Tilehurst filmmakers in 'paradise' after winning film festival award

FILM students have enjoyed a successful trip to an acclaimed regional film festival.

Four students from the Pauline Quirk Academy (PQA) Reading, a film and performing arts academy based at Denefield School, Tilehurst, attended the Birmingham Film Festival.

Their film, Paradise, was commended by a judging panel headed by actor George Appleby (Games of Thrones, Harry Potter) in the student film category. Four more of their films were also screened.

The academy submitted five films from its 11-13 and 13-18 age groups; comedy-western Bounty, horror The Farm, sci-fi horrors Paradise and Uninhabitable and quirky comedy Dirty Cop.

All but two were filmed on a farm in Tidmarsh last summer, the academy's first major location shoot that year.

Luke Feltham, 17, is the main star in Paradise. In response to the film's award win, he said: "It felt quite surreal, I didn't really expect it.

"It's been so long since we made the film and the last time I saw it was in May, so it was quite a shock."

Mr Feltham joined PQA in 2018 and attends Kennet School in Thatcham. He plans to study psychology at university and continue his involvement in drama and film.

Former student turned academy teaching assistant Chloe Bush, 19, added: "I definitely wasn't expecting it.

"It was quite a big competition and I thought the wide variety of films might overshadow our more amateur projects, but I am glad our hard work got recognised".

Miss Bush joined the academy in 2019 and is training on the acting foundation course at Reed College in Reading.

The BOA Stage and Screen Production Academy also attended the celebrations, which were held on Sunday, November 13, for a Q&A discussion.

PQA Reading has also entered four films into the Newbury Box Film Festival.

The Reading academy opened in 2016 and provides industry training in film and television, comedy and drama and musical theatre to children ages six to 18.

The Pauline Quirke Academy was originally founded in 2007 by British actor Pauline Quirke, of Birds of a Feather fame, and now has academies across the country.

The Birmingham Film Festival is a 10-day international film festival showcasing professional and independent films from around the world at Millennium Point, Birmingham City University.