Film by Chicago-Based Production Company Wins Audience Award for Best Picture at EIFF – Chicago Daily Herald

The Road Dance - a feature film produced by Chicago-based development and production company Sheridan Road Production - recently received The Audience Award for Best Picture at the prestigious 74th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). Voted for by the viewing public, The Road Dance was chosen over Pig starring Nicolas Cage, as well as Here Today starring Tiffany Haddish and Billy Crystal. It was selected as the audience favorite from nearly 200 film and documentary submissions.

Based on the book of the same name by Scottish author John MacKay, The Road Dance is a WWI drama / love story feature film based on true events. It was filmed in the fall of 2021 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic on the remote Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland. Produced in Chicago by the veteran film and television team of Maryilene Blondell and Jim Kreutzer, both residents of Lake Forest, Ill., The Road Dance received this esteemed audience award on the heels of Kreutzer's 2016 BAFTA Best Picture feature film Tommy's Honour, which also premiered at EIFF in 2016. Building upon this previous success at the BAFTA Awards, receipt of this year's EIFF Audience Award for Best Picture raises the hopes that The Road Dance will also be considered for a BAFTA Best Picture.

"Throughout the film there are themes of triumph over tragedy, and resilience against all odds. I'm so proud of the way my co-producer Maryilene brought those themes to the forefront of the storyline, and the way Hermione Corfield brought them to life on screen," said Kreutzer. "I think the authenticity of those themes resonated deeply with the viewing audience at EIFF, and I'm delighted to have received their support."

"Kirsty's story, played by the magnificent Hermione Corfield, resonated profoundly with me on a personal level," said Blondell. "Throughout the four years of developing this project I never wavered in my belief that the audience would feel the same once they saw it. We are very much looking forward to the rest of the world being as affected by the film as the audience at EIFF."

Blondell and Kreutzer attended the festival in Edinburgh, Scotland along with newcomer director Richie Adams of Of Mind and Music and Inventing Adam, and film stars Hermione Corfield of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation; esteemed British actor Mark Gatiss of Sherlock, Dracula, and Game of Thrones; and popular Scottish actress Morven Christie of Grantchester, The Bay, and The Replacement.

The Road Dance is currently in the negotiation process with distributors, and it is also being considered for additional film festivals.

Sheridan Road Productions is an international television and film development and production company. With a combined 50 years of entertainment and media experience, Sheridan Road Productions delivers outstanding film and television projects for a diverse viewing audience. For more information visit https://www.sheridanrp.com .

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Film by Chicago-Based Production Company Wins Audience Award for Best Picture at EIFF - Chicago Daily Herald