Prano Bailey-Bond wins the FrightFest Screen Genre Rising Star award

Frightfest director with Prano Bailey-Bond at the SCREEN GENRE RISING STAR AWARDS Media Wall during the Frightfest Film Festival on Monday 30 August 2021 at Cineworld Leicester Square, London. . Picture by Julie Edwards.

Last night, at a FrightFest awards event at the Cineworld, Leicester Square, writer/director Prano Bailey-Bond, won the 2021 Screen Genre Rising Star Award for her stunning breakout debut feature Censor.

Britain, 1985. When film censor Enid discovers an eerie horror that speaks directly to her sister’s mysterious disappearance, she resolves to unravel the puzzle behind the film and its enigmatic director – a quest that will blur the lines between fiction and reality in terrifying ways. Steeped in glorious 1980s aesthetics, CENSOR is a bloody love letter to the VHS ‘video nasty’ horror classics of the past.

Screen Internationals’s Nikki Baughan, said “With this year’s shortlist being as strong as ever, it takes a truly special talent to be crowned our Screen International / FrightFest Rising Star of 2021. With Censor, writer/director Prano has created a truly exceptional film that leaves an indelible mark on first watch and reveals ever more of itself on multiple viewings; an impressive feat for any filmmaker, let alone one making her feature debut.”

Established by FrightFest and Screen International in 2016 to celebrate the work of emerging UK genre talent, this year’s five-strong short-list embraced the work of three emerging directors and two outstanding performers. The other directors were Leroy Kincaide for his creepily assured feature debut, The Last Rite, and writer/director Eric Steele for Boy #5 – his ultra-low budgeted but emotionally powerful take on the age-old horror myth – the Vampire.

This year, two actresses made the short-list – April Pearson for her enthralling, gutsy performance in Jamie Patterson’s psychological thriller The Kindred and UK-based Najarra Townsend for her hypnotic, chilling turn as a hair-dressing serial-killer in Jill Gevargizian’s The Stylist, which she also produced.

Previous winners include Prevenge director Alice Lowe, Double Date writer/actor Danny Morgan, Anna and the Apocalypse star Ella Hunt and Abigail Blackmore, writer/director of the comedy horror film Tales From The Lodge.