International film awards for Dudley mother and son acting duo - BBC News

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A short film starring a mother and son with no previous acting experience has picked up dozens of film awards.

Wheel Gone Kid, mostly filmed during lockdown, tells the story of a computer game-obsessed boy from Dudley in the West Midlands.

Starring Rita Jagpal-Mohan and six-year-old son Reece, the film has picked up more than 30 international awards.

"It was literally something that was just a little bit of fun," said the 44-year-old hairdresser.

"We filmed it outside Reece's school as well as inside and outside the house."

In the film, Reece steals his mum's car and then leads her on a car chase filmed in and around Dudley.

Film producer Keith Large met Ms Jagpal-Mohan when she cut his hair.

He said he had been helping Reece with extra reading tuition via video calls during lockdown when he discovered he had a particular skill for memorising lines.

"So I wrote a little script, and got Reece and his mum to read it," he said.

"It was just a bit of fun during lockdown, to do something creative.

"It was never about winning festivals."

Wayne Kelly, Keith Large, Rita Jagpal-Mohan, Matt Holt

The 55-year-old producer, who has previously had shorts and documentaries screened in Hollywood, said during the production process the film's editor, Matt Holt, had spotted the film's potential.

"He called and said 'get yourself some popcorn, sit down and watch this - I think you've got a winner on your hands,'" he said.

"Because it's a short there are less categories for it to enter, but in terms of awards it's one of our most successful films ever."

The film has claimed Best Short Kid at the Toronto Film Festival and Best Comedy in New York as well as the pair picking up Best Child Actor and Best Actress in an Indie Film at the LA Actors Awards.