In The Room, a short film directed and co-written by SAE Film Production Lecturer Paul Barrie and featuring contributions from SAE Film Production students, has been nominated at the Madrid Film Awards (MADFA).
The film has been nominated in the Narrative Short Film category and follows a number of industry accolades after it premiered at the Bolton Film Festival in October 2024.
They include nominations for Best Drama at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and winner of Best Short Drama at the Performance Film and Media awards in London while the film has been played as part of a competition at the Glasgow Short Film Festival.
Commenting on the film’s success, Paul said: “It’s always great to have your work recognised, and a nomination is especially lovely news to receive. Short films are always absolute labours of love, so a nomination like this is really meaningful for the whole team who worked so hard on the film.”
The film was financed through a match funding crowdfunder scheme run by Creative Scotland and stars Kate Dickie, an internationally recognised BAFTA award-winner, who has appeared in Red Road, Game of Thrones and The Witch.
In the Room’s narrative follows a protagonist who goes to a call-back audition for a role, only to be confronted by the unexpected return of a character from her past. Nine SAE students had the opportunity to support the film’s production, working on set as runners across three days of shooting.
Paul said: “The reception for the film has just been so fantastic. After the recent screening in Glasgow my social media messages were full of people that I didn’t know getting in touch to say they loved the film or were moved by it, or found it really powerful. Creating work that resonates with an audience is what it’s all about for me really, and we’re in a lucky position with this film that it does seem to be doing that. Continuing promoting and distributing the film is all part and parcel of what’s really important, which is getting in front of audiences and keeping the conversation going.”
On advice for filmmakers looking to find an audience, Paul said: “Distribution is a painful and very expensive part of the process. Festivals are expensive, and for every acceptance email we get there’s probably four or five rejection emails. And the rejections cost the same amount as the acceptances! A successful short film will get into about 10-15 percent of all the festivals it applies to, so factor that into your budgeting from the start. We’re very lucky that the Performance Film and Media award carried a cash prize, which has been fed straight back into our distribution pot and is allowing us to be even more ambitious with the amount of festivals and competitions we’re targeting.”
Alongside teaching at SAE Glasgow, Paul is working on a feature film script and writing and directing another short film which will shoot later this year through Screen Scotland’s Little Pictures funding scheme. SAE students will hopefully have more opportunities to gain industry experience by getting involved with this new production.
Paul said: “That’s one of the many benefits for our students of having current practitioners as lecturers (aside from how this practice feeds into the learning and teaching) – we can offer them opportunities. As someone who’s worked in the industry and sifted through piles of entry-level applications, I can say categorically that a credit on a properly funded film project looks great on a CV!”
Find out more about the student experiences with In The Room.
Watch the trailer below:
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