Centropolis Entertainment, the London Film School and Dv8 Films are proud to announce that the feature film Shirley Adams, directed by 26 year old Oliver Hermanus, has been awarded the Golden Unicorn Best Feature Film Prize, at the 29th Amiens Film Festival in France. Selected for Main Competition at the prestigious French Film Festival, which took place 13 – 22 November 2009, the Awards were announced on Sunday.
Apart from the Main Prize, the Golden Unicorn for Best Feature Film, the prizes for Shirley Adams include distribution support for the film in France, subtitling into French and the SIGNIS Catholic Jury Award.
“Shirley Adams is the first South African film to win this prestigious major award,’ said Jean Pierre Garcia, President of the Festival.
Shirley Adams also recently won Best Actress at the EKWA Film Festival in Reunion, won Best First Film, Best South African Film and Best Actress at the Durban Film Festival in August, and has just been nominated for nine SAFTAS, South Africa’s major awards, to take place in February 2010.
Oliver trained at the world famous London Film School, which has produced directors such as Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider), Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake) and director of photography Tak Fujimoto (Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense). He completed his studies at the London Film School after receiving a private scholarship from blockbuster film sensation Roland Emmerich (2012, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot), who is also Executive Producer on Shirley Adams.
Oliver is currently one of six international directors selected for the Cannes Cinefondation, part of the Cannes Film Festival, where he is developing his next film project.
Shirley Adams is the story of a mother who struggles to rehabilitate her son after he is paralyzed by a gunshot wound.
The film stars well known South African actress Denise Newman as Shirley, who is garnering critical acclaim worldwide. Other cast is includes Keenan Arrison and a host of excellent Cape Town based actors.
The film is produced by Michelle Wheatley and Jeremy Nathan (Dv8 Films), Executive Produced by Roland Emmerich and Kirstin Winkler (Centropolis), with Ben Gibson of the London Film School, in association with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the Department of Trade and Industry Rebate Scheme (DTI) and the World Cinema Fund (Berlinale).
Shirley Adams is being represented worldwide by sales company Visit Films, based in New York, who recently concluded a North American distribution deal with the Global Film Initiative.
