Horror legends the Soska Sisters join Cine Excess for Birmingham student film competition
midlandsmovies • November 5, 2020
Horror legends the Soska Sisters join Cine Excess for Birmingham student film competition
For the fifth year Cine-Excess is hosting the Tales of Terror film competition, which features a panel of experts including special guests The Soska Sisters.
Together, they will be reviewing student film pitch entries for a yet to be released horror film with the prize being a comprehensive mentoring session with the experienced filmmakers.
The contemporary horror duo Jennifer and Sylvia Soska (Rabid [2019] and American Mary) received a Cine-Excess award at the 2019 event too. The inspirational Soska sisters also return to the festival in their new role as BCU Fellows in International Cinema Practices.
Chaired by Eugenio Triana, the pitches came from Masters students at Birmingham City University who presented alternative film directions for existing classics with an increased focus on representation.
“Avenging Conscience” by James Penders and Camron Watson
took the original silent crime drama and proposed updating the movie with modern male representations around the gay and black community. With influences from the recent Moonlight the film would also look at shame, mental health as well as body horror.
The next pitch was “Rosemary’s Baby” by Finley Davidson and Samuel Summers
who suggested they’d like to empower the female lead in contrast to the passive protagonist of the original as well as explore notions of the female body and using a female director for their view.
Hitchcock’s “The Birds”
was given a climate change update by Audrey Valenti and Rositsa Marinova
to explain the reasons of why the winged terrors were attacking the public.
“Bloodstream” by Lydia Watts, Rebecca Shaw and Nanci Da Cruz
proposed a remake of Unfriended – the social media desktop film - but with an added emphasis on LGBT issues and the normalising of extremist views online.
One of my personal favourite horror movies “Martyrs”
was the focus of a pitch by Dominik Peranic and Harry Harper. They offered an alternative take where their film would explore the psychological effect on targeting minority communities as well as racial crime and torture.
And finally, “An American Werewolf in London” by Catherine Daly and Sean Rudge
was reimagined around two British Pakistani women and the power of loss and grief.
With a whole host of high quality fantastic pitches, the jury panel had a difficult decision to make, yet one pitch had to be chosen as the winner. And that was...
“An American Werewolf in London” by Catherine Daly and Sean Rudge.
Here at Midlands Movies we wish all the filmmakers the best and look forward to the success of these creative talents from the region in their future endeavours
Michael Sales
Check out more information, screenings and events at https://www.cine-excess.co.uk
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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