Selected for Aesthetica Film Festival

Starring Darci Shaw (Judy) and Richard Harrington (Hinterland)

Joseph Ollman’s short film Bitter Sky shares a story of a young girl and the relationship she has with her controlling adopted father. This topical film has already screened at the 2020 Prague International Indie Festival where it was nominated for the Best Debut Actress Award (Darci Shaw), the 2020 BFI London Film Festival, and 2020 The Shortest Nights. This film will be screening at the Oscar-qualifying and BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival in November.

In the Welsh wilderness, a young girl must break away from the coercive control of her adopted father, reluctantly befriending a lad from the local scrapyard. 

Director/Writer Joseph Ollman is a multi Award-winning filmmaker whose debut short Throw Me to the Dogs won several awards including Best Director at Shuffle Film Festival and was later nominated for the BFI Future Shorts Best Director Award. The film also screened at multiple BAFTA and Oscar Qualifying film festivals. Joseph’s second short Meat on Bones was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru in 2017. He directed a short film, Penelope, as part of a TV-Mini Series for BBC Wales, which was broadcast in 2016 on BBC Two. Ollman also works in commercials and music videos, having worked with clients such as the BBC, BFI, Vodafone, and Lush UK. He also works as an actor, featuring in History channel’s Knightfall and will be starring in the upcoming Sky Atlantic series Domina.
 
Producer Kristina Epenetos originally trained as an actor at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, cut her production teeth working on an array of award-winning independent feature films, notably Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life and Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil.  Having spent the last few years working in the world of advertising, she has produced music videos, branded content, and commercials. Clients include; Carlsberg, ASDA, BT, Dairy UK, Red Bull, MTV, and Disney to name a few. Kristina continues to produce long-form original content; short films, web-series and is currently in development for a new TV show with G59TV.

Cinematographer Christopher Spurdens has been Director of Photography for a number of award-winning films such as Meat on Bones, Strays (Channel 4 Random Acts), The Truants, and Throw Me to the Dogs. The films have collectively screened at over 70 festivals worldwide, winning over 25 awards and a BAFTA Cymru 2017 nomination. Christopher has continued to direct photography and operate cameras for numerous projects, including the second series of BAFTA award-winning CBBC series The Secret Life of Boys.
 
Bitter Sky will be screening at the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival from 3rd November to 30th November. It is currently also available on BBC iPlayer.