Bristol Short Wins A Gong At Top Festival

A BRISTOL-made short film has won a top international movie award.

Space Invaders, a 15-minute drama co-produced by city-based RedCat Films and Films at 59, has been selected for one of four topawards at the 36th Worldfest International Film Festival in Houston,Texas.

The 10-day festival attracted more than 5,000 entries, includingover 2,000 shorts. Of these shorts, just 100 were selected forscreening and four were nominated for awards, of either Platinum,Gold, Silver or Bronze.

The awards will be presented at a Gala Dinner on April 12.

Completed last year, Space Invaders tells the surreal story of asecretary called Mary, an emotionally insecure and increasinglyparanoid woman whose office life starts to literally invade her home -with surprising consequences.

The film, one part of a proposed six-part interactive series ofdigital films, was directed by Barry Hecker and produced by CarolynRedcliffe.

It has also been screened at the Santiago International FilmFestival, at Cannes and at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Red Cat Films, based in Windmill Hill, was set up by producer anddirector Barry Hecker in 1999 to produce independently-madedocumentaries and dramas.

Before that, he worked in the corporate sector where he made morethan 100 programmes for many blue-chip companies including Apple, BT,SmithKline Beecham and American Express.

He has produced two highly successful films, The Box andNailbiter, which has been shown on Channel 4, Sky Movies and the Sci-Fi Channel.

Hecker, who received GBP500 from the South West Media DevelopmentAgency to help make Space Invaders, was also behind an HTVdocumentary based around the I Saw You column in Venue magazine.

Films at 59, a pre and post production company, is based inClifton.