It was a proud moment for me when “The Phone Call,” won the Oscar for best “live-action short film” at last Sunday night’s awards-show extravaganza because I have met and known of some of the talent involved.
British creatives, James Lucas and Mat Kirkby‘s tearjerker tells the story of a woman working for a crisis centre phone help line who receives a call from a suicidal older man. It is an encounter that changes the lives of all of those involved in the call.
The film has an all-star cast with Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) as the call center worker Heather and Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris) as the troubled caller Stan, give two of the year’s most heart-wrenching performances. Other cast members include Edward Hogg as Daniel and Prunella Scales as Joan.
The short is written, directed and produced by Kirkby, with Lucas as co-writer. The film had already earned plaudits from the Tribeca Film Festival and other festivals from Seattle to Helsinki.
I asked James when I bumped into him at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party in West Hollywood how he felt after his phenomenal achievement and he told me, “this is the most unbelievable night of my life, I froze for second when they announced the winner and I was like, that’s us!”
As he posed proudly clutching his Oscar next to sexy fashion designer Nikki Lund and myself James added, “I couldn’t get up on stage fast enough but everything went in slow motion, I can’t explain it. I still can’t believe it.
“I am so thankful to everyone who became part of this film, you dream of these moments, but when they become real you know you’re on the right track.”
On the film’s website, Mat Kirby said, “It was a real dream come true working with Jim and Sally. Jim is an Oscar-winning legend, and Sally had literally been filming with Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett a couple of weeks previously, so, as you can imagine, I was pinching myself rather a lot on set.”
Keep the tissues handy when you watch “The Phone Call“, because this beautifully made short packs a three-hour epic’s worth of emotion into just 20 minutes…
Verdict: A well-deserved win!
