MRC Human Genetics Unit
Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit

Researcher wins Special Jury Prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival

Raffaele Ottaviano co-directs Short Film Coral Red: September 2014

Researcher Raffaele Ottaviano, based in the MRC Human Genetics Unit in the IGMM, won a Special Jury Prize in the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Short Film Challenge for the Coral Red film he co-directed.

I started my career as a film/theatre director in 2009 whilst studying towards my PhD. One of my goals as a film-maker was to participate in the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), so Carlo Pirozzi (co-director), Luigi Zechini (co-producer) and I decided to take part in the Short Film Challenge. The three of us collaborated for a play during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 and in other theatre shows in Edinburgh, but this is our first cinematographic collaboration.

Raffaele OttavianoMRC Human Genetics Unit in the IGMM

Coral Red commemorates the centenary of the First World War (1914-1918) and recreates the day before the event that is widely known as the casus belli of the First World War: the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

Delightfully surrealist and had great ambition for a short film. It also broke away from traditional narrative and was visually dynamic and beautifully shot. The production design was strong and there was brilliant snail wrangling.

The EIFF Jury