Lord Attenborough needs YOU!

By Graham Young on Jan 7, 10 06:37 PM

LORD 'Dickie' Attenborough is hoping Birmingham Mail readers will join in the voting to help decide a Film of the Year Award that will be announced in our name and his.

The star of Jurassic Park, director of Gandhi and producer of Whistle Down the Wind knows a thing or two about movies.

Now it's your turn to help him when it comes to the fourth annual Richard Attenborough Film Awards.

Or RAFAs for short.

Voting closes on January 22 and the winners of all the categories in the RAFAs - including the Birmingham Mail Film of the Year Award - will be announced on Thursday, January 28... before the Oscars and BAFTAs.

Click on the link below to find out more.

And then cast your vote for YOUR award.

THE year 2009 looks set to post the highest cinema attendances since 2002 - and that's despite the recession plunging many other industries into chaos.

Now you can vote for your favourite movie as part of the public's involvement in the fourth year of The Richard Attenborough Film Awards 2010.

The RAFAs will again reflect audience tastes across the UK when they are announced on January 28 - before either the BAFTAs or Oscars.

The Birmingham Mail Film of the Year Award will be voted for by our readers.

Our shortlist includes An Education, Avatar, The Damned United, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Julie & Julia, Gran Torino, Nativity!, Star Trek and Up.

To cast your Birmingham Mail vote for your favourite film of 2009, simply visit the official website www.filmoftheyear.co.uk/publicvote

Voting is open now till noon on January 22.

You can follow developments at www.twitter.com/therafas2010

The www.filmoftheyear.co.uk site also has many other interesting facts and figures about the industry.

Cambridge-born Lord Attenborough has always been a big supporter of regional film journalism.

While still a student in 1942, he made his screen debut in the Noel Coward/David Lean film In Which We Serve.

A star of classics like Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place and Jurassic Park, he has also directed Shadowlands, A Bridge Too Far and Chaplin and produced many other hits like Whistle Down The Wind.

His most acclaimed film was Gandhi which won eight Oscars in 1983.

Dickie, who laid the foundation stone at Birmingham's Star City with Julie Walters, says: "2009 proved to be an exceptionally buoyant year for cinemagoing, with an increase in audiences across the UK.

"This adds to my pleasure in announcing the fourth annual Richard Attenborough Film Awards, which take in the opinions of both regional audiences and the regional critics."

Other public RAFAs this year include Film Music of the Year, sponsored by Classic FM; British Film of the Year (Alan Titchmarsh Show); Best New Director (BritFilm.tv); 3D Film of the Year (Brighton Argus); Best Use of UK Locations Used in a Film (Visit Britain); Film of The Year Award (The List, Scotland); Film of the Year Award (Venue Magazine, Bath & Bristol); Best Film Made In The Midlands (EM Media).

A year ago, my UK Regional Film Critic colleagues voted Slumdog Millionaire as the Film of the Year 2009.

Previous winners were Atonement (2008) and Pan's Labyrinth (2007).

Taking part is free, so make sure your vote counts for 2010.