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.

 

71 Nominations, 37 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), 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, Best Director, Best Actress (Leanne Best), Best Narrative Feature, Best Duo (Crissy Rock 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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