Fantastic reviews for Kapka Kassabova's TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE – and a gorgeous tango video animation!

TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE: A TANGO STORY has received a string of great features and reviews, and also inspired this tango video animation commissioned by Portobello. It's already been viewed more than 5,000 times on YouTube and will be featured at the Glasgow Short Film Festival's 'Words Per Minute' literary and film event on 11 February.

Kapka's memoir featured as the lead review in Psychologies magazine:

'Three reasons to read TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE: 1. For an insight into a hobby that turns into an obsession; 2. To go on an emotional journey; 3. For a searing account of heartbreak...Here's a woman discovering herself over a decade, growing up and changing, in an understated, unassuming and unusual EAT PRAY LOVE-type memoir.'

And from Olivia Cole in GQ: 'New Zealand, to Edinburgh, Berlin and Buenos Aires, part travelogue, part memoir, this is a sexy step through the myths around tango and its physical, emotional and psychological layers. You will want to learn.'

The Scotsman ran this interview (with a picture of Kapka and her tango shoes!): 'Kassabova is that rare thing, an author who excels in every genre. She's a published poet and novelist, a writer of travel guides, and of memoirs, whose earlier book, STREET WITHOUT A NAME, is an autobiographical travelogue about rediscovering her native Bulgaria. … TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE: A TANGO STORY is her touching and insightful chronicle of a ten-year obsession that dragged her around the world and back again by the heartstrings.'

A brilliant, glowing review has appeared in the Independent: 'An exquisitely crafted blending of travelogue, memoir, dance history and some seriously good writing on the human condition, TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE delves deep into the obsessive nature of tango fanatics and vividly depicts a world full of beauty and heartbreak, of love and loss...This mix of travel writing, personal experience and history is something that Kapka Kassabova has done before, and she's frankly brilliant at it.'

And it's not just the reviewers who are fans, TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE: A TANGO STORY has the mark of approval from the dance cognoscenti as well!

'A beautiful book, beautifully written …. Kassabova is brilliant on why we dance the Argentine tango, discussing the sense of melancholy and yearning experienced by anyone who has danced its steps or indeed listened to its music … an exquisitely written story.' -- Dance Today

In addition to those above, TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE: A TANGO STORY has received wonderful reviews in Time Out, Metro, Marie Claire and Big Issue, and  press from New Zealand, (where Kapka lived after leaving Bulgaria) - a New Zealand Herald feature here - and it's been picked as a Book of the Year in The Listener: 'Equipped "with a pair of tango shoes, a dress, a silk fan, a city map with tango venues marked on it, and an eye mask - so that I can sleep through the days and dance through the nights", Kassabova takes us on a journey into tango - and her own heart. As she criss-crosses the globe in search of milongas, she explores tango's ecstasy and desperation, its unique subculture and exotic characters. A compelling read.'

Kapka was also interviewed by Harriet Gilbert on The Strand, with lots of lovely tango music.

Here is an audio review from Scottish blogger Alistair Braidwood.

'Tanguera' interviewed her for the Tango Hub site saying:' TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE doesn't disappoint - neither does it show off. It's an endearing, heartfelt account of one woman's life with (and without) tango'.

And here is Kapka Kassabova herself on the writing of TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE.

Kapka is currently at the Kolkata Literary Meet at the Kolkata Book Fair and has a busy year of festival appearances including the Aye Write Festival in Glasgow on 11 March (with a tango performance at the end, organised by them), the Oxford Literary Festival on 25 March, teaching at Arvon's Moniack Mhor site in Scotland, 9-14 April, and representing Bulgaria at the Poetry Parnassus Week at the Southbank Centre, 26 June-2 July.

And last but not least, TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE continues to ride high (#3 at the time of writing) on the Dance titles on Amazon, with an array of glowing 5 Star reviews!

For more info on Kapka and TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE, click here.

David Cameron singles out David Sherwin’s If... for Praise

David Cameron has noted his appreciation for the Palme D'Or winning film If..., scripted by David Sherwin, in a recent interview with The Spectator. The PM mentioned the movie while talking to Evan Davis about the new film policy review.

If..., an anti-authoritarian eruption of a film and a bona fide classic of British cinema, has in fact been performed very successfully at the PM's alma mater Eton College in recent years. This demonstrates the enduring love/hate relationship the film has had with the public school system over the years, and the strange affection the work shows for the microcosmic power structures still found in boarding schools today.

Currently, David's memoir, GOING MAD IN HOLLYWOOD, is in development with Fiesta Productions. He is also acting as a consultant on the script.

Paul Usher heads Instinctive Film London office

Blake Friedmann is delighted to announce that new client Paul Usher will act as the UK representative and producer for Berlin based film finance and production company Instinctive Film. Paul was previously an agent for five years with CMM, and now works as a scriptwriter and producer.

Instinctive, who executive produced last year’s hit indie thriller RETREAT staring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell and Thandie Newton, are now looking to solidify their international presence with expansion into both the UK and US markets.

Paul will be responsible for developing co-production deals for Instinctive in the UK, as well as assembling a development slate.

Instinctive CEO Darryn Welch commented ‘2011 has been a rollercoaster year for us. We have been busy working to diversify the company and its activities to adapt to the ever-changing climates in the industry. Our plan is to have greater management over sales, marketing and distribution for the films we develop and produce.’

In addition to his work as a producer, Paul also has two scripts under option with Instinctive – a high concept thriller called THE HOLD and an action adventure entitled SMOKING HOT.

Multiple nominations for Richard Dinnick's Dr. Who stories!

Richard Dinnick, author of DOCTOR WHO: THE UNDERWATER WAR and MOSHI MONSTERS has been nominated for fiction, non-fiction and audio script in Doctor Who Magazine's Annual Poll for "Alien Adventures", "The Big Finish Companion" and "Recorded Time & Other Stories" respectively.

DEAD BEFORE DYING creating buzz in Variety

Hollywood entertainment weekly Variety has been reporting on the progress of All In Productions' three part adaptation of Deon Meyer's DEAD BEFORE DYING, scripted by fellow Blake Friedmann clients Dominic Morgan and Matt Harvey. The Munich based production company acquired rights to the book in March last year. Here is the article:

'Germany's All In Production is prepping a TV movie trilogy based on South African crime novelist Deon Meyer's bestsellers.

The Munich-based shingle has tapped German-South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz, who helmed the 2010 Cannes screener "Life Above All," to direct the first installment, DEAD BEFORE DYING from an English-language script by Brits Matt Harvey and Dominic Morgan.

The 1996 book introduced Cape Town police captain Mat Joubert, a depressed and overweight chain-smoker still grieving the loss of his wife, killed in the line of duty. A wave of homicides, coupled with a tough new commanding officer who imposes a strict diet and mental health regimen on his detectives, gives the investigator a new lease on life.

Joubert also appears in Meyer's DEAD AT DAYBREAK and TRACKERS.

All In is in talks with TV partners and international co-producers for the project, which will include an international cast.

Meyer's works have been attracting plenty of interest from moviemakers. London-based South Africans Malcolm Kohll and Robert Fig optioned the author's THIRTEEN HOURS, about a detective's race to find the killer of an American student in Cape Town. France's TF1 Intl. has acquired rights to BLOOD SAFARI, about a freelance bodyguard up against ruthless wildlife poachers.'

You can read it on the Variety website here.