Double dose of festival success

Dean Sills and his daughter Rebecca are having more film festival success, this time in Italy, after their music video 'I Am Just A Talking Bauble' was selected for the Cortisonici Film Festival in Varese which runs until April 5.

The news follows the pair's announcement that their first feature documentary, Laurel and Hardy's Yorkshire Adventures, will premiere at the national Laurel and Hardy UK Convention in May.

The story behind the music video is all about people who put their Christmas trees up “way too early” and is told by a singing bauble called Barry.

Barry the Bauble is a character originally Rebecca created for a short Christmas film and this time he is singing lyrics including “I've been here since September, gathering dust as you can see / Halloween and Bonfire Night, both of these I got to see.”

The 50-second clip – available to watch on YouTube - is the father and daughter's first music video together, although Dean has worked on four music videos in the past as an actor, including for the likes of rock bands Gentlemans Pistols from Leeds and Brighton-based Blood Red Shoes.

After the duo, from Bolton-on-Dearne, submitted the music video into film festivals, it picked up six awards including Best Original Song in a music video at the Mokkho International film festival in India.

The music video had its premiere in Florida at the Life Screenings One Minute Film Festival, and has now been selected for the midnight section, Inferno Cortisonici, in Varese.

Dean said: “We appreciate all the support considering it only took us four hours to shoot and edit the video.

“It's crazy to think it's almost Easter and the Festival (in Italy) have chosen to screen a Christmas music video.

“I wrote the lyrics and the song is basically a Mickey take after seeing more and more people putting up their Christmas trees earlier and earlier each year.

“It's really cool the music video has been shown in Asia, the USA and now it will have its European premiere in Italy."