In this first look back at 2014, we present the personal highlights from three members of staff, starting with our newest member Will Harwood.  Will originally came to Peccadillo as part of our Work Experience programme and somehow managed to get a full-time job:

“Having rescued me from the wasteland that is London For Graduates, I’ve never been more thankful for Peccadillo Pictures. I’ve always admired and respected the work done here and now to be on the inside of one of the most exciting ventures in UK film is, clichéd as it may seem, a dream come true. I’m so grateful to have gotten the chance to work on the brilliant EASTERN BOYS by Robin Campillo (and am still trying to steal a poster from the office…) and very much looking forward to learning more each day, and asking, pleading, begging Tom and Kahloon to take me to a film festival with them…

Here’s to the 2015: I hope you enjoy it as much as I’m going to. ”

Next up is Nicky Davidson from our Home Entertainment and technical dept:

“My highlight of this year is working on the incredible STRANGER BY THE LAKE. It was an honour to see the release of what has become not only one of my favourite films of this year, but of all time. And I am super excited about releasing Alain Guiraudie’s previous film, the hilarious countryside romp, KING OF ESCAPE in the new year.”

And Finally Ollie Charles our Communications Manager:

“It brings a great amount of joy and a big smile to my face when I think on the huge amount of films that we have released during 2014. For me, one of my highlights this year was working during the newly named BFI Flare; a wonderful celebration of LGBT cinema from around the world. Not only did we have a great selection of titles in the festival including 52 TUESDAYS, REACHING FOR THE MOON, WHO’S AFRAID OF VAGINA WOLF? and G.B.F. but it also is a great reminder of the fabulous LGBT film community around the world.

Whilst I mention it, releasing G.B.F. was another of my highlights for me as a publicist but also as a huge fan of the film. We welcomed director, Darren Stein and actor, Michael Willett to the UK for the festival where laughs were had all round (and even a slight controversial moment during the festival!). Over the summer we were delighted to welcome Diego Quemada-Diez, the incredibly talented director of THE GOLDEN DREAM. Recently highlighted by Mark Kermode as the best foreign language film of the year, it was so important that we work to release this film and tell audiences around the country about it. This film truly embodied the power of cinema and I am so glad others caught this urgent and essential film.

During the end of the summer, I was invited to Locarno Film Festival and take part in a group of juniors that worked in the film industry across the Europe. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet people but also showed to me who my future colleagues would be in this industry and made me realise, we are all working to secure a wonderful future for film.

The BFI London Film Festival was an incredible moment for me, especially working with Desiree Akhavan who came to London for the premiere of her hilarious comedy, APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR. It was great to see so many press and audiences getting involved with the discussions around this film and I am proud to have witnessed the best Q&A during the entire festival this year!

In the last quarter of the year we released three films that remain as some of my favourite ever Peccadillo films. Within weeks of one another we released BOYS and THE WAY HE LOOKS, which are hugely important films to me, because they open discussions about young people and sexuality. They don’t assume homosexuality is an issue but instead follow characters that just are – it was a wonderful breath of fresh air to be able to bring these films to a younger audience, and hopefully allow these people to come out and learn to be comfortable with themselves from an earlier age.

Finally, my favourite thriller of the year was Robin Campillo’s EASTERN BOYS, which was an intelligent tale set in the outskirts of Paris, so rarely focused on in film. Robin came to London for the release and it was so wonderful to hear his tales. Looking forward we have a great slate of films for 2015 and I cannot wait to get started and bring more great filmmakers to audiences.”