An all-female cast under the guidance of Silver Bullet Productions and Best Light Films, and directed by Cape Town director Diana Keam, claimed 11 awards at the annual 48-Hour Film Project award ceremony on the weekend, including that of Best Film for their short feature, the silent film Thread'.
The number of awards on our table is just testimony to the fact that good filmmaking is a collaborative process, said Best Light Films' Diana Keam. Ours was a really beautiful collaborative effort, and that's why the film worked.
Thread' cast featured Terry Norton, Gabriella Pinto, Erica Schofield and Debra Saint. It was produced by Ariane Questiaux. Wayne de Lange of Silver Bullet Productions was director of photography. Music was produced at Sound Foundry by Andrew Hoole and Gregory Abrahams, and the theme song performed by Jon Savage.
The 48HFP is the world's largest timed short film competition. This year, 26 teams handed in their films at the end of a gruelling and exhilarating 48-hours of non-stop filmmaking, in which they were were given a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue to work into their film.
Cape Town was one of a record 125 cities worldwide - from Beijing to Lisbon - competing in the 48 Hour Film Project.
Thread' is a silent film, a many-layered look at a mother-daughter relationship under strain in the wake of the death of a family member. The film displays haunting cinematography and a compelling musical score.
We were looking for coherence of vision, and a film that showed that each member of the team excelled at what they did, said judge Sean Drummond, a producer and writer, and global co-ordinator of the Shnit Film Festival. We were looking for films that took us on a journey, that kept up the momentum and that displayed that sort of synchronicity that is the hallmark of a good film.
'Thread' was an example of strong storytelling told so subtly through great visuals , an amazing score and performances that will keep you glued till the end, said Benchfilms co-producer Hisham Samie. The director's vision and mark is clear across all departments.
It was a thought-provoking, sensory experience. For that it stood out among the rest and deserved the win.
Audience members commended the textured nature of the film - it explored many layers of the mother-daughter relationship and dealt with themes of regret, death and life in a way that was impressive given the demands of the 48-Hour Film Project (48HFP).
Thread had a Hollywood feel to it, said Simon Antonelli, who went to Filmapalooza in 2012 as editor on the winning film, Benchfilms' Past Tense'. It incorporated a strong narrative even though it was a silent film.
I remember thinking the day before the competition: what if we get silent film? said Keam. I thought we should just put it back and go for the wild card option. But when we got it, we decided: let's just give it a try.
I knew we had music, and we were playing with themes that were slightly eclectic - a character who is dead but doesn't know she is dead, so I thought, well maybe the world of the dead is silent. We also went for a slight slow-motion quality, to give it that haunting nature.
Thread' is now lined up for top honours in Hollywood, California at the annual Filmapalooza 2013, the 48 Hour Film Project's annual awards. The top 12 films from this world-wide event will also screen at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner, which means that Thread' has a chance to walk the red carpet in France.
Having attended Filmapalooza in 2013, I know what the competition is like, says Samie. I feel confident that Thread' will do well in LA and that it has what it takes to be a contender for the Cannes Short Film corner.
Thread's' impressive awards list included Best Director, Best Production, Best Actress, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.
Films also deserving of mention are first runner-up, the dark comedy Weapon of Choice', and the animation The Case of the Disappearing Daddy', both of whom excelled for their compelling writing and creative treatment of their allocated genres.
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An all-female cast under the guidance of Silver Bullet Productions and Best Light Films, and directed by Cape Town director Diana Keam, claimed 11 awards at the annual 48-Hour Film Project award ceremony on the weekend, including that of Best Film for their short feature, the silent film Thread'. 
