The last few weeks have flown past, which is why there has been no blog entry for a while. We opened in the US 30th October to generally positive reviews (still very fresh on the Rotten Tomatoes scale), most of which can be found on our Press page. I was especially pleased by Roger Ebert's four (out of four) stars and Leonard Maltin's ringing endorsement on Reelz Channel - these were two of the biggest Critical Cheeses of my adolescence and early adulthood, and I am proud to have made my first feature in time to see their pronouncements.

Our US release proceeded as planned, covering much of California, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Detroit - with a number of key cities (Boston, Columbus, Denver) still to come in 2010. We didn't shoot into the stratosphere like Precious - but neither did we embarrass ourselves at the box office (nor, alas, did we have the support that Precious enjoyed from Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Perry).  All in all, I am delighted that the film had a chance to be release in the US. SKIN may not be everyone's idea of a good time at the movies, but those who discover the film have been very appreciative (and it ain't over yet).

Mid-November, I made a fleeting visit to the Kolkata (Calcutta) Film Festival, where I witnessed the first response to the film from an Indian public, which was very favourable and passionate. These are issues that lie buried just under the surface in Indian society and are combustible when disinterred, leading to much-needed debate. Sadly, it seems the Indian distribution network is not yet geared up to release films like SKIN, but I am waiting to see if someone out there picks it up against the odds.

Finally, last week, SKIN won the Grand Jury Prize at the festival of Cinema and Science in Bordeaux, presented by legendary director Jean-Jacques Beineix (of Diva and Betty Blue fame). What's scientific about SKIN? Genetics, for one... not to mention the social sciences which study racism.  Increasingly, and from the beginning, we've had requests from schools and universities to show the film, and it is one of my abiding hopes that SKIN can reach as many educational institutions world-wide as possible. In France as well, I was heartened by the response of the scientific body that founded the festival - the CNRS - who want to launch educational programmes around SKIN throughout the country. For the French speakers among you, there are further details about this festival (and an interview in my limited French) here:  http://www.cnrs.fr/cinemascience/. Being a civilised festival in a civilised country, with a proper respect for the finer things in life, the prize was a Jeroboam (6 ltr bottle) of Chateau La Louviere 1995, a decent Graves. I've left it safely, I hope, in a wine cellar in southwest France for a festive occasion, as they wouldn't have let me on a plane with it, but apparently large bottles can keep for 30 to 40 years...

Next stop for SKIN: South Africa. A long awaited return to the place of its birth.