Vera icon Brenda Blethyn's acclaimed film wins flurry of awards at international film festival

Dragonfly, starring Vera icon Brenda Blethyn, has won big at the 16th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF).

The film from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams took home three awards during the closing ceremony on Saturday (25 April): best feature film, best screenplay, and best actress.

In a rare move, the best actress trophy was split between the film’s two leading stars, Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough.

Dragonfly, which was released in cinemas last November, follows 35-year-old Colleen (Riseborough) as she steps in to care for her 80-something-year-old neighbour Elsie (Blethyn) after witnessing her neglect by carers.

However, their bond soon begins to unravel amid interference from Elsie’s son, who’s instantly suspicious of Coleen’s motives – in part due to his pre-existing biases.

And it's this exploration of the characters' – and audiences' – judgements of people that initially drew Blethyn to the project.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Times, she previously explained: "What I loved about the script as well is that you can't help but make judgments about all the different people in the film, and then question your own judgment."

She continued: "I think everyone has a redeeming quality – or you could blame all of them for whatever reason – and it's just circumstance. The way at the end, where it kind of turns – [there's] this kind of shock coming from something so every day, so normal. I thought [it] was brilliant."

Meanwhile, speaking about how she almost missed out on the chance to star in the film before reading the script, she said: "I didn't want to do it to start with. I told my agent to clear off – I'd only just finished Vera [and] hadn't even unpacked."

However, her agent soon changed her mind. "She said, 'It's a Paul Andrew Williams script, and Andrea Riseborough is in it. I thought, 'Oh, well, obviously I'll have a little read.' And I was very moved by the script."

She added: "I thought it was great. And so I said yes straight away. And it was imminent, [production was] about to start. So I had to make a decision on that same day!"

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