DV Shorts 2009

11/08/2010

Anna Griffin and Alison Emm got to take a look at last years entries and see why the East Midlands reputation for filmmaking is rated so highly

Sis

Written and directed by Deborah Haywood

Produced byTina Pawlik

Sis was the short that kicked off proceedings - and what a film to start with. The story of a young girl, Lauren, who is being ‘looked after’ by her pregnant elder sister, it explores themes of motherhood, paedophilia and childhood perceptions. The contrast between the themes of child abuse and a young girl just having innocent fun is portrayed in an amusing, well-balanced manner. Hats off to the youngster who played Lauren, her acting was flawless and her screen presence amazing for one so young. A brilliantly humourous piece with an unusual lightness to it for such a potentially dark subject.

Awards: Best Short FIlm at Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival 2010, Best Short Narrative Film at FilmDirecting4Women Film Festival.

Director Biog
Deborah Hayward was selected for Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2007 following her debut short film Lady Margaret. Since then she has directed short films Tender (written by Roger Hadfield) and Sis, and is now in pre-production with short film Biatch, commissioned by EM Media and the Digital Nation scheme. Deborah is developing her first feature Bite, with the UK Film Council and Sally Hibbin, and co-writing an adaptation of the award-winning novel The Killing Jar, with its author Nicola Monaghan. She is represented by Toby Moorcroft at Sayle Screen.

10 Tigers

Written and directed by Tony Kelly

Produced by Joe Walker

10 Tigers was one of the more intense shorts on the roster; moody and dark with the story focusing on a group of ten young men allowing themselves to embrace their primal nature like a pack animals on the hunt. The imagery was such that you could almost smell the damp earth and sweat in the cinema and with little dialogue you were drawn right into the film. The effect of slowed down shots which then snapped back to normal speed, if a little slightly overused, built tension and gave a sense that you were in the moment with the characters.

Director & Producer Biogs
Tony Kelly first worked as script assistant on the award winning feature Brothers of the Head before making his directorial debut with Blind Man’s Alley, a stark short film commissioned through the UK Film Council’s DV Shorts scheme about five misguided teenagers who face the startling reality of a disturbing game of dare.

Joe found his niche in production after starting out as a runner for films and has since produced a number of short films both through Film Council commissions and independently raised finance. 10 Tigers was produced by him through Elephant Gun FIlms and his current projects in development include Broken Biscuits and a second short film with Tony Kelly, My Self Destruction (Better Than Yours).

God of Animals

Written and directed by Richard Porter

Produced by Jack Suckling

The God in God of Animals refers to the central character of this short, a man who, after being diagnosed with cancer, finds himself with the disturbing affliction of all animals he comes into contact with dying around him. Coupled with the fact that he is suicidal from the news of his diagnosis, we find ourselves looking at a man who seems lost in this world. Collecting the animals he seems to have cursed, the film culminates in a ritualistic pyre where he burns them all. With little to no dialogue, the bleakness of the subject matter is amplified by the use of sound effects.

Producer Biog
After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University with First Class Honors in Film and Media Studies With Photography, Jack went on to complete EM Media's award-winning Graduate Entrepreneurship Scheme. He has since moved into freelance work and has secured roles on numerous feature film productions including London To Brighton, The Cottage, The Unloved, Skeletons, and Four Lions. Jack has recently formed his own production company, All Seeing Eye Productions, to produce a series of shorts with the aim being to move into feature film production.

Butterfly

Written and directed by Roger Hadfield

Produced by Michael Knowles

Butterfly is an emotional short that focuses on a young mother who has had her child taken into care. Angry at her and her daughter’s situation, we see her as she comes to terms with her own turbulent childhood and the feelings she holds towards her own mother and foster carers. With a realistic feel to the film that had a stark yet bitter sweet look to the part where she revisits her mother’s house, it is easy to empathise with the main character as you are watch her change her outlook on life from frustrated and sometimes obstructive to accepting.

Director and producer Biogs
Roger is a freelance writer who has contributed to film, fashion and music magazines. Tender, his 2008 DV Short, directed by Deborah Haywood, won the Tadgell’s Bluebell Honor Award at the AIFF. Butterfly is his first foray into directing and he is currently developing the feature film scripts Rope Burn with Charles Henri Belleville attached to direct and Away.

Michael has raised significant equity funds in Made Up North Productions to develop several feature length film and TV projects. The first to go into production, A Boy Called Dad, directed by Brian Percival (Much Ado About Nothing) and written by Julie Rutterford (Shameless, Life on Mars), was released in the UK in late April. Other projects in development include Kitty Rankie,This Brutal Game and Jump.

This Chair Is Not Me

Directed by Andy Taylor-Smith

Produced by Tina Pawlik and Blair Barnette

The true story of Alan Martin, a cerebral palsy sufferer, the narrative is in his own words and tells of how out of control and lonely he felt growing up. An incident prompts him to run away to London to get a taste of freedom and self-reliance. He describes this event as his “liberator”, gaining him the attention he needed on his return home. Now living independently as a successful dance teacher enjoying life, this is an important story. Surprisingly, the lead actor - an able-bodied man – is extraordinary in the part and especially considering that this was his first role. Artistically shot in a stylised and sympathetic manner, This Chair Is Not Me deserves to be screened nationally.

Awards: Best Short at Silverdocs 2010

Director and Producer Biogs

This Chair Is Not Me is the directorial debut from Andy Taylor-Smith, a photographer inspired by people, places and surrounding raw materials. His photography reveals a desire to reveal the out of the ordinary and to utilise light in bringing out subjects, this comes across in his short which has gives a very contemporary style to the documentary.

Los Angeles born Blair Barnette is now a Nottingham-based production designer, recently turned producer and head of newly formed sabreWing films Ltd. As an artist her signature rich and saturated style has helped craft visuals from MTV and Nickelodeon to well known programmes like Heroes and Sesame Street and for a variety of artists from musicians OutKast to the illustrator Edward Gorey. Prolific in her work, she has worked on nine regional shorts made by EM Media, Screen Yorkshire and London’s Pulse scheme and has recently completed production on her first feature film.

In the Meadow

Written and directed by Dave Alexander Smith

Produced by Nicola Clayton

In the Meadow is the surreal and dark story of two lovers on a romantic, yet tense, picnic. Waking from a post-coital nap, they find they aren’t alone in the meadow anymore and the new companions are what appears to be a pair of painted clowns or mimes. Unsettled by the odd situation they watch the pair enact a crude pantomime of themselves before events escalate. Clowns are always slightly sinister but here, on a sun blushed summers day, they are even more so with their graceful movements yet adversely cruel actions. Although beautifully shot, In the Meadow clearly demonstrates that human nature is not always that pretty.

Director and Producer Biogs

Dave Alexander Smith grew up around the coastal towns of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and has been making films in the East Midlands for the past decade.In that time, Dave has received three short film commissions from the UK Film Council and EM Media. The Report was produced by Nottingham’s Wellington Films, The Visitor, starring Ciaran Griffiths of Shameless, screened in competition at Encounters Short Film Festival and Palm Springs International ShortFest. In the Meadow is Dave’s third UKFC/EM Media commission and he currently has two feature-length film projects in development.

Nicola Clayton has developed and produced film projects for the past seven years through her company Sodalite Films (formerly Pooka Productions). Receiving support from EM Media and Screen Yorkshire and she has produced five UKFC DV shorts including Wake Up (Martin Radich), In the Meadow (Dave Alexander Smith) and Boat Dreams (Sasha Andrews). Nicola currently has a slate of feature film projects with British talent. These include The Troll House with and Apocalypse Oz, Nicola is also continuing her collaboration with Dave Alexander Smith.

Boat Dreams

Directed by Sasha Andrews

Produced by Nicola Clayton

Sweet and humourous, Boat Dreams is an interview led documentary about three peoples’ obsessions with restoring their own washed up, dilapidated boats. Filmed at Redcliffe Marina by Radcliffe Power Station, there’s a slight tinge of guilt to being amused by these three tales of passion. Each interviewee genuinely loves their boat and wants to get it on water but it’s obvious that their boats could be landlocked forever and the only water they’ll come into contact with is rain and the odd spilt cuppa. A light and agreeable end to the days shorts.

Awards: Best International Short at Stranger Than Fiction Film Festival

Director Biog
Sasha has a passion for character-driven factual stories, particularly of sub-cultures that comment on universal human issues in unexpected ways. His previous documentary Sound Waves (co-directed with scientist Jeanne Guiraud), has screened at numerous international film festivals, winning Best Short Film at SCinema, Australia's Science Film Festival. Sound Waves was also nominated for Best Factual Film at Deaffest and for the Human Rights in Motion award at BANG! Short Film Festival. Sasha's other films included Clare's Greenhouse a 'straight8' Super 8 documentary about a recycled plastic bottle greenhouse which screened at Rushes Soho Short Film Festival and See Sea a silent film of the traditional Christmas Day swim off Brighton beach.