Leeds filmmaker is on his way to meet Oscar

Phil Robertson, senior lecturer at the Northern Film School at Leeds Beckett University, will attend this Sunday’s awards in Hollywood after beating thousands of other hopefuls in the second round of nominations for his film Shok.

The film highlights the real-life story of two boys whose friendship is pushed to the limits in the Kosovo war.

Phil has previously worked on shows such as Werewolf: The Beast Among Us, Frozen, Larkrise to Candleford, Holby City and Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

“I travelled to Kosovo to prep and find the locations for the story and also to get to know the director Jamie Donoughue,” Phil explained.

“Jamie is a very talented director originally from Leeds, and was living in Kosovo.

“He wrote this wonderful script based on true life stories from people he met there.

“I am excited to have contributed to this film which gives us a snapshot of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’.”

Phil believes the film resonates with audiences as it parallels what we are currently seeing on the daily news with global crises.

“Shok tells the story of recent European history that perhaps not all of us knew about, portraying real events,” he said.

“It is heartening and exciting to see it being viewed by many people across the globe.

“And now with the Oscar nomination, the film will reach an even wider audience.

“Shok is a story that had to be told and seen by everyone.”

The film has already won rave reviews, and has scooped 15 festival awards.

Accolades so far received include the Berlin Interfilm Festival 2015 awards’ gong for Best Short Film; HollyShorts Grand Jury Prize; and the SWIKOS Film festival (Basel) Best Film and Best Cinematography.