Oscars 2015: British directed The Phone Call wins best Short Film - Live Action

It was the first time the film's British directors had received an Oscar nomination

Andrew Buncombe
Monday 23 February 2015 04:03 GMT
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Mat Kirkby and James Lucas receive their award for The Phone Call
Mat Kirkby and James Lucas receive their award for The Phone Call

Mat Kirkby and James Lucas’s film 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 stars Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins as the call centre worker Heather, and Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent as the troubled caller Stan. Other cast members include Edward Hogg (Daniel) and Prunella Scales (Joan).

"Thanks to my crew, who all give their time for free. Short films are made not with money. They’re made with tenacity and lots of favours. Impossible to do it without them," said Mr Kirkby.

Before the Oscars’ glory, the film had earned plaudits from the Tribcea Film Festival and the Seattle Film Festival.

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“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,” Mat Kirkby said on the film's website.

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