Yorkshire filmmaking team claim awards on festival circuit (14/06/2011)
A Yorkshire filmmaking team continue to clean up at awards ceremonies. Matt Taabu's short films Threads won Best Film and Best Actor at the Rob Knox Film Festival along with his Into the Woods short winning Jury Prize from the 5th Annual Saltburn Film Festival. Matt wrote and directed both films with Rob Speranza and Alex Usbourne producing. Both shorts were funded by Screen Yorkshire and the UK Film Council.
Threads stars Reece Noi and Jamie Lomas and is about a young mixed-race teenager who thinks he might have discovered the identity of his long-lost father...but when he finds out the dark side of the truth, he must choose whether he should keep the long-standing mystery a secret.
Matt Taabu attended the awards ceremony, saying this: 'Thanks so much to everyone for last nights event, it was great to see such passion for filmmaking and a real community spirit. I'm delighted our film Threads was so well received, a real honour at such a special event.Thanks to the judges and audience for choosing it, and to Screen Yorkshire and the UK Film Council for supporting it.It means a lot.Thank you'.
Into the Woods was described by the Saltburn Film Festival as 'a beautifully atmospheric story of a family's walk in the woods that suddenly and seamlessly turns to horror. So much is packed into its running time (just under 6 minutes), showing a considerable narrative talent balancing strong story, audience involvement and visual flair which many a larger scale director could learn from'.
Producer Rob Speranza said: 'Saltburn has really honoured us with this award - a really nice trophy and certificate was presented to us by the Festival's Director, Wilma Gardiner-Gill. We are extremely pleased that the Festival's esteemed jury liked the film so much. Matt and I are proud of it, and hope that it continues to do well on the festival circuit for a little while longer'.
You can see a 'Making Of' Documentary about the film right here: Into the Woods - Making of
