A FILM with a star cast of insects has crawled all over the competition at a European film festival.

Invertebrate, which was made on Tyneside and had a six-inch praying mantis as its leading man, was named the Best European Experimental Film following its world premiere at the ECU European Independent Film Festival in Paris at the weekend.

Set in a fictional future city inhabited by man-sized insects living among the ruins of human society, the film was shot against a miniature set built over six months by Gateshead-based model maker Pete Young, an Ovingham Middle School friend of the film’s writer, director and cinematographer, James McAleer.

Arriving back in Newcastle yesterday, James, who runs production company, Steady-Red, said: “I’m over the moon to receive this award, especially with such strong competition from the other fantastic films at the festival.”

Inspired by the B movies of 1950s, the £25,000 film was shot entirely in miniature, without any of the CGI special effects common in modern films. Instead, it uses practical photographic effects to achieve the illusion of huge insects roaming the streets.

“I’d always wanted to make a miniature film and you’re not going to find anything which looks cooler than these insects,” said James.

The film boasted a cast of thousands, including scorpions, giant moths, poisonous spiders, hissing cockroaches, noisy crickets and the aforementioned praying mantis, who was nicknamed Woody in reference to his apparent likeness to Woody Allen.

“Unfortunately Woody died on set,” said James, 32, who had to overcome a dormant fear of all things insect just a few days before filming commenced. “We had to use a stunt Woody for the last days of filming.