Two South West Screen backed Shorts Selected for Clermont-Ferrand

by Emma_Chappel on 04-Feb-11 14:15

BRISTOL – 4th February 2011: Two short films backed by South West Screen and made in the South West have been selected to screen in competition at the internationally renowned Clermont Short Film Festival (4-12 February 2011), which starts today.

Turning and I’ll Tell You are two of the shorts from around the world to be screened at the world’s leading short film festival, which takes place every year in the central French town of Clermont-Ferrand.

Turning (pictured, left), which premiered last year at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, has been selected for the Lab Competition, Clermont’s digital forum, where it will compete against 39 other shorts. Part-funded with a Lottery grant from South West Screen, it was made by Bristol-based filmmakers Karni Arieli and Saul Freed (known as Karni+Saul), and was produced by Alison Sterling and Kat Armour-Brown, of whom Alison Sterling is currently working on the second of South West Screen’s iFeatures film to go into production, Flying Blind. Turning was last month nominated for the BAFTA short film award, which will be announced later in February.

The film tells the tale of Robert. On his sixth birthday Robert receives three beautiful old ladies in his mother's sitting room.  Through his eyes we visit the memory of an afternoon: a gift scuttles across the floor, strange visions appear between knobbly knees, and the bird-like ladies tell a magical a tale of an emperor who had no skin. 

I’ll Tell You, in contrast, is about teenager Lola’s experience of love as she romanticizes the intimate memories of two friends she once hung out with. At war with her mother who’ll never understand her, Lola feels compelled to tell intimate tale about what love is. The film is one of 80 shorts from around the world to screen in the International Competition at Clermont.

I’ll Tell You is also the work of a Bristol-based team: BAFTA-winning director, Rachel Tillotson, and BAFTA-nominated producer, Jayne Chard. It is one of four South West Screen-backed shorts made under the UK Film Council’s Digital Shorts scheme. Director Rachel Tillotson is now looking to feature films and has had the script for her forthcoming feature, Bad Stock, accepted into the prestigious Berlinale Talent Project Market, the hands-on training programme for producers and directors, which takes place in parallel with the Berlin Film Festival in just over one week’s time (12-17 February 2011). http://www.ill-tell-you.com

The forthcoming screening in Clermont follow an exclusive screening of all four South West Screen 2010 Digital Shorts at BAFTA’s London headquarters in January 2011.

Alison Sterling says, “We are very excited about the success of Turning - both the BAFTAs and Clermont-Ferrand within the same week. It's been a real pleasure for me to work with Karni and Saul, who have such a distinctive and cinematic style, and we are looking forward to collaborating in the future."

Rachel Tillotson says, “I am so pleased I’ll Tell You is in France at Clermont-Ferrand; it’s a great festival. I am so thankful to all the people who came together to make this short happen last year.”

Caroline Norbury, chief executive at South West Screen, says, “We are delighted to see films from the South West competing on the international stage at prestigious festivals like Clermont. It is all too easy to see filmmaking as a London based activity, but the continued success of our local talent demonstrates how important it is to support filmmakers in all parts of the UK so that they can develop their talent and help the local industry to evolve. That is what we at South West Screen are passionate about, and it’s fantastic to see our work paying off with South West filmmakers like Rachel, Jayne, Karni+Saul and Alison making their mark and going on to bigger projects.”

Tagged:SWS press release, Digital Shorts, film, competition, Clermont-Ferrand