around the UK, it has received outstanding reviews which include: “This is one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever seen” Daily Mail ¬“Unmissable portrait of courage under fire”, Guardian, “Nerve-shattering, tremendously moving cinema” Empire "Superb’ …Thought-provoking, distressing, shockingly tense” Time Out.

Arturi’s producers, David Pearson and Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, whose company’s motto is “making stories travel”, share the nomination with directors, Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson. The film is distributed by Dogwoof Pictures in the UK and its powerful story is currently enjoying sell out screenings and is in its sixth week at the Empire West End in Leicester Square. It has just opened in Ireland and will shortly be released in France by Pretty Pictures. The film is made in association with Explore Films, the Film Agency Wales and Molinare Productions.

Mugabe and the White African has already won several awards including the prestigious BIFA Award (British Independent Film Award) and was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination. Elizabeth and David are the only producers nominated in the Outstanding Debut category, although David, who has had a successful TV career as an award winning director and producer (he was nominated by BAFTA for BAGLADY shown on BBC1 – the moving story of Baglady Maggie Donnelly), and Elizabeth, who is one of the few women behind the cameras to be nominated this year, has had a successful career as a talent agent, working in film finance and sales before producing the award winning short film, Journeyman directed by Dictyanna Hood, which ran in UK cinemas across the UK, screening with Stephen Frears’ ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ and Michael Winterbottom’s ‘In This World’.

Arturi Films, which has offices in Wales and rural Gloucestershire, began production of Mugabe and the White African, which was shot in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and the UK in 2007. It charts one family’s extraordinary courage in the face of a relentless campaign of state-sanctioned terror. Making a film about such a challenging subject and shooting covertly in Zimbabwe during the violent and discredited elections in 2008, provided Arturi with real challenges to get the film funded and safely made with an accessible and moving story for audiences. The film which has been described as a “tense thriller”, provides a rare insight into life in Zimbabwe today and follows the nail biting case brought by farmer Mike Campbell against his President, Robert Mugabe, for racism; as Mike, supported by his son in law, Ben Freeth, fights to defend his property, his family’s livelihood and those of the 500 black workers who also live on the farm. As producers, with previous production experience and a number of feature films on their slate, David and Lizzie were intimately involved in the daily story conferencing, risk analysis and logistics during the shooting and cinema release of the film with the directors, who had not made a long film like this before, and David worked closely with the directors and film editor Tim Lovell as they coped with more than a year’s rushes and simplified the telling of a complex legal story and make it accessible and gripping, a demanding task; particularly as the directors had to juggle other work and having their baby arrive during the middle of the editing period. Elizabeth worked to ensure the film could be delivered as an effective cinema film, to expand the director’s original expectations of a TV production. David and Elizabeth recognise the achievement of the directors, saying ,“ Andrew did an incredibly brave job with Sound Recordist, James Snowden, in achieving such polished and beautiful photography shot covertly in Zimbabwe, and openly elsewhere , while Lucy did a great job; in particular achieving the seemingly impossible task of being allowed to film inside an international court to get the full story. They got close to the characters allowing a unique insight into their courage during the extreme provocation and attack that the family endured.”

David and Elizabeth’s current slate of fiction feature films include: Hollow Point , a siege thriller, written and to be directed by Richard Parry, which is a co-production with Michael Wearing (Edge of Darkness currently in cinemas), and The Hum a supernatural thriller, co-written by David Pearson and Isabelle Raynauld, which Elizabeth will coproduce with Pierre Evan (CRAZY) of production company Item 7, Canada. David, who is also Director of the Screenwriter’s Festival which attracts Oscar and BAFTA winning talent to its line up each year, says, “ It has been gratifying to see how Mugabe and The White African is both selling out in its London cinema run and getting critical and awards recognition. It took two years of hard work to make the film but we always thought it would appeal to an audience as it delivers a strong emotional punch.” Elizabeth added “We’re extremely proud of the film and grateful to everyone who worked with us to make it, as it demanded a commitment beyond the normal for everyone. We had a fantastic crew, brave fixers in Africa, fabulously passionate Molinare postproduction crew, and determined directors, of course, but it has resulted in us being able to show the world a terrifying insight into life in Zimbabwe”.

The film’s website has the trailer and a regularly updates list of the cinemas showing the film at the Screenings Schedule page of :
http://www.mugabeandthewhiteafrican.com/

“Superb… Thought-provoking, distressing, shockingly tense and always very sad, it is surely one of the best documentaries of the year.” TIME OUT- Five stars

“Excellent, moving anti-racist documentary. The story unfolds in a way that is stirring and never less than riveting. This is one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever seen."
DAILY MAIL Five Stars

" This is one of those documentaries that stays with you for years. The injustice infuriates and the story, simply and deftly told, breaks your heart.” Empire Film Magazine Four Stars