iFeatures Director Wins European Film Award

Kasia Klimkiewicz, the director of Flying Blind, the second film in South West Screen's iFeatures scheme to go into production, has won a major European award for her short film, Hanoi-Warsaw.
The 28-minute short film about illegal immigrants from Vietnam who try to settle in Poland, saw off competition from 13 other entries to win Best European Short Film at the awards ceremony in Tallinn, Estonia, at the weekend.
It's the latest award for the film, which received the Special Jury Award and Special Mention for actress Thu Ha Mai, when it premiered at the Polish Film Festival in September 2009.
Kasia received the award in person at the ceremony in Tallinn with her Director of Photography, Andrzej Wojciechowski and the pair will now fly to Bristol to start shooting Flying Blind in February.
Flying Blind is the second feature from the BBC Films and Bristol City Council-backed iFeatures slate to go into production and will be made by an all-female writer/producer/director team. In addition to producer Alison Sterling of Ignition Films, the film team includes writer Caroline Harrington, whose credits include the recent dramatisation of Beyond Black by 2009 Man Booker Award winner Hilary Mantel.
Hanoi-Warsaw has proved a major milestone in the Polish director's career. In addition to earning her several awards, the film also paved the way for her involvement in the iFeatures scheme. It was at a screening of the film at last year's Encounters Film Festival that producer, Alison Sterling, realised she had found a director for her micro-budget feature film idea. Speaking after the latest award, Alison Sterling said: "From the very opening scene of Hanoi-Warsaw, I was gripped. The film has that unusual combination of cinematic beauty, searing emotion and a powerful narrative drive that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end. I have such respect for Kasia's work and my experience of working with Kasia over the last year has only deepened in that respect."
iFeatures' Executive Producer Chris Moll said: "This is great news for Kasia and a well-deserved award. We're delighted to be supporting her feature debut through iFeatures and to see how she brings her highly-charged cinematic eye to bear on Bristol."
Flying Blind combines an intense thriller with a passionate love story, and is set around Bristol's aerospace industry. It will shoot for a month in Filton and Clifton from February 2011.
(KMcA)