From nursing home to Hollywood for 85 year-old actress
Franziska-Maria Apprich, a practice-based PhD student from the Film Studies Department of Queen’s University in Belfast, ignored the casting agents when she was commissioned to direct a short film as part of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission / UK Film Council ‘Deviate’ scheme. She wanted experience and therefore decided to choose her cast from a North Belfast nursing home.
Franziska collaborated with 85-year-old actress Mai Mallon and her on-screen husband George Lee (80). Her film The Cat, featuring Mai and George, won the award for Best Cinematography at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in November 2005.
The five minute film shows a cat who uncovers the flaws in an elderly couple’s seemingly-loving marriage. The prize is the second major international award for Fran. Her documentary James, created as part of an assignment in the final year of her MA course, previously received a finalist award at the New York Festivals event.
Fran is in no doubt who to thank for her recent success: ‘Mai is the true star of the film and I could not have wished for a more a more glamorous and wonderful actress’.
The film has been screened at Mai’s nursing home where some of the film’s props were raffled in aid of the Hospice charity. Mai was the centre of attention and signed autographs for the audience. The film now travels to Hollywood where it will be competing in a winners showcase at the Los Angeles International Film and Video Festival in March.
For further information on Fran’s work, please log on to www.make.ie
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