Issue 19, 2013 - Balliol College - University of Oxford

BAFTA nomination
Baldwin Li (2001) was nominated for a BAFTA for his short film
The Voorman Problem, a whimsical dark comedy starring Martin
Freeman and Tom Hollander. The film is about a psychiatrist who
is called to see an enigmatic prisoner, Mr Voorman, who believes he
is a god. Baldwin, who produced and co-wrote the script, developed
the film with writer/director Mark Gill.
Baldwin was involved in making
films while studying english at
Balliol and believes his degree has
been invaluable in helping him
write for the big screen. Having
worked hard on The Voorman
Problem script, he felt confident
enough to think: ‘if this script
lands in the right person’s lap,
they’re going to take notice of it.’
And they did.
Baldwin compiled an A-list of
names to send the script to and top
of it was Kevin spacey, director at
the old Vic, who was unable to take
the project on himself but suggested
approaching tom Hollander.
through a Balliol contact, tutor sally
Bayley (for whom Hollander had
once given a reading at one of her
conferences), Baldwin managed to get
the script to Hollander and he agreed
to play the part of Mr Voorman. And
through tom’s recommendation,
Martin Freeman of Sherlock and now
The Hobbit fame (shown here with
Baldwin Li, right, and Mark Gill,
left) agreed to play the doctor.
speaking about the BAFtA
nomination, Baldwin said it was ‘a
really great feeling to be vindicated
by such a prestigious academy’.
the film has also won Best Live
Action short Award at the st Louis
international Film Festival and Best
screenplay at the Corona Fastnet
Film Festival. it continues to tour
the worldwide festival circuit with
numerous screenings taking place
in the forthcoming months.
Baldwin and his company
Honlodge Productions have
recently completed their second
short film, Full Time, and are
seeking funding for their first
feature film. For full details visit
www.honlodgeproductions.com.
Plaque
for
Pataudi
A plaque in honour
of the late cricketer
Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi (1959) has
been installed on the
wall of the Oxford
University pavilion
in the University
Parks. The plaque
was unveiled in the
presence of his family,
who were welcomed
by Chancellor Lord
Patten and Vice-
Chancellor Professor
Andrew Hamilton.
While at Balliol Mansur
Ali Khan Pataudi
famously scored
centuries in three
consecutive first-class
matches for the Blues
and he went on to
captain India from
1961 to 1974, despite
having lost an eye in
a car accident. He
was named Wisden
Cricketer of the Year
in 1968.
Ten years of the Oxford Society for Law and Religion
The year 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of the Oxford Society for Law and
Religion, an academic society founded by Peter Petkoff (2002), Clarence Gallagher
SJ (Campion Hall), and the Chaplain of Balliol, Douglas Dupree. For the past ten
years Balliol has been home to the Society’s activities. This association has helped
the Society to become an important hub for the study of law and religion. Receiving
international recognition, it hosts and co-organises international conferences at
Balliol as well as overseas, and is developing a dynamic interdisciplinary network
of scholars who work in the area of law and religion, religion and politics, and
theology and public life.
Friends and distinguished speakers of the
society include Vatican ii peritus Ladislas
Örsy sJ (Georgetown), David Jaeger oFM
(Antonianum and a Judge of Rota Romana),
Heiner Bielefeld (un special Rapporteur for
Freedom of Religion or Belief), Joan and oliver
o’Donovan (edinburgh), John Milbank
(nottingham), and Malcolm evans (Bristol).
on-going projects include the Legal Protection
of Holy sites as well as Jewish, Christian and
Muslim Approaches to Legal Harmonisation in
the Xiith–Xiiith Centuries. through the efforts
of the society and its wider research network,
the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, a major
international peer-reviewed journal, was
successfully launched by oxford university
Press in 2012.
since the society’s creation the complex
interaction between law and religion has
become more visibly urgent, and law and
religion has gradually become a distinct area
of studies. in recognition of this the Balliol
interdisciplinary institute has recently provided
a grant to help Peter Petkoff, Douglas Dupree,
and the oxford society for Law and Religion
to develop a bid and secure funding for a
large international research project which will
examine a number of legal and theological
perspectives on the co-existence of religious
and non-religious legal systems.
issue no.19 MAY 2013
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