AWARDS PUT CARLA IN PICTURE Abertay graduate enjoys success at film festivals

A STUDENT film project that premiered at the 2020 online Abertay Digital Graduate Show has enjoyed award success at two international film festivals.

Left Behind, directed by recent Abertay graduate Carla Begg, was named Best Student Short at the Vancouver-based Bridge Film Festival.

It was also named the Best Silent Short Film at the Istanbul Film Awards.

Carla, who studied computer arts at the university, was also given an honourable mention in the Female Director category at the Istanbul event.

Left Behind tells the heartwrenching story of a mother and father as they struggle to cope with the loss of their son to drugs.

The short movie stars Dr Who actress Seylan Baxter and actor Joe Cassidy, best known for his role in The Crews.

Carla, 21, said: “It feels kind of surreal, I’m not going to lie! “I would never have expected to come straight out of university with this film, which I made as a final-year project, and to win awards. I’m still pinching myself.”

The film tells its story without any dialogue and Carla believes this is part of its appeal.

“Even though it’s based in Scotland and highlights Scotland’s issue, the subject of drug deaths is completely transferable,” she said.

“Since there are no words in the film, people are able to connect with the story no matter where they are.”

Although the global Covid-19 situation has restricted Carla’s ambitions, she has attempted to use it to her advantage – even if it means she still hasn’t seen her own work on the big screen quite yet.

Carla added: “Lockdown gave me time to sit down and consider what my next steps would be. “Preparing award entries is time consuming but time is what I had so I did my best to use it well. “This is my first time applying to be part of film festivals, so in that sense having time to prepare has been very helpful.

“On the other hand, it would have been nice for people to see the film in a cinema and that’s something that I’ve not been able to do myself yet.

“The film was supposed to premiere in Abertay’s cinema but because of the pandemic that couldn’t happen.

“I very much look forward to eventually seeing it on the big screen.”