Claire up for a film gong
She played the lead role in a short film, An Allegory Concerning Blocks, which has been nominated for four awards at the Queensland new Filmmakers’ Awards.
If the film wins any of the categories for which it is nominated, it will be shown at the famous Cannes Film Festival.
“It is a huge honour for this short film. Other winners have gone on to Hollywood to become directors, producers and actors,” Ms Nichols said.
“I am very excited about this honour. Because I teach drama at Alstonville High School, I believe in keeping my acting skills polished so that I can help my students with auditions for upcoming roles.”
Ms Nichols’ film has been nominated in the categories of Innovation of Form; Best Sound; Best Tertiary Other and Best Overall Film.
She said it was about a girl called Alice who has writer’s block.
“It’s about her struggle to find a story,” she said.
“She has locked herself in her room for an unknown period of time.
“It’s the metaphor of when you get that brilliant idea, but it’s also about how we hold ourselves back.
“Another theme is the female struggle – a lot of the landscape used in the film is masculine.
“But she does manage to free herself and there is a sense of hope at the end of it all.”
Ms Nichols said the film was ‘very arty’ and she worked with an all-female crew.
“It was brilliant to work with so many strong women,” she said.
“For this film to be nominated for Best Overall Film means that everything, from the script to the costumes to the acting, was good.
“We are up against two-hour films – our film is only three minutes long.
“But it still took three days to film, starting at 4am and finishing at 11pm.
“One two-second shot could take four hours. They were being so particular with the whole process.”
And Ms Nichols is looking forward to passing on her new skills to her eager drama students at Alstonville.
“It was a huge learning curve,” she said.
“One of the main reasons I do auditions is so I can teach my students what it’s like.”
An Allegory Concerning Blocks will show on the big screen at the Regent Cinema in Brisbane at 5pm on August 1 as part of the public screening for the QNFA awards.
The awards will be held on August 7.
