By Graeme Hetherington from The Northern Echo
Read full article here.
“The actress, filmmaker and producer [Katherine McEwan]’s career has been based in Los Angeles since she left her hometown of Redcar in 2002 to train at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.”
A North-East born actress is celebrating after her first self-written feature film caught the attention of cinema lovers at film festivals around the world.
Katharine Lee McEwan’s Solitary has gained recognition at several independent film festivals since she finished work on it last year.
Last month (April), the film kicked off The London Independent Film Festival at the Genesis Cinema where it went on to win the Best UK Feature.
The actress, filmmaker and producer’s career has been based in Los Angeles since she left her hometown of Redcar in 2002 to train at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute after completing a summer programme.
“As well as acting in the film, I wrote and produced it, so I’m very proud,” she said, speaking from her Los Angeles home. “It is very gratifying when something that you make gets recognition and especially when it is in your home country.”
The filmmaker returned to these shores to shoot Solitary, which centres on the life of party girl Nora who is forced to move back home with her ageing father.
“It was a 16-day shoot and we finished over the summer,” she added. “I would love to come back again and work in this country because the British independent film scene is so strong and it something that I love.”
As well as winning the ‘Best UK Feature’ at the 2015 London Independent Film Festival, Solitary won ‘Best Dramatic Feature’ at the 2015 WorldFEST-Houston, and ‘Best Screenplay,’ ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actress’ at the 2015 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.
“Katharine also received two ‘Best Actress’ nominations at WorldFEST and Idyllwild for her portrayal of Solitary’s central character, Nora.”
The film is currently doing the rounds of film festivals around the world while she looks for a distributor to give Solitary maximum exposure.
Katharine Lee McEwan is an alumna of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute®. Learn more about the programs and classes available here. Apply here.