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Hurt vows to fight for Independent films

Veteran actor John Hurt said today he would continue his "constant fight" to make audiences passionate about independent films rather than Hollywood blockbusters.
1 of 1 John Hurt - won Lifetime award
John Hurt - won Lifetime award

The 70-year-old actor, who has starred in films such as 'Alien', 'The Elephant Man' and 'Midnight Express', was speaking at the Bradford International Film Festival (BIFF), where he was given an Lifetime Achievement Award, and said such events were integral to the world of film.

He said: "The independent film needs festivals to be able to advertise it, in one sense, and secondly to create an atmosphere in which we can begin to understand what our culture is and hopefully - eventually - educate enough people so that we have a real film-understanding audience that is going to appreciate what this wonderful turbulent island is all about, rather than have to rely on Hollywood films."

Hurt said he was not ruling out the importance of large-scale studio films or any other foreign works, but wished the balance was more even.

"It's been my constant fight all my life," he said.

"All you can do is prepare the ground. You can't just say this is how it ought to be because you've got to create a public that actually enjoys it - and therein lies the difficulties."

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