my pretend friend

A group of De Montfort University students have premiered their own short film in preparation for sending it to a range of film festivals.

‘My Pretend Friend’ had its first screening on Saturday September 27 at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester’s cultural quarter.

Writer and Director Holly Holdsworth who is a DMU English Literature Graduate, said: “Seeing the film in an actual cinema was surreal.

“When we did one of the first drafts I burnt it to a disc and watched it on my TV and that was weird enough.

“I was nervous about the screening because until now only two of us had seen the final version.

“I didn’t know if people would laugh in the right places or engage with the characters but I’m feeling less apprehensive now.”

The team are currently in the process of sending the film to a variety of film festivals across the world.

Assistant Director and second year Media Production Student Mike Mayes, said: “We are really excited at the prospect of sending it into the film festivals.

“It would be amazing for people abroad to see our film.”

The film features only three main characters who are isolated together in their student house.

Second year Drama Student Edith Quick, who plays Harriet, said: “It was very strange to see myself on the screen but I’m an aspiring actress so it is such an amazing opportunity for me.”

‘My Pretend Friend’ was made on a low budget, receiving some funding from supporters through an online ‘Kickstarter’ donation page.

The production team were all students working towards their exams and all the filming was done back to back in eight days.

Holly added: “It was a lot of hard work, the filming was only done in a small amount of time and there were lots of early starts and long days but because of the excitement of what we were creating and the people involved, it was really fun.

“I would love this to be my full time job and I’m carrying on writing.

“I’m always thinking about ideas and a lot of my inspiration comes from conversations I have or from people I see in the street.”

The film which lasts for half an hour will be posted onto the Demon TV YouTube Channel in the New Year after it has been sent to the film festivals.

For more information on ‘My Pretend Friend’, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/hollyholdsworth/my-pretend-friend-short-film.