In what has become the opening UK and Irish cinema awards show the 2010 RAAM Awards honored director Danny Boyle; distributor Stewart Till of Icon Films independent cinema operator David Williams of WTW cinemas and John Kelleher the recently retired director of the Irish Film Certification Board. Based on public voting through the Box Office these awards are presented annually to the individuals and companies working the UK and Irish film distribution and cinema industry. Twentieth Century Fox won the Distributor of the Year Award with Disney collecting the kudos for Technicolor 3D film of the Year Up which maintained its box office lead right up the final day of the year. A special award was presented to Fox to recognize Avatar’s performance in IMAX Cinemas as the top IMAX movie across the UK in 2009. Warner Bros won Film of the Year with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Optimum enjoyed the best foreign language movie with Coco before Chanel. Entertainment Film was voted top independent distributor of the year. As expected CineWorld won awards in the box office driven UK and Irish cinema of the year categories with Vue setting the pace in the Retail Team of the Year. Independent cinema awards were presented to the Phoenix Cinema Falmouth and the Lighthouse Cinema Dublin. Roger Pollock executive vice president – International Distribution and Operations at Paramount Pictures International and a member of the Awards Board says “For the first time the UK market passed the £1billion mark. This is a major achievement and shows that despite the recession the UK and Irish cinema had a fantastic year. Box office figures confirm the public vote on the top movies released during the year. Last year was a great year for film distribution and cinema and we are looking forward to more of the same in 2010.” Hosted by Paul Coia 2010 was the sixth year of the awards which were held at the London Marriott Hotel- Grosvenor Square. RAAM AWARDS – 2010 – Industry Achievement Awards and Winners International Award – Danny Boyle Industry Award – Ireland John Kelleher Industry Award – Distribution – Stewart Till Industry Award – Exhibition - David Williams Movie of the Year Harry Potter – and the Half Blood Prince – Warner Bros Foreign Language Movie of the Year Coco Before Chanel – Optimum Releasing 3D Movie of the Year – Sponsored by Technicolor Up – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures IMAX 3D Movie of the Year AVATAR – 20th Century Fox Distributor of the Year 20th Century Fox Independent Distributor of the Year Entertainment Films Cinema of the Year UK – Sponsored by Variety CineWorld – Glasgow Independent Cinema of the Year UK Phoenix Cinema - Falmouth Cinema of the Year Ireland – Sponsored by Britvic Ireland CineWorld – Dublin Independent Cinema of the Year Ireland – Sponsored by Coca Cola Bottlers Ireland The Lighthouse Cinema – Dublin Innovation in Cinema – Sponsored by BARCO Curzon Cinemas Retail Team of the Year – Sponsored by Britvic UK – Vue Entertainment
