One-shot educational drama made at University of Chester wins top prize at international film festival
A nine-minute film made in one continuous shot at the University of Chester has been crowned the best of its kind at a top festival.
Sutures, set in a busy hospital ward where busy staff face procedural and ethical challenges, is the result of a collaboration between the Wrexham Academy of Screen Acting (WASA) and the University, with the entire short filmed in just one day at the Wheeler building’s nursing simulation facilities. The project also received funding from the University’s Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society.
Crew members, including writers and directors Nate and Elliott Reeves, executive producer and Senior Lecturer Dr Tracy Ross and actor Ruby Snape, travelled to the One Shot Terrassa City of Film near Barcelona, where – to their collective surprise and delight – Sutures beat more than 1,800 entries to be named the best one-shot film, collecting the top prize of €1,200.
Sutures features actors from WASA, co-founded by former Coronation Street actor Dean Fagan, who starred in 2024’s Ridley Scott-directed Gladiator II. He said it was the first time he had been involved with the concept of shooting a film all in one take, and it was a “privilege” to be a part of it.
Nate explained: “The film is about two nurses having to work together to get control of an urgent care ward. We wanted to create something the students could watch and learn from; we had the idea that it would be like a hazard perception test so the nurses would make lots of mistakes and then overcome or fix those mistakes.”
Tracy, Senior Lecturer in Nursing, executive produced and appeared in Sutures. She said of the University’s Wheeler building facilities providing the film set: “We’ve got two ward areas, and intensive care and a maternity unit with birthing pools. I said to WASA, ‘What about this wonderful facility?’ They said ‘Yeah, let’s make this happen’.
“It’s a great opportunity to have collaboration between the University and WASA, but also it’s educational for the students and highlights a really important message about organ donation. A lot of people don’t know about the opt-out system, about seeking family support and letting their family know their wishes.”
Nate added: “I’m a kidney transplant recipient, so I’ve spent, unfortunately, a fair amount of time in hospital. So me and my brother [Elliott] tried to tap into our experience when we were writing it. I used all that to try and create something that makes you really empathise with what the nurses are going through.”
The accolade is a tremendous boost to both WASA and the University, as Sutures co-producer Dean explained: “It goes towards our goals and mission of making North East Wales a creative hub; I want this to be the go-to place where everybody from all over the country comes to get things made and be educated in screen acting. This award shows we’re on the right path to doing that.
“Gladiator II has made me more steadfast, using my experience to maximise those efforts to get that done. Working with Ridley Scott was amazing, a dream come true. Seeing Denzel Washington act was inspiring and enlightening – some people who are the highest of the game. You always learn from what you see, all the people you meet, and it helped growing that network, making the best things we possibly can and giving people those opportunities in the area.”
Sutures co-producer Ruby, who has appeared on film and TV including Coronation Street and Casualty, said of the one-shot concept: “I was a bit reserved about it, thinking ‘is it going to work?’ Should we just do it scene by scene? But Nate and Elliott proved me wrong and the award is [proof of] that; I couldn’t be more proud. It was a brilliant concept, especially for a training film.”
Nate added the One Shot Terrassa City of Film prize money would go into a pot for a future film project to “give the actors more opportunities and keep the momentum going”.
For more information about studying Nursing at the University of Chester, visit: https://www.chester.ac.uk/study/nursing/
Top image: Left to right, Sutures writer/director Nate Reeves; University Head of Nursing and Healthcare Education Mike Bellis; Sutures executive producer and University Nursing Senior Lecturer Dr Tracy Ross; Sutures co-producers and WASA co-founders Ruby Snape and Dean Fagan.
Image 2: The cast and crew of Sutures at the University set.
Image 3: Sutures cast and crew celebrating first prize at the One Shot Terrassa City of Film.