Top acting awards for Llanelli students

Two students from Llanelli have been presented with acting awards for best trainee male and female leads in a BBC short film at the It’s My Shout premiere celebration, which this year invited Rob Brydon to accept an inspiration award.

It’s My Shout is a company that specialises in producing short films for TV and screen, working for the likes of BBC Wales, S4C and the UK Film Council. Chris Dix, a former Coleg Sir Gâr student and Jessie Davies from Burry Port who is studying the last year of a performing arts extended diploma at the college’s Llanelli campus, won awards for the best female and male lead at the event. They play the lead characters in a short film called Three Days which will be aired on BBC2 on December 3 at 11.20pm.

Chris Dix wasn’t aware he was being auditioned for a big part, so he was shocked when he was given the lead role of Joe, a deaf, isolated schoolboy, ostracised by his friends. “The challenge of playing a deaf person needed a lot of research,” said Chris. “I was trying to find the middle ground to illustrate the challenges of being deaf without coming across as mocking in any sense, it wasn’t easy and I certainly didn’t think I’d win an award for it.”

Jessie Davies plays Inga, a Latvian prostitute fleeing her sex-trafficking captors and ends up meeting Joe, a deaf schoolboy. With one character not being able to speak English and the other not being able to hear, this proved a real acting challenge. “Although in the film there was little speech, I still had to make sure every word I said was in a realistic Latvian accent,” said Jessie, 18. “The college has been wonderful, we’ve learnt a variety of things not just film and TV, but even physical theatre which helped me to portray my character more because there were few words.”

Performing arts lecturer Michael Hackfort, said: “The scheme provides hands on training for young people, providing them with an opportunity to work alongside industry professionals. We encourage all our students to take part and It’s My Shout provides opportunities for students from performance, production, media, hair and beauty, photography, as well as art and design.”

With an audience of 1500 people watching a variety of clips from each nominated film, Chris said he didn’t believe he’d won the award until he saw it for himself. “I was still clapping when they called out my name,” he said. “It felt surreal walking on stage as I was still wondering if this was really for me, so it wasn’t until I saw the plaque with my name on that I believed it.”

Jessie added: “I didn’t even know I’d been nominated until two days before the awards, but still had no thought of actually winning especially as all the films and actresses were of high standards, so I felt and still feel very honoured.

“The evening was amazing and full of glamour and there was such a friendly and happy atmosphere and I even got to meet Rob Brydon.”

Rob Brydon commented on Chris’s talent and said how real he made his character through his acting ability. Chris is now studying at CPA Studios in Romford and paid homage to his Coleg Sir Gâr lecturers who introduced him to It’s My Shout. “The college did everything for me and my lecturers are the reason I am studying in London now,” he said.