Robyn Malcolm has been recognised for her performance in After the Party. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Robyn Malcolm has won a best actress award at a film festival in France.
Malcolm won the award, in the International Panorama section, at the Séries Mania Film Festival in Lille.
She was recognised for her performance in After the Party, a series she co-created with writer Dianne Taylor.
It was the first time an entry from New Zealand had been considered for an award at the festival.
Malcolm said it was a proud moment after she decided 10 years ago to stay in Aotearoa because she was committed to telling New Zealand stories.
"We're a long way away and you really feel that when you're in a festival in the middle of France. You feel a long way away.
"But the fact that that story connected - and it really connected to predominantly French people who were watching it - just made New Zealand feel really close. So it was wonderful, wonderful."
After the Party follows Penny, played by Malcolm, who accuses her husband Phil of a sex crime against a teenager - but no one believes her.
The festival described Malcolm and her co-star Peter Mullan as an "incredible pair" who "deliver a remarkable story about the weight of accusation and truth".
Malcolm said the award has motivated her to create more stories to connect with different audiences.
"This kind of recognition is just proof that the story and the show connected," she said.
"So that's what's driving us now, is that we're going 'OK, so, what are some other stories that we can tell that will have meaning for us and for an audience?'"
Cuts being made in the film and TV industry would make it even harder to tell those stories, she said.
