COTTON WOOL (2017)
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')
- 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.
61 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 - UK Film Review Awards - 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)
New York Film Awards
Winner - Best Picture, Best Young Filmmaker, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actress (Crissy Rock), Best Young Actress (Katie Quinn)
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 SELECTION - British Independent Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - New York Film Awards
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Newcastle International Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Scottish Mental Health Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Global Independent Film Awards
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Derby Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Los Angeles Film Awards
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Madrid Independent Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Birmingham Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - European Independent Film Awards
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Newark International Film Festival (NJ)
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - New Renaissance Film Festival (London)
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Bristol Independent Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Unrestricted View Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Manchester Screenplays and Shorts Film Fest
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - MancMade 53Two Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - The Monthly Film Festival (Glasgow)
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Southampton International Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - IndieFlicks Short Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Little Wing Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Madrid Independent Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Out of the Can Film Festival
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - Gold Movie Awards
- OFFICIAL SELECTION - London Film Awards
- 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’
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‘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 ★★★★
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‘Nicholas Connor’s latest short film is his most
evocative yet’
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‘Connor could rise up to take the place of the
ageing Ken Loach’
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[Leanne] ‘Best is sublime’
100 Films in a Year ★★★★
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‘Heartbreaking’
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‘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
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‘A very good film that makes me want to see what director Nick Connor will do next.’
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‘Leanne Best […] has a star-making moment when we watch as the stroke hits her.’
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