Ivan Barge’s short Madam Black may feature a dead lead character but it won’t lie down.
The film just picked up the Audience Favourite award at South America’s most prestigious festival for short film, the Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival in Brazil. Over 2,700 films were submitted to the festival. NZ’s Consul, Nick Swallow, presented the film at what was probably probably his least sports-related engagement of the year.
This year Madam Black has taken awards at four North American festivals and three European festivals. It’s also been licensed to broadcasters in France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. The short won the Audience Award at last year’s NZIFF NZ’s Best.