6^THMay 2014

MAN IN FEAR wins two awards at Film Festival, including best actor for Olivier-winner Luke Treadaway

MAN IN FEAR has won the Main Short Film award at the St Albans International Film Festival in association with London Luton Airport, which had its awards ceremony on Sunday evening (4th May).

The film also picked up a second award as Olivier-award-winning actor Luke Treadaway won for Best Actor for his performance in the 10 minute film, written and directed by Will Jewell.

The film, shot in Brighton and Merton, is a thriller following the erratic behavior of a paranoid and very scared man, Anthony Fox, as he flees from danger at every turn; upon entering a suburban police station bloodied and dazed we learn the source of his paranoia - he believes that twisted conceptual artists are creating fatal accidents as works of Art - and they've named him the subject of their latest piece.

"I studied art and am fascinated by the question of ‘what is Art? And conceptual art in particular" says writer and director Will Jewell.

MAN IN FEAR has an impressive cast: Luke Treadaway is already an Olivier award-winner, winning the much coveted gong in 2013 for his role in the west end play ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime', and the film also features Tim Healy and James Lance.

"Luke Treadaway is soon to appear in feature film Unbroken, currently in post-production, which is the second film to be directed by Angelina Jolie and is already tipped for an Oscar.  

We were lucky to get Luke," says Jewell, "He won the Olivier last year and is going to be a big international star."   
 

Warren Bacci, Director of Top Talent agency and judge of the Best Actor category, said:

"The calibre of acting in all the finalists was incredible.  To pick one winner was a very difficult task but Luke's performance really blew us away. This was a great role to showcase his acting skills. He is an outstanding actor and is just on the brink of becoming a huge international star."

Leoni Kibbey, Director of the St Albans Film Festival, says:

"The competition was extremely tough this year. We received getting on for 500 entries from 35 countries this year and our panel were incredibly impressed by the filmmaking of all the finalists.

"MAN IN FEAR is a beautifully shot film, creating tension in every second, and telling a complete, original, compelling story in just 10 minutes.  It is a superbly crafted short film and wonderfully acted, and fully deserving of the two awards our panelists gave it."

The film was produced by Fractured Films in association with Screen South & The UK Film Council.  On Fractured's slate now is developing several lower budget feature projects, as well as developing 'Man In Fear' into a feature film, as the success of the short has proven the appeal of the premise.

Jewell was particularly impressed with the St Albans Film Festival: "I can't believe this is only St Albans's second film festival." he said, "It's  really well organised with a great programme and fantastic atmosphere. It's going to be a big name in the festival circuit for filmmakers." 
 

The judging panel for the Main Short Film Award at the St Albans Film Festival included:

Sarah Cooper - Film journalist and contributing editor at Screen International

Matt Adams - Editor of the Herts Advertiser

Ailsa Ferrier - Curzon Home Cinema

Matt Bigg - Director of the collective design agency

Best Actor Judge:

Warren Bacci - Director of Top Talent Agency

www.stalbansfilmfestival.com

-       ENDS -

Contact:
Sophie Banks, Loudbird PR
sophie@loudbird.co.uk
07815 147073

NOTES TO EDITORS

Full list of award winners:

Main short film-MAN IN FEAR, written & directed by Will Jewell

Student film- PERSEVERENCE BEYOND DOUBT, directed by Jonathan Brough

Music video- SWEETLOVE BUTTERFLY, directed by Daniel Gentely

Over 18s NIGHT OF THE LOVING DEAD, directed by Anna Humphries

Animations- ANGELS AND GHOSTS, directed by Sara Kenney

Documentaries- GRANDPA & ME & A HELICOPTER TO HEAVEN, directed by Johan Palmgren

Young Student film- THE TEST, by WALES HIGH SCHOOL

Best Actor- LUKE TREADAWAY in MAN IN FEAR

About St Albans Film Festival:

• The St Albans International Film Festival 2014 in association with London Luton Airport was St Albans's second Film Festival and took place from 1 - 4 May 2014

• There have been four days of screenings, workshops, talks, Q&A sessions, specialist demos and free outdoor events attended by 1000s of people across the City and from outside the area

• Over 100 films have been screened at his year's festival, in 16 venues all over the City, from the 11^thcentury Cathedral to the modern swimming pool complex; from the Medieval clock tower to the favourite gig-venue of indie bands, the Pioneer Club

• The cathedral city of St Albans in Hertfordshire is just 20 minutes from St Pancras and has a strong filmmaking heritage which inspired the festival director Leoni Kibbey, actress and casting director, to create the city's first film festival last year:

• Arthur Melbourne-Cooper who, in 1895, developed the first British 35mm moving picture camera and was a pioneer in making moving pictures, was born in the City.

• The much-celebrated Stanley Kubrick also came to settle in the area, in which he created and produced some of his most famous work, including The Shining

• The city's Roman aesthetic has been used as a backdrop to many films: St Albans Cathedral was a film location in Sean Connery's 1995 film First Knight, and in Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson.

• The 2001 film Birthday Girl starring Nicole Kidman was also partly filmed in St Albans .

• Several scenes from the film Incendiary, starring Williams, Ewan and Matthew Macfadyen, were filmed in St Albans, and Tom Cruise filmed his movie with Emily Blunt, All You Need is Kill, in the area

• St Albans is in close proximity to some of the best and busiest film studios in the world - Leavesden, Pinewood and Elstree

About London Luton Airport

• London Luton Airport is one of the UK ‘s largest airports and carried 9.7 million passengers in 2013.

• The Airport directly and indirectly employs over 600 and 8,000 staff respectively, is a key economic driver for the region and a major base for ‘low cost' air travel. 

• EasyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Monarch, Thomson, EL AL, Atlasjet, Blue Air, TAROM and Carpatair operate from the Airport, departing to over 100 destinations across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa .

• Since 2009 London Luton Airport has invested £250,000 into an independently administered Community Trust Fund which has helped 101 groups with 13,300 direct beneficiaries. In addition the airport's owner, London Luton Airport Limited, supported by its shareholder, Luton Borough Council, operates a Community Funding Programme investing millions of pounds each year into the local community. In 2014/15 the amount is expected to exceed £17 million.

"The best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all."

STANLEY KUBRICK