The Winter of Love set for UK DVD Launch

We’re delighted to announce that we have been appointed official distributors of The Winter of Love DVD

The Winter of Love is Shakila Taranum Maan’s first feature and is shot entirely on location in Southall, London. Shot on 35mm with a British cast and crew, The Winter of Love is one of the first British Asian films that has been independently produced and distributed.

The film is now available on DVD at www.thewinteroflove.co.uk

There will be a Press Launch and Q and A with Shakila Taranum Maan on Tuesday 1st March at 7pm at The Beauchamp, Knightsbridge followed by the launch of the soundtrack for the film with Composer Musician Kuljit Bhamra MBE. Entry to the launch is free but by invitation only. Please email us for further information. Places are limited.

Date: Tuesday March 1st, 2011
Time: Press Launch, Q and A and Launch of DVD and CD from 7pm onwards
Venue: The Beauchamp Bar. 43-44 Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1NX

Award winning Writer/Director Shakila Taranum Maan’s The Winter of Love (A Quiet Desperation) premiered as the opening film for Raindance East at the Raindance Film Festival, London 2001, and has since screened at Cannes, Tongues on Fire Film Festival at the NFT, Watermans and the Phoenix in Leicester.

The soundtrack to this seminal film was arranged by the renowned composer Kuljit Bhamra (‘Bombay Dreams’ and ‘Far Pavilions’) and is released on his own label, Keda Records. The Winter of Love features the talents of Shiv Grewal,       Gurpreet Bhatti, Dev Sagoo, Pravesh Kumar and Badi-U-Zaman.

Asian Woman Magazine gives the film 5 stars and says “The Winter of Love is a sensitive drama that gets under the skin of Asian life with its atmospheric visuals and a compelling soundtrack by Kuljit Bhamra.”

Tongues on Fire Film Festival says this of the film, “Shakila Taranum Maan’s feature debut shines a light onto a London-based Indian community rarely seen on screen. She shows an acute understanding of the pressures inherent in the family ties that bind her characters and tethers them tightly to the past. Maan captures the sense of fear and   disappointment that governs so many of the protagonists’ lives but is shrewd enough to balance it with its share of lighter moments. Ultimately, though, it’s a dark tale of what people are prepared to do to one another in the name of love.”

Eastern Eye, Desi says of this film, “Shakila Taranum Maan is another filmmaker ready to join the ranks of internationally acclaimed Asian women directors like Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chadha.”

Time Out says of this film, “Atmospheric and effectively scored… this tale of one man’s journey through a quasi-deserted city and the past provides a welcome insight into a little-known London community.”

Raindance Film Festival says of this film, “When Shammi already haunted by troubled memories, finally returns home to Southall after hearing of his brother’s death, he embarks on a dark but personally enlightening odyssey. A sensitive and enlightening drama set in a vividly evoked London community.”

The Evening Standard says of this film, “IMPRESS your trendy friends with your knowledge of new Asian cinema by sampling some the seven movies flavoured by the East in the mini-festival offshoot of Raindance. On Sunday, A Quiet Desperation – set in the exotic environs of Southall – gets a world premier. It follows the story of Shammi, a man haunted and caught in a downward spiral…”

A diverse musical score provides strong accompaniment to many of Shakila’s films, such as ‘The Winter Of Love’, ‘Ferdous’, ‘A Thousand Borrowed Eyes’ and ‘Dark Skies’. While vivacious colours and lucid imagery come alive in the carefully constructed frames, particularly in ‘The Winter Of Love’. The courage to explore daring themes in depth is also a strong feature of Shakila’s style, and she works economically, heightening tension and emphasising the visual performance with sparse dialogue and periods of silence.

Shakila Taranum Maan, an award winning British Director
Shakila has won Best Art Film, Asolo Film Festival, Italy, 2000 for her arts documentary entitled ‘Alone Together’ about the British Artists Rabinder and Amrit Kaur Singh, the documentary examines the Mughal style of painting that the two artists work in whilst exploring contemporary British themes; for example O Come All Ye Re-eds is a portrait of Liverpool Football Club. Shot on 16mm. Distributed by The Art Council of England.

Tags: british film, kuljit bhamra, shakila taranum maan
Posted in The Winter of Love | No Comments »
Author: Equilibrium
Time: February 16th, 2011

Tips for designing a new Twitter background

Have you tried the new twitter?

A few weeks ago twitter started rolling out a new layout with the aim of boosting performance and providing a more user friendly experience.

[If you are new to Twitter and Social Media read our article “What is Twitter?" - How to turn a simple tweet into an effective business tool]

Visually there is a big difference as the new dashboard has doubled in size, making our current twitter background redundant! However apart from that we really like the new layout.

As you will see on the left there is now a series of tabs for @Mentions, Retweets, Searches and Lists, all within easy reach.

The left panel displays your vital twitter numbers…. followers, following, tweets, lists, etc.

Of course this meant redesigning our current background to fit the new dimensions, so here are our tips for designing a new background plus what makes a good twitter background for a small business.

Tips for designing a new Twitter background

When redesigning your new twitter background you need to make allowance for the reduced space available on the left and right side when a user is logged into twitter.

If not logged in then the old dimensions still apply, which means you need to come up with a design that works whether the user is logged in or not.

Secondly you will need to allow for the bar across the top which is now a consistent feature in the layout, handy but will impact your background design.

Also the right panel is now transparent, so a good place for repeating your logo or marketing message. However remember this will only be visible to users logged in, who scroll down to read their feed. You also need to allow for people viewing your page when not logged in. As the example below shows our new background looks great if logged in but not so great if you are not, this can be easily remedied by simply decreasing the size of the graphics on the right .

What makes a good twitter background for a business?

Keep it simple, space is limited so your design needs to bold and visually impacting.

Do not use both the right and left spaces on either side of the panel, as this makes it very crowded visually and in our opinion messy.

Make sure you add your web address and contact details [if appropriate]

Use images, company logos, brands, etc. Stick with your website colours where possible, so it fits in with your overall branding.

Include your USP’s; keep them short and to the point.

Use the transparent panel to repeat your USP’s or logo or website address.

Need a twitter background, why not try our design service?

Tags: twitter background
Posted in Twitter | No Comments »
Author: Equilibrium
Time: November 5th, 2010

Google Ranks your Website using Site Speed

Google has announced that site speed will be a determining factor in how they rank your website in serps (search engine results page).

At the moment according to Google the change will affect less than 1% of search query results.  This may not sound much, but with 1.3 billion websites competing on Google worldwide, 1% is 13.5 million and it is plausible to think it will affect you.

This is a clear signal from Google that site owners need to pay attention to site speed. If a site takes too long to load, most will abandon it and move on. Google recognises this and, as a search engine provider, knows it must address this in order to maintain and attract users.

So if it’s not something that’s on your agenda when building your next site or reviewing your current one, then you really need to consider it.

Start by checking what your current site speed is, there are various tools you can use – as suggested by Google in their blog.

Here are some free tools that you can use to evaluate the speed of your site:

• Page Speed, an open source Firefox/Firebug add-on that evaluates the performance of web pages and gives suggestions for improvement.
• YSlow, a free tool from Yahoo! that suggests ways to improve website speed.
• WebPagetest shows a waterfall view of your pages’ load performance plus an optimization checklist.
• In Webmaster Tools, Labs > Site Performance shows the speed of your website as experienced by users around the world as in the chart below. We’ve also blogged about site performance.
• Find more tools on code.google.com/speed.

If you need help, your web developer can tell you what to do and show you what improvements you can make.

Tags: site speed
Posted in Google | No Comments »
Author: Equilibrium
Time: April 14th, 2010

The Southall Story at South Bank

Not before time, The Southall Story has finally been written. If you haven’t heard of Southall, you may know of it as “Little India”. The heart of the UK’s migrant population, this wonderfully eclectic London community, has been at the centre of major political debate and change, and has nurtured and produced many successful and high profile individuals. Cleo Lane is a Southall girl; Trevor Baylis OBE who invented the first windup radio in response to the AIDS crisis in Africa, also grew up there; and Gurinder Chada OBE director of Bend it Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, is proud to be a Southaller. Southall has an extraordinary history, both cultural and political, and it is all been collated into a stunning exhibition, on now at The South Bank.

Running from the 6th April to the 11th May, The Southall Story finally takes centre stage with a comprehensive exhibition celebrating its people, heritage and arts.

Southall is re-created through a ‘Time Tunnel’ starting in the 1950’s, when the first immigrants started arriving, and continuing through to modern day. As you walk through a series of rooms, you will see how fashion, communications and living styles have changed over the past 70 years. There’s also a photographic exhibition that has captured life in Southall throughout the centuries; for those who were there this will take you back and stir memories long forgotten.

During the launch weekend, various guest stars and artists will perform impromptu sets; Mohinder Kaur Bhamra (female bhangra pioneer) and Premi & Heera are appearing, alongside other well known celebrities including Gurinder Chadha.

We at Equilibrium have supported The Southall Story with internet marketing solutions, and we’re very excited about seeing the exhibition….and meeting the celebs. We hope to see you there!

Tags: events
Posted in The Southall Story | 1 Comment »
Author: Equilibrium
Time: April 9th, 2010

Social Networking – A step too far…

Now we’re big fans of Social Networking [Social Media Marketing (SMM)] but surely this is a step too far, a kettle that tweets when it has boiled. Hmmm… really is it necessary.

“If you think that a whistling kettle is not good enough for this techno day and age, then you like this kettle that updates itself on Twitter.” writes Rene Millman at absolutegadget

Designed by Ben Perman and Murat Multu as a way to benefit from social networks like Twitter, they hope to raise funds to bring this to the mass market.

We wouldn’t advise launching a major business idea sparked after a boozy night out but good luck guys, it would be interesting to see if there is actually a market out there for a twittering kettle….

Tags: social media marketing
Posted in Social Networking | No Comments »
Author: Equilibrium
Time: April 9th, 2010

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