Vodka and Chips - From Barnt Green to the big screen

Buy photos » Sheila Evans, on day one of shooting her film 'Vodka and Chips'.

AN INDEPENDENT film featuring Barnt Green, Alvechurch and the Lickey Hills is set for its preview screening on Sunday (May 13) for everyone involved in the production.

The thriller Vodka and Chips is about a Russian criminal who flees the mafia from his homeland, and takes up residence in Barnt Green. It mixes drama, romance, betrayel and comedy and Fletcher's gaming centre on Lickey Road, Cofton Hackett, is prominent in the film's climax.

The project, which is the result of a joint venture between Sheila Evans, 69, who lives in Fiery Hill Road, Barnt Green, and Russian director Lex Dovak, has snowballed from an experiement to the birth of an independent film company.

Sheila, who wrote the script and was a lead character in 'Vodka and Chips', said: "We just wanted to see if we could make a decent film in Birmingham on a minimal budget.

"I'm now writing the second one.

"I feel like my life is just beginning.

"I would say to anyone - just follow your dreams and go for it!."

Sheila's husband Bill Evans who produced the film paid homage to every one who helped produce it and said Sunday's screening at the Mac in Canon Hill Park was for them.

He said: "They just lived the project. - a good quality independant film can cost around £150,000, but we were able to make this for next to nothing."

Sheila added: "It was hard, and there were many sleepless nights, but if you love what you doing you just get through."

Filming on 'Vodka and Chips' was wrapped at the end of 2010 and it has taken more than 12 months to complete the post-production process, which included free editing from the BBC.

Now the film is being distributed and an American deal is already in the pipeline.

Bill said "The preview screening is almost the end of the beginning. Its all been a bit surreal."

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