Scary tale takes Tees film-makers to HOLLYWOOD

An animated dark modern fairytale produced by team of Teesside film-makers is in the running for the Best New British Animation at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

And next month (6-14 September), the movie Emily and the Baba Yaga produced by a team based at the University of Teesside goes to Hollywood.

For its director, Clive Tonge, has been invited to take part in the world’s largest short film festival - the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (LA Shorts Fest) – following the animated movie’s success at Germany’s Fantasy Film Fest earlier this summer.

The American festival is the largest short film festival in the world. It is held at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood and 20 films that it has featured have gone on to be nominated for an Oscar. The last six took home the coveted award.

Robert Arentz, an organiser of the LA Shorts Fest told the Tees film-makers: “After reviewing the many films submitted, we found your short represents the calibre of work we want to participate in our festival. We’re honoured to be including your film in our festival this year and wish you good luck…LA Shorts Fest hopes that by screening the film, it will open doors to infinite possibilities.”

Directed by Clive Tonge and produced by Siobhan Fenton, lecturers in computer animation at the University of Teesside, the film is a modern adaptation of a traditional Russian story about the Baba Yaga (a cannibalistic cantankerous old woman who lives in a dark forest and preys on children).

Siobhan said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Baba Yaga has done so well so far on the international festival circuit. We have only just begun the festival submission process so to be accepted into three major festivals and nominated for major awards is a fantastic achievement and very exciting for the team.”

The Baba Yaga was given its modern scary twist by Newcastle-based writer Rachel Mathews who was commissioned to develop the screenplay using the original Russian folktale as the framework. In the modern remake, the girl, Emily, finds tools including a chainsaw to help defeat the witch.

Siobhan said: "In traditional fairytales, the young girl or female figure tends to be portrayed as weak and what we wanted was someone that was not so feminine."

"We don’t expect to make a lot of money from the film but we are using it to showcase the kind of talents which exist in the North East and raise the finances for our next big project which will be a longer animated/live action fantasy thriller,” said Clive.

Siobhan said: "It was important that we worked with people from the North-East. There is a lot of talent in the region, much of it in the Tees Valley."

To view a trailer of the Emily and the Baba Yaga visit: www.thebabayaga.com.

For more information contact either Clive Tonge on mobile 07719 698 086 or Siobhan Fenton on 079631 56929, who are both at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

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