Pretty/Scary - Down by the Riverside Nominated for Best Feature

Down by the Riverside Rocks!

Down by the Riverside, a self-financed horror feature, directed by a woman, made in Waikato, New Zealand has been nominated for best foreign feature at the B-Movie Film Festival in New York!

The no budget digital feature went into production in October 2005, after producer Joe Hitchcock and director Marama Killen returned from Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles, where Joe's animated short "Kismet" was playing. The duo were inspired to make a feature film, and after being turned down for funding, decided to continue regardless of financing, and recruited friend Brad Davison to co-direct with Marama.

Down by the Riverside was shot in January 2006 in Te Aroha (Waikato, New Zealand), with local sponsorship and volunteer cast & crew. The crew encountered many production problems, delaying the finishing process until July 2007, when the film was picked up by independent distribution company Siren Visual (who's catalogue includes Peter Jackson's "Meet the Feebles", and New Zealand films "Truth about Demons" & "Kissy, Kissy" to name a few).

Today it was announced that Down by the Riverside has been nominated for "Best Foreign Feature" and "Best Actress" for leading lady Rebecca Trelease, at the famous alternative movies event described as "a b-movie Academy Awards of sorts for independent filmmakers", an event which showcases the success of underground world cinema.

Producer Joe Hitchcock says that "being nominated for best foreign feature is a great achievement for a movie that had no funding at any stage of production. Now that we've learned a few things we are all excited about making the next one", director Marama Killen adds "we set out to make a feature film to learn the craft, and make something quite different to what you traditionally see on screen. But to be recognised with DVD distribution and award nominations is quite a feat for people who started with no professional experience".

The film is described by writer/director Brad Davison as an "independent New Zealand film-noir horror, which tells a story of murder and mystery across two decades", and stars many up and coming actors from Hamilton, Te Aroha, Auckland and Wellington, and will be in video stores around New Zealand this November!

More information on the film, including a trailer which has been viewed thousands of times, is available on www.downending.com. The results of the awards event will come out late October upon the conclusion of the short festival.