MEDIA RELEASE: Hobart – 22 February —The inaugural Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival wrapped up in Hobart on Sunday night with an awards ceremony and script reading event to celebrate the winners of the 10 By 10 Short Horror Script Challenge.

Registered participants had 10 days to come up with an original horror script, upon being given a ‘secret code word’ to spark their imagination.

Sixty-five writers registered, with 39 completed scripts emerging at the end of the competition.

“We were quite surprised that so many people came up with the goods,” says the festival’s Briony Kidd. “Even better, the judges found the overall quality to be very high.”

The winning script, announced at a special ‘bloody carpet’ event at Salamanca Arts Centre, was Little Lamb by Heidi Douglas. She’s a Tasmanian filmmaker who currently resides in Sydney.

“My script is about a woman who seeks freedom from imprisonment,” says Douglas, “Only to find that where she seeks freedom lurks greater danger.

“It is a retelling of the Bluebeard fable set in convict era Van Diemon’s Land.”

“I lived in South Hobart for six years and passing by the Female Factory daily has often led me to ponder the difficult plight of these women, who have rarely had their stories told. My script is an imagined scenario about a convict women assigned to a free settler in the remote wilderness of Tasmania.”

Little Lamb was performed by professional actors during the awards ceremony, as were two other commended scripts — Speak With Love by Zane Pinner and Convenient Disposal by Rob Manion.

“The judges and audience strongly encouraged me to make the film,” says Douglas, who says she intends to do so, and is seeking funding.

The event was organised by award-winning Tasmanian filmmakers Briony Kidd and Rebecca Thomson and is an official Women in Horror Recognition Month event.

The major sponsor of the festival was Melbourne based distributor Monster Pictures.

The three-day festival was commended by interstate guests — including film critic Adrian Martin and filmmaker Donna McRae (Johnny Ghost) — for its community atmosphere and quality programming.

AWARD WINNERS

Best Script – Heidi Douglas 
for Little Lamb
Honourable Mention (interstate) – Scott McAteer 
for Remember Sunshine Valley (VIC)
Honourable Mention (teen) – Tanaya Roy
 for Nightfall
Honourable Mention (Tasmanian Gothic) – Daniel Lynch for 4 2 2
Honourable Mention (familial) – Carrie McLean
 for Die, Die, Die My Darling…
Honourable Mention (international) – Matthew Hodgson
 for Eyes on the Prize (Canada)
Honourable Mention (exploration of gender) – Zane Pinner
 for Speak With Love
Honourable Mention (Tasploitation) – Rob Manion 
for Convenient Disposal
Best Short Film – Heidi Honeycutt & Leslie Delano
for Wretched (USA)
Best Short Film Runner-up – Victoria Waghorn for When Sally Met Frank (Australia)