A new film shot in Galloway has won an award.
Stella tells the story of a German Jewish refugee who finds herself working in a stately home belonging to supporters of fascist leader Oswald Mosely.
Set in 1930s Galloway and filmed at Galloway House near Sorbie, it has now won the best drama award at the Melech Tel-Aviv International Film Festival – where it also had its world premiere..
And Stella – inspired by Cinderella – also won best first film at the Montreal Independent Film Festival.
The film features Rufus Wright, Susan Vidler, Oli Fyne and Gary Lewis, who lives in Kirkcudbright.
Gary said: “It was a joy to be a part of this film – the story is great, the location is stunning and everything else, from the camera work to the music, was excellent.
“Stella tells the story of a young German woman stranded in Scotland as the Nazis rise to power in Germany.
“The difficulties she faces echo those of desperate people today; refugees and asylum seekers trying to escape many horrors. Isolated and terrified for the fate of her family, she then encounters supporters of the Nazi’s racist ideology.”
The film’s makers are now in negotiations for UK distribution.
Stella was written and directed by Wigtown’s Jessica Fox, who is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.
She said: “To have been named best drama at the international film festival where Stella had its world premiere was beyond our wildest dreams.
“And now we’ve been nominated for Montreal’s Independent Film Festival we hope to bring it to a much wider audience in the near future.
“I never liked the story of Cinderella - her fairy godmother, the glass slippers or the fuss of the ball - until I heard the older folk versions.
“In these stories, Cinderella has no magical transformation. Instead, she flees her kingdom to find safety in another. She takes on a new name and identity.
“As a grandchild of holocaust survivors, who had to flee their homes, find new identities and keep only what they could carry, this Cinderella resonated.
“This Cinderella, her story, was one I wanted to tell and one that is relevant to so many people forced to flee their homes today.”
