New film Dys is Me, by writer‑director Stacha Hicks, has won Best Mise‑en‑Scène at the Brighton Rocks Film Festival, a BIFA‑qualifying festival known for championing bold, innovative work.
Co‑produced with Darren Tunstall, Associate Professor and MA Acting Programme Leader at the Guildford School of Acting, the film was shot across multiple GSA locations and made in collaboration with GSA staff and students, including ex-GSA student Alexandra Thomas, whose involvement helped shape the film’s distinctive physical and sensory language.
The film offers a movement‑driven exploration of living with dyspraxia, focusing on the emotional and physical negotiations people make when the world isn’t built with them in mind. Both actors in the film have dyspraxia, and the project was developed through research, real stories and dance‑based character work.
Writer/Director Stacha Hicks receiving her award from Toyah Willcox at Brighton Rocks Festival. Alexandra Thomas, ex-GSA and star of ‘Dys is Me’ Hicks, a guest lecturer at GSA and recognised for her embodied and emotionally intelligent approach to filmmaking, shaped the film into a highly cinematic, emotionally driven narrative. “There’s a misconception that people with dyspraxia aren’t physically capable,” she says. “But they are. Often they’re exceptional, because they’re consciously thinking about every movement.” The film’s language mirrors the characters’ inner worlds, shifting as they fight for control of their narrative, each other and the audience’s perception of them — a quality that earned the film its award. The prize was presented by Toyah Willcox, the iconic performer and long‑standing advocate for dyspraxia awareness, whose own lived experience resonated deeply with the film’s themes. Dys is Me previously won Best Social Impact at The London Independent Film Festival and continues its festival journey as Monkey Dawn Productions moves forward with work that’s honest, sharp and celebrates what it is to be human.
