LFS alumnus Andrea Niada has had a lot of recent success after his 3rd term documentary, HOW WE ARE NOW, was accepted into two festivals. On top of this, his 4th term film, WASTEWORLD, a psychological horror film set in a menacing world made of bin bags, got into its 16th and 17th festivals when it was accepted into The Red Rock Film Festival in Utah and The Blow-Up Arthouse Film Festival in Chicago.
Following on from this, Niada’s graduation film, HOME EDUCATION, will also be screened at the “Sundance of Horror”, Screamfest, in Los Angeles in October and the 30th Leeds International Film Festival in November 2016. Mirroring the success of HOW WE ARE NOW, HOME EDUCATION now qualifies for a BAFTA.
The wonderfully macabre HOME EDUCATION is about an inquisitive girl who is convinced by her controlling mother that her dead dad will resurrect if they show how much they miss him. That is, until he begins to rot. Given the premise, it is perhaps unsurprising that 100,000 real dried flies were used during the shooting of the final scene. According to Niada; "It smelt TERRIBLE, we shot those scenes over 8 hours in a studio with no air circulation so we sprayed air wick, then the smell of the air wick combined with the smell of flies was even worse, a few people got dizzy and the DOP had to leave a few times as he was almost sick."
The film itself explores fear and belief and how they can shape our perception and experience of the world, and how the most unhinged of characters may in fact be the ones who speak the clearest truth. Niada has plans to develop and shoot the feature version of the script some time next year.
Follow HOME EDUCATION on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for further details on screenings and how to buy tickets.
FESTIVAL INFORMATION - SCREAMFEST HORROR FILM FESTIVAL
Screamfest Horror Film Festival was formed in 2001 and is the longest running horror festival in the USA, discovering and premiering horror classics such as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. The organisers take pride in the fact that many films that are showcased at the festival go on to garner distribution deals.
The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF), founded in 1987, is the largest film festival outside London. While the festival’s British Short Film Competition is BAFTA qualifying, the winning films in Short Film City's Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition and World Animation Award are eligible for the Academy’s Short Film Awards.
Written by Ben Corbett