Carrickfergus film student making a name for herself in the movie industry

Antonia Cowan (22), a graduate of South Eastern Regional College’s Northern Ireland and Film Television School (NIFTS), recently had first full-length feature, Tersus, premiered at the HER International Film Festival.

Antonia, youngest in the Cowan household with siblings Peter and Manus, grew up with film. She said: “My parents, Roisin and Tom, loved film and had a big influence on all of us, not only in what we watched - from old black and white movies to world cinema – but in making our own films. It seems we were no age when dad had us out with a camera making, scripting and directing our own wee films with our cousins.

“I have great memories of doing that when we were kids. We would all have roles to play, in front and behind the camera. My brothers Peter and Manus were older than me and later on, they certainly influenced what I got to see. No princess movies for me, but something a bit more action packed and maybe even a little too dark for my age, but no harm done, and I certainly feel it has impacted my tastes in film.”

Antonia, who is in her first year of Ulster University’s BA in Cinematic Arts, added; “I went to Ulidia Integrated College in Carrick and had a fantastic teacher, Mrs Mercer, for my A-Level in Moving Image where I made The Bracelet, a psychological thriller, which won the Creative Award for the year. I knew from that point what I wanted to do.”

After opting for a year out during which she explored Greek islands, Antonia returned to study to develop her talent.

“It was my mum Roisin who discovered the HNC in Creative Media Production at SERC and encouraged me to apply and from there I progressed to the HND. This was the route for me. I was able to gain valuable production experience and the classes are small, so you bond really quickly and are bouncing all these ideas off each other; the lecturing team, Alison and Pete, are dedicated and come from the industry, it was invigorating.”

Speaking about Tersus, Antonia continued: “The HND course at SERC is very hands on. From day one, you are being taught to industry standards, so you know what to expect when you join the industry.

“My film Tersus is a result of the teaching at SERC. Everyone in the class has to ‘pitch’ an idea and mine was selected. We were lucky in that one of our classmates had a house in Spain which he offered for location. So from September to December last year we were all working towards shooting the film in January 2020 - script writing, prop planning, costumes, shot lists, organising equipment, booking flights and sorting customs, basically everything we would need to be ready to shoot a film, abroad, over a long weekend.

“We worked 15 hour days, it was gruelling, but everyone was excited and focussed on their role. We even had a behind the scenes crew make a documentary about making the film.

“Tersus is a psychological thriller. Without giving too much away it is about a man who cleans up for mobsters and what happens when he is faced with his own conscience.

“The film was essentially female led, which is why it was selected for the HER International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Jury Award and Best First Time Female Filmmaker Award.”

It was also selected for the Black Box Film Devour Festival and has been submitted for the Richard Harrison International Films Festival.

Antonia said: “Tersus is a film which is not expected from a female in what is a predominately male industry. I think it is so important to get out there and make the films that I want to make; the ones that I want to watch and enjoy.

“Right now, I am concentrating on my degree in Cinematic Arts at Ulster University. I am ready for it now but don’t think I would be enjoying it as much if it had not been for the HNC/HND route I took at SERC. I have a wealth of industry experience and I am just getting started.”

Click here to read: East Antrim backdrop for new TV productions

--

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.