UK features ‘Straight Circle’, ‘Ish’ take top awards at Venice Critics’ Week

UK feature Straight Circle has won the Grand Prize for best film at the 40^th Critics’ Week, the independent sidebar of Venice Film Festival.

The debut feature of UK writer-director Oscar Hudson, Straight Circle also picked up the most innovative feature award, selected by a jury of people under the age of 35.

Shot in South Africa, Straight Circle follows two soldiers from opposing nations who are stationed at a shared barracks on an isolated border. Neil Maskell, Luke Tittensor and Elliot Tittensor lead the cast.

The film is produced by Kevin Rowe for 2AM with Thomas Benski for Magna Studios, and Rik Green and Riaz Rizvi for Such.

The Critics’ Week jury credited “an absurdist, highly coloured dark comedy that progressively turns into a waking nightmare… the film is visually striking and we were blown away by the amazing performance of the two leads. It is a sharp anti-war fable, at a time when the issue of borders is exacerbating tensions globally.”

It was a strong showing for UK features, with Imran Perretta’s Ish receiving the audience award after an average score from viewers of 4.3 out of 5.

The film follows two 12-year-old best friends who try to hold onto their friendship in the wake of a traumatic police stop and search. Dhiraj Mahey and Bennett McGhee produce for Primal Pictures and Home Team respectively.

Global Constellation handles sales on both Straight Circle and Ish.

The best independent production prize went to Giulio Bertelli’s Agon; while the best technical contribution award was won by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini’s Waking Hours.

Another UK feature, Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, closed the Critics’ Week section out of competition yesterday (Friday, September 5); while Greece-UK co-production Bearcave won the Europa Cinemas Label in the Giornate degli Autori strand.

• How Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero brought together a starry cast including Charli XCX