Last night I went to the ICA to watch ‘Mam’ at the Rushes Soho Shorts 2011 Festival.
Written by the gorgeous Vivienne Harvey, it sees her boyfriend, acclaimed British actor, Hugo Speer, in his directorial debut.
After acting together 3 years ago, Vivienne and Hugo set up a production company called Vigo Films and set about filming ‘Mam’ in Sheffield - the same city Hugo filmed the 1997 Oscar-nominated, Brit classic ‘The Full Monty.'
Extremely well directed – no mean feat when working with 5 young children – the star of ‘Mam’ is almost certainly its lead, 13 year old Ronan Carter. His heartbreaking performance of a child, desperately trying to keep his family together by fending for his younger siblings and looking after his sick mother, was beautifully performed and extremely poignant.
Screened at several film festivals from Utah to Moscow and continuing it's festival run throughout 2011, you can see 'Mam' later this year when available to download via iTunes.
In the meantime Vivienne and Hugo are working on a feature film script together - Viva Vigo!