Undercurrents scores Hat trick at Film Festival Awards

Undercurrents won 3 awards at last nights ceremony of the Swansea Bay Film festival. Hosted in the Dylan Thomas centre the awards were presented by Victor Spinetti, filmdirector and star of the Beatles film ‘A Hard Day's Night’.

Jojo Tobbitt from Undercurrents won the award for best documentary for her film about how the concept of a village is struggling to survive in the 21st century.

The award for best film about the environment went to Paul O’Connor from Undercurrents for his film about the campaign to stop Swansea airport from expanding on the Gower. The 40minute film, ‘Reach for the Sky’ appealed to the Jury as it put the campaign in the wider context of aviation and its links with climate change.

The award for best Welsh Independent Film went to ‘The Only Clown in the Village’ by Undercurrents. The uplifting story told of how a Swansea clown brought hope to the Tsunami struck regions of Sri Lanka last year. Kingsley Perera from Mount Pleasant stands out as the only Asian clown registered in Britain. Born and still based in Swansea, the joyful character went on a physical, emotional and spiritual journey to the East of Sri Lanka, torn apart by civil war and the boxing day Tsunami.

Collecting the awards Paul O’Connor from Undercurrents told the 140 people attending the awards ceremony that it ‘was wonderful to be recognized for the low budget but very high quality films which undercurrents always turn out’

The winning films are available to watch online via www.undercurrents.org