Stars: Andrea McLean, Danny Midwinter, Andre Nightingale, Philip Brodie, Victoria Hopkins, Marc Bannerman, Anna Passey | Written and Directed by Paul Knight
Another grand addition to the traditional “Brit Flick” stable, featuring murder, intrigue, deception, drama and a twist-y turn-y plot that will leave you wondering “Who can you trust when the truth is buried in A Landscape of Lies” In a sea of gritty Brit flicks, half the battle can often be finding one that first of all grabs your attention but once they have it they can keep it? A Landscape of Lies, on paper, sounds right up my Sesame (Street, bit of rhyming for you there). It’s British, it’s fairly low budget and the cast is a veritable smorgasbord of “Hey, that’s him from that other movie I liked” or “Oh crap, its her… nice”. The performances are The area where the indie movie can...
Another grand addition to the traditional “Brit Flick” stable, featuring murder, intrigue, deception, drama and a twist-y turn-y plot that will leave you wondering “Who can you trust when the truth is buried in A Landscape of Lies” In a sea of gritty Brit flicks, half the battle can often be finding one that first of all grabs your attention but once they have it they can keep it? A Landscape of Lies, on paper, sounds right up my Sesame (Street, bit of rhyming for you there). It’s British, it’s fairly low budget and the cast is a veritable smorgasbord of “Hey, that’s him from that other movie I liked” or “Oh crap, its her… nice”. The performances are The area where the indie movie can...
- 12/7/2017
- by Kevin Haldon
- Nerdly
Bashar Al Issa, a bankrupt Middle Eastern entrepreneur and Aoife Madden, an unemployed Irish actress join up to make feature films. Their first movie will have an almost unheard-of budget for a British film of £20m. But there’s a problem – the money never actually comes in. Undeterred, Bashar and Aoife submit £8m of production accounts to the British taxman and claim £2.5m in film tax breaks. The authorities smell a rat. They investigate, arrest, and charge the producers, and then bail them.
While out on bail, the producers decide to prove their innocence by actually making a film. They hire Paul Knight, a former nightclub bouncer, now a self-made film director, whose credits are some unreleased and unfinished films uploaded to Youtube, to make their movie for just a £100,000. The title: “A Landscape of Lies.” Paul Knight recruits an unusual cast that include one of the presenters of ITV’s daytime show Loose Women,...
While out on bail, the producers decide to prove their innocence by actually making a film. They hire Paul Knight, a former nightclub bouncer, now a self-made film director, whose credits are some unreleased and unfinished films uploaded to Youtube, to make their movie for just a £100,000. The title: “A Landscape of Lies.” Paul Knight recruits an unusual cast that include one of the presenters of ITV’s daytime show Loose Women,...
- 1/12/2016
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Take a daytime TV star, an ex-soap actor, 10 extras and some potted palms to a quarry in Hertfordshire and what do you get? An award-winning Iraq war blockbuster, of course. Here's how the producers of A Landscape Of Lies conned millions out of the taxman
Paul Knight is not the sort of person you'd take for a fall guy. A youthful-looking but physically imposing 45-year-old, Knight makes no secret of his colourful past. "Let's just say my path up until my 30th birthday went in a certain direction," he says. As a youth, his record ran to car theft, shoplifting and breaking and entering; in "the bigger leagues", he was arrested several times but always managed to avoid prison. "I was only convicted for certain things, so I'm not going to admit to what they didn't catch me for." He hints that his godfather was Charlie Kray, and that his...
Paul Knight is not the sort of person you'd take for a fall guy. A youthful-looking but physically imposing 45-year-old, Knight makes no secret of his colourful past. "Let's just say my path up until my 30th birthday went in a certain direction," he says. As a youth, his record ran to car theft, shoplifting and breaking and entering; in "the bigger leagues", he was arrested several times but always managed to avoid prison. "I was only convicted for certain things, so I'm not going to admit to what they didn't catch me for." He hints that his godfather was Charlie Kray, and that his...
- 8/24/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
'Hollywood blockbuster' was never made and instead of a $20m budget only £5,000 of footage was ever shot, court hears
Five fraudsters who pretended to be making a Hollywood blockbuster as part of a £2.8m Vat and film tax credits scam have been jailed.
Tax inspectors were told that A-listers from Hollywood were starring in a £19.6m production that would be shot in the UK.
But the film, Landscape of Lies, was never made and the only footage shot was seven minutes of "completely unusable quality" filmed in a flat and costing just £5,000.
Bashar al-Issa, 34, a former Iraqi national who is now British, of Maida Vale, London, was described as the orchestrator of the fraud. He was jailed for six and a half years by Judge Juliet May, sitting at Southwark crown court in London.
Aoife Madden, 31, an actor of British and Irish nationality from west London, was sentenced to four years and eight months.
Five fraudsters who pretended to be making a Hollywood blockbuster as part of a £2.8m Vat and film tax credits scam have been jailed.
Tax inspectors were told that A-listers from Hollywood were starring in a £19.6m production that would be shot in the UK.
But the film, Landscape of Lies, was never made and the only footage shot was seven minutes of "completely unusable quality" filmed in a flat and costing just £5,000.
Bashar al-Issa, 34, a former Iraqi national who is now British, of Maida Vale, London, was described as the orchestrator of the fraud. He was jailed for six and a half years by Judge Juliet May, sitting at Southwark crown court in London.
Aoife Madden, 31, an actor of British and Irish nationality from west London, was sentenced to four years and eight months.
- 3/26/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
London — The clue was in the title.
In some ways "A Landscape of Lies" was a typical indie film, with a tiny budget, a B-list cast and an award from an American film festival.
What made it special is that it was created solely to cover up a huge tax fraud.
Five people in Britain face jail sentences after being convicted this week of attempting to bilk the government of 2.8 million pounds ($4.2 million) in a moviemaking scam reminiscent of Academy Award-winning hit "Argo" – without the heroic hostage rescue.
Prosecutors and tax authorities say the fraudsters claimed to be producing a made-in-Britain movie with unnamed A-list actors and a 19 million-pound budget supplied by a Jordanian firm.
In fact, officials say, the project was a sham, set up to claim almost 1.5 million pounds in goods and services tax for work that had not been done, as well as 1.3 million pounds under a...
In some ways "A Landscape of Lies" was a typical indie film, with a tiny budget, a B-list cast and an award from an American film festival.
What made it special is that it was created solely to cover up a huge tax fraud.
Five people in Britain face jail sentences after being convicted this week of attempting to bilk the government of 2.8 million pounds ($4.2 million) in a moviemaking scam reminiscent of Academy Award-winning hit "Argo" – without the heroic hostage rescue.
Prosecutors and tax authorities say the fraudsters claimed to be producing a made-in-Britain movie with unnamed A-list actors and a 19 million-pound budget supplied by a Jordanian firm.
In fact, officials say, the project was a sham, set up to claim almost 1.5 million pounds in goods and services tax for work that had not been done, as well as 1.3 million pounds under a...
- 3/15/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
In 2011, a military conspiracy thriller called A Landscape Of Lies was released on DVD. The story behind it is far more fantastic than that in the film itself, and has now led to five people being convicted for fraud in the first successful prosecution relating to the film tax relief fund.
Eye For Film has previously reported on concerns about scams involving this fund, which is designed to help get more British productions into cinemas and increase employment for UK-based film support businesses. This scam, though, was remarkable in its audacity. It centred on a company called Evolved Pictures which was supposedly working on a top end production starring Hollywood A-listers. The producers - Bashar Al-Issa, Aoife Madden, Tariq Hassan, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady - claimed to be spending over £19M on their film, meaning they were entitled to over £1M in Vat repayments. They also fraudulently sought.
Eye For Film has previously reported on concerns about scams involving this fund, which is designed to help get more British productions into cinemas and increase employment for UK-based film support businesses. This scam, though, was remarkable in its audacity. It centred on a company called Evolved Pictures which was supposedly working on a top end production starring Hollywood A-listers. The producers - Bashar Al-Issa, Aoife Madden, Tariq Hassan, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady - claimed to be spending over £19M on their film, meaning they were entitled to over £1M in Vat repayments. They also fraudulently sought.
- 3/14/2013
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In an amazing twist, a movie that began life as a plan to defraud the public purse turned out to be a prize-winner
It could be a great movie-making satire, along the lines of Argo, or Mel Brooks' The Producers. The pitch: a team of amateur crooks concoct a bogus movie to squeeze millions in tax relief from the government. They claim it cost £20m to make; they get around £3m back. Sorted. Until the taxman asks to see the film. So the crooks hastily dupe some C-list actors into cobbling together a cheap gangster flick. The twist? Said flick turns out to be pretty good. It even wins an award.
You'd pay to see that wouldn't you? Especially if it was "based on actual events" – which this is. Last month, a gang led by actor/producer Aoife Madden became the first people convicted of defrauding the British Film Commission's tax-relief scheme.
It could be a great movie-making satire, along the lines of Argo, or Mel Brooks' The Producers. The pitch: a team of amateur crooks concoct a bogus movie to squeeze millions in tax relief from the government. They claim it cost £20m to make; they get around £3m back. Sorted. Until the taxman asks to see the film. So the crooks hastily dupe some C-list actors into cobbling together a cheap gangster flick. The twist? Said flick turns out to be pretty good. It even wins an award.
You'd pay to see that wouldn't you? Especially if it was "based on actual events" – which this is. Last month, a gang led by actor/producer Aoife Madden became the first people convicted of defrauding the British Film Commission's tax-relief scheme.
- 3/14/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.