COTTON WOOL

Writer/Director: Nicholas Connor

 

Funded by Cherwell Productions Ltd.

 

Cast

  • Leanne Best ('Star Wars: Episode 7', 'Cold Feet'  'Home Fires', 'Line of Duty')
  • Crissy Rock ('Ladybird, Ladybird'. 'Benidorm', Under the Skin')
  • Kate Rutter ('I, Daniel Blake', 'Oranges and Sunshine', 'Peterloo')
  • Max Vento ('The A Word')
  • Gemma North ('Peaky Blinders', 'No Offence', 'The Syndicate', 'In the Club'.)
  • Jason Ricketts ('Hamlet', 'Peter Kay's Car Share')
  • Katie Quinn ('Northern Lights', 'Think Of Me')

 

 

INFORMATION
 
  • Running Length: 38 Minutes
  • Status: Festivals
  • BBFC: 12A
  • Budget: £55,000 (Estimated)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1
  • Camera: Red Epic Dragon (Digital) Arriflex 435 MOS (35MM)

 

Recently screened at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square as part of BIFF.

Currently being represented by Lift-Off Global Network at Cannes Film Festival.

 

72 Nominations, 45 Wins and 26 Festival Selections

 

London Film Awards 

Winner - Special Jury Award

European Independent Film Awards 

Winner - Best Director, Best Drama, Best Actress (Leanne Best)

UK Film Review Awards 

Winner - Best Short Film of 2018

Nominated - Best Director

British Independent Film Festival 

Winner - Best Supporting Actor (Max Vento), Best Supporting Actress (Katie Quinn)

Nominated - Best Short Film, Best Music

Los Angeles Film Awards 

Winner - Best Picture, Best Drama, Best Actress (Leanne Best), Best Supporting Actress (Crissy Rock), Best Young Actress (Katie Quinn)

Los Angeles Film Awards (Annual - Best of 2019)

Nominated - Best of the Festival 2019, Best Actress (Leanne Best)

Winner - Best Ensemble Cast.

New York Film Awards (Monthly)

Winner - Best Picture, Best Young Filmmaker, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actress (Crissy Rock), Best Young Actress (Katie Quinn)

New York Film Awards (Annual - Best of 2019)

Nominated - Best of the Festival 2019

Winner  - Best Director, Jury President Award, Best Actress (Leanne Best), Best Narrative Feature, Best Duo (Katie Quinn and Leanne Best) Best Ensemble Cast, Best Editing.

New Renaissance Film Festival 

Winner - Humanity Award for Film (Previously won by Oscar Winner 'The Silent Child)

Nominated - Best Actress (Leanne Best), Best Young Talent Narrative Short (Sponsored by Goldfinch Studios)

Global Independent Film Awards

Winner - Best Drama, Best Featurette, Best Actor Under 18 (Max Vento), Best Actress Under 18 (Katie Quinn)

IndieFlicks Short Film Festival

Winner - Director’s Choice Award

Madrid Independent Film Festival

Nominated - Best Featurette

Lift-Off Season Awards 2019

Nominated - Best Director

Gold Movie Awards 

Winner - Best Featurette of the Year, Film of the Month, Feature of the Month 

Nominated - Film of the Year

Unrestricted View Film Festival 

Winner - Best Actress (Leanne Best)

Nominated - Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Short Film

Out of the Can Film Festival 

Winner - Judge’s Choice Award 2018, Best Drama

Nominated - Best Screenplay, Best Lifestyle Project, Best Supporting Actress (Crissy Rock)

Little Wing Film Festival

Winner - Best Director

Nominated - Best UK Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Katie Quinn)

Manchester Screenplays and Shorts Film Festival

Winner - Best Actress (Leanne Best)

Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival 

Winner - Special Mention

The Monthly Film Festival

Winner - Best Short Film, Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Actress (Leanne Best)

Nominated - Film of the Year, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing

Birmingham Film Festival

Nominated - Best Young Director

Southampton International Film Festival

Nominated - Best British Short Film, Best Director

 

  1. OFFICIAL SELECTION - British Independent Film Festival
  2. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival
  3. OFFICIAL SELECTION - New York Film Awards
  4. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Newcastle International Film Festival
  5. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Scottish Mental Health Film Festival
  6. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Derby Film Festival
  7. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Los Angeles Film Awards
  8. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Birmingham Film Festival
  9. OFFICIAL SELECTION - European Independent Film Awards
  10. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Global Independent Film Awards
  11. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Newark International Film Festival (NJ) 
  12. OFFICIAL SELECTION - New Renaissance Film Festival (London)
  13. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival
  14. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Madrid Independent Film Festival
  15. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Bristol Independent Film Festival
  16. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Unrestricted View Film Festival
  17. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Manchester Screenplays and Shorts Film Fest
  18. OFFICIAL SELECTION - MancMade 53Two Film Festival
  19. OFFICIAL SELECTION - The Monthly Film Festival (Glasgow)
  20. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Southampton International Film Festival
  21. OFFICIAL SELECTION - IndieFlicks Short Film Festival
  22. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Little Wing Film Festival
  23. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Out of the Can Film Festival
  24. OFFICIAL SELECTION - Gold Movie Awards
  25. OFFICIAL SELECTION - London Film Awards
  26. OFFICIAL SELECTION - UK Film Review Awards
  • HOT LIST - Cleveland International Film Festival (Oscar Qualifying)

 

​​

UK Film Review

  • The Best Short Film of 2018

  • ‘Deeply emotive and humbling’

  • [Leanne Best’s] ‘showstopper performance as

    a stroke victim is superb’

  • ‘Utterly enrapturing’

  • ‘Affecting and heartbreaking’

  • ‘A moving story with excellent performances’

ScreenCritix ★★★★★

  • ‘A heartwarming and eye-watering short film’

  • ‘Guaranteed to make many a viewer shed a

    tear’

  • [Leanne] ‘Best is a revelation’

  • [Nicholas Connor] ‘does a wonderful job in the

    directing department’

  • [Nicholas Connor] ‘is certainly cementing his

    status as one of the UK’s hottest prospects’

The Monthly Film Festival ★★★★½

  • ‘It is a celebration of love and family devotion, an exercise of admiration for the beauty of a world that we ignore in our continuous fleeing for more or less important goals.

  • Nicholas Connor proves through his project a great artistic and human sensibility combined with special directorial precision that gives him a balanced perspective on a tragic family destiny.

  • ‘Cotton Wool’ is a short film that impresses with the force by which it surprises the deaf.

Caution Spoilers ★★★½

  • 'Connor has crafted an absorbing film of wonderful performances that is searingly honest, yet finishes on a note of realistic optimism. '
  • 'Vento had me in tears for vast chunks of the running time. '

The Mancunion ★★★★

  • ‘Nicholas Connor’s latest short film is his most

    evocative yet’

  • ‘Connor could rise up to take the place of the

    ageing Ken Loach’

  • [Leanne] ‘Best is sublime’

100 Films in a Year ★★★★

  • ‘Heartbreaking’

  • ‘It’s hard not to make comparisons to another recent British short film about a child coping with disability-related adversity […] The Silent Child. That, of course, won an Oscar, and I’d say Cotton Wool is at least its equal.’

Unseen Films

  • ‘A very good film that makes me want to see what director Nick Connor will do next.’

  • ‘Leanne Best […] has a star-making moment when we watch as the stroke hits her.’

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