The Academy-qualifying Uppsala International Film Festival takes place next weekend, with an amazing four LFS graduation films screening in the International Competition.
Filmmakers Victoria Romero, TJ Collanto, Justin Spray and Andrea Niada will take their films to the prestigious seven-day event in Uppsala, Sweden, from the 23rd-29th October, which also qualifies them for BAFTA nominations.
Victoria Romero’s film Mariela is about a young woman remembering the tragic story of her nanny, and is based on Victoria’s own childhood growing up in Salta, Argentina. “Going to the Uppsala Film Festival is an honour,” says Victoria, who studied communication and photography in Argentina before moving to London. “It will be the first festival of my life that I go to as a director, and I am excited to meet people and hear new views on how to express ourselves or ideas through filmmaking.” The film has also screened at many other festivals including the Cambridge Film Festival, UK, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, USA and the Barcelona Planet Film Festival, Spain.
Diliman by TJ Collanto is a Tagalog-language piece set in London, in which a Filipino family gets caught up in a long-winded catering delivery for their niece’s wedding that seems to pull them further and further from the reception itself. TJ, who studied at the University of Pittsburgh before coming to London, graduated from LFS in September 2017. His film has got off to an extremely impressive start on the festival circuit, with its premiere at the also Oscar-qualifying Odense International Film Festival in Denmark at the end of August.
Justin Spray’s Tooth Fairy will be screening in the Children's Film Competition following a great run at festivals, including The Sydney Indie Film Festival, USA Film Festival, Worldfest - Houston International Film Festival and Screentest National Student Film Festival. The film tells the story of Madeleine, a young woman who is 'coming out' as a tooth fairy. Struggling with her identity, Madeleine meets Ramona - a confident and sassy tooth fairy who helps her find her feet. The festival has told Justin, who graduated from LFS in 2016, that his film will be screened to audiences of school children. “I'm excited to find out how this dark, curious piece will be received by an audience of young people - untarnished by film school!”, he says. "This is who the film was made for and I'm so grateful that Uppsala have given us this opportunity."
To round off the fantastic four we have Andrea Niada’s horror-tinged Home Education. Milan-born Andrea, who graduated in 2016, tells a macabre tale of a young girl who is convinced by her mother that they can resurrect her dead father if only they prove how much they miss him. This is Andrea’s second BAFTA-qualifying screening, after the 30th Leeds International Film Festival in November 2016. The film has also been officially selected in The Winchester Short Film Festival’s Best British Short, along with screenings at Fantasia Festival in July, the 30th Dragon Con and the 11th Sacramento Horror Film Fest in September. Andrea says, “I am thrilled Home Education is going to Uppsala for two reasons: The first is that we are almost at the end of our festival run, so getting into such a big festival renews our excitement and enthusiasm for the film, as well as future projects. The second is that it's the ONLY film festival outside of the UK and US that is screening the film! We've screened in 24 festivals, with two in the UK and the rest in the US, so I’m very curious to hear what kind of reaction it gets in Swedish.”
We are sure Sweden are going to love it, and we hope all our alumni have a great time there, too. The festival begins on Monday and takes place in the beautiful university town of Uppsala, which is 70km from the capital, Stockholm. Aside from screenings of over 300 short films, delegates will be able to enjoy a programme of events including talks, discussions and, of course, parties. Enjoy yourselves, guys, and best of luck!
Festival Information
Founded in 1982, Uppsala International Short Film Festival has become Sweden’s premier arena for short film. Every year the festival shows more than 300 short films in five different sections exploring the diversity and richness of the short film – from new film to retrospective programmes, from fiction film, documentaries and experimental film to animations. The 36th Uppsala International Short Film Festival takes place during the 23-29 October 2017.
Uppsala International Short Film Festival is recognised by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that winning the international or national competition at the festival makes a film eligible for nomination for an Oscar. Screening at the festival also qualifies Swedish short films for Guldbagge nominations and British short films for BAFTA nominations.
Taking place in the university town of Uppsala at four cinemas located in the city’s classic cinema district, the Uppsala International Short Film Festival is a meeting place for audience, industry and media. The festival offers film makers many opportunities to meet their audience, and discussions are held both at the screenings and at special director´s talks. The festival also hosts a number of parties, and the festival pub is open every night.
Copy: Sophie McVeigh