Janis Pugh

Blue Collars & Buttercups

Blue Collars and Buttercups has been very well received at festivals all over the world and has so far won two awards, one at LODZ (Poland) and the Encounters Film Festival (Britain) where it received a special commendation award. It has provoked much interest at festivals in Tampere (Finland), Tel Aviv, Prague, Munich, Cannes short film corner, Exposures, Portugal, Italy. Locarno (Switzerland), Brest (France) and was in competition at the Nouveau Cinéma Festival held in the Centquartre 104 Arts Centre, Paris in Febuary 2009

The film caught the eye of the UK Film Council who recommended Janis to Screen International as a 'Star of Tomorrow' as a filmmaker to look out for, and the article gave the audience a taster of what is yet to come (see News & Events for article)

Janis says: "When I was writing Blue Collars all I thought about was telling a simple story and connecting it to an audience. After making House (see Trailers) I was certain that I wanted to go back to North Wales to make my graduation film, it just felt right. There is something unique about the landscape, the people and their voice.

"You see, I am a Flint girl, I grew up in Flint during the 80s and during that period it lost an enormous part of its heart mainly due to the political turmoil of the times, when that happened it shaped a new generation of voices, my generation and my voice.

"The whole idea came from my personal story about growing up in a Flint. It's about wanting something different from what society expects from you. I come from a working class family, a family who have either worked in the service industry or in factories. We are a "production line" of blue collar workers and that's the feeling I wanted the film to have, a production line of nightmares and dreams."

Tina, the main character in the film played by Louise Kempton, walks on stilts everywhere, but it was important that whoever she encountered on her journey took absolutely no notice of that fact. The stilts are her status platform; they turn her into something different. They make her different from the rest of her family. She stands out, and that's her only desire to stand out and be viewed differently. That's a hard thing to achieve when you come from a small town where without fault to anyone, the continuation of being in work is far more important than following your dreams.

See Gallery for Cast & Crew photos (copyright Charles C Meyer)

Festivals & Awards:
Nouveau Cinema Festival - Paris - 2009
Tel Aviv International Film Festival, 2008 - Jury's final selection
Eat My Shorts - NFT - 2008
5th International Film Festival Portugal - 2008
Tampere International Film Festival, Finland - 2008
Exposures Film Festival 2007, Manchester, UK. The film is featured on the "Best of the Fest" DVD
Winner of the Special Kodak Prize at the 14th International MediaSchool Festival in Lodz, Poland in October 2007
Brest European Film Festival 2007, 10th - 18th November (Poster copyright: Fabrice Pelle)
The film was selected for entry in the Leopards of Tomorrow International Film Competition at the Locarno Film Festival 2007. It was one of only 23 titles selected for this section from the 2,500 submitted, and the SOLE ENTRANT FROM THE UK.
Cannes Film Festival 2007 - the film was shown in the Short Films Corner
Edinburgh International Fim Festival 2007
Fresh Film Festival Prague 2007

  Last updated 05.04.10