COTTON WOOL
Writer/Director: Nicholas Connor
CAST
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Leanne Best ('Star Wars: Episode 7', 'Cold Feet' 'Home Fires', 'Line of Duty')
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Crissy Rock ('Ladybird, Ladybird'. 'Benidorm', Under the Skin')
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Kate Rutter ('I, Daniel Blake', 'Oranges and Sunshine', 'Peterloo')
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Max Vento ('The A Word')
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Gemma North ('Peaky Blinders', 'No Offence', 'The Syndicate', 'In the Club'.)
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Jason Ricketts ('Hamlet', 'Peter Kay's Car Share')
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Katie Quinn ('Northern Lights', 'Think Of Me')
INFORMATION
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Running Length: 38 Minutes
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Status: Released on 'Prime Video'
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BBFC: 12A
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Budget: £50,000 (Estimated)
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Production Company: Cherwell Productions Ltd.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1
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Camera: Red Epic Dragon (Digital) Arriflex 435 MOS (35MM)
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
Represented by Lift-Off Global Network at Cannes Film Festival.
72 Nominations, 45 Wins and 27 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 - Annual 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
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
British Independent Film Festival (Empire Leicester Square)
Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival
New York Film Awards
Newcastle International Film Festival
Scottish Mental Health Film Festival
Derby Film Festival
Los Angeles Film Awards
Birmingham Film Festival
European Independent Film Awards
Global Independent Film Awards
Newark International Film Festival (NJ)
New Renaissance Film Festival (London)
Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival
Madrid Independent Film Festival
Bristol Independent Film Festival
Unrestricted View Film Festival
London International Motion Picture Awards (L.I.M.P.A)
Manchester Screenplays and Shorts Film Fest
MancMade 53Two Film Festival
The Monthly Film Festival (Glasgow)
Southampton International Film Festival
IndieFlicks Short Film Festival
Little Wing Film Festival
Out of the Can Film Festival
Gold Movie Awards
London Film Awards
UK Film Review - Annual Awards
HOT LIST - Cleveland International Film Festival (Oscar Qualifying)
CRITICAL RECEPTION
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’
Film Threat ★★★★
'Cotton Wool is a heartbreaking message about the struggle young carers face when tragedy strikes. It also gives a glimpse into the care and recovery process for victims of strokes.'
'Whether the story applies to you or not, it’s definitely worth watching.'
'As Rachel, Leanne Best painstaking physicality is incredible and all-too-real.'
Indie Shorts Mag ★★★★
'4.7/5 Stars'
'If there is anything Connor has established with Cotton Wool, it is to imbue his characters with indispensable humanity. 'Every scene that has Rachel (Leanne Best) in it holds undeniable power'
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.’
Cinema 365
‘Ultimately Heartwarming'
'Best gives an outstanding performance'
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.’
The Independent Critic ★★★ (Alphabetical - B)
'Cotton Wool is an intelligent and emotionally resonant short film that benefits greatly from the fine performances of its ensemble cast led by Leanne Best's heartbreaking, remarkable turn as Rachel.'
BRWC
'What Nicholas Connor has accomplished is impressive. Cotton Wool takes a tricky subject, managing to spin new cloth from old, bolstered by strong performances in a short feature that looks and sounds gorgeous.'
'Alan C. McLaughlin’s photography is cinematic and bold'
'Nicholas Connor tasks himself with striking a delicate dramatic balance with Cotton Wool. In the wrong hands, the sensitive subject matter could easily falter into maudlin, misery-porn. Instead, he has woven a story of hopefulness, of new relationships formed from old, of tectonic shifts in the family dynamic and enduring love.'
'An exceptional performance from young Max Vento'
'Leanne Best captures so much within a performance that is emotionally earthed and relatable. As someone who has seen family members suffer strokes, there is a sense of fear and hopelessness evoked in the opening scenes that is awfully palpable.'
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