A film shot on location in the Lake District and starring local actors is to go on public release.
The Raven on the Jetty, made by One Day Films, will be screened initially at Zeffirellis in Ambleside on May 18, The Royalty, Bowness on Windermere on Thursday May 28, and The Roxy, Ulverston on Thursday June 4.
The film, made during 2013 near Penrith and around Ullswater, was shown last year at Keswick Film Festival and has since been screened at festivals across the globe.
It tells the story of a boy called Thomas who, on his ninth birthday, travels with his mother to visit his estranged father. Since an acrimonious divorce, he has abandoned urban living in favour of an isolated rural life in the Lake District.
The bitter separation of his parents is not something Thomas understands, nor does he understand his own dysfunctional behaviour as a silent cry for help. As a native city boy of the digital age, Thomas’s encounter with the natural world, and his gradual understanding of the connection he provides for his lonely parents, leads to realisation and discovery. There are things his parents don’t know about each other that only he can reveal. Perhaps he has the power and the means to change everything.
A 12 year old boy, Connor O’Hara, from Ulverston, plays the boy, Thomas. His father, Rob O’Hara, plays the part of the father, with Helen Teasdale from Carlisle as his mother. Other roles were played by Anne Fraser from Ambleside and Anne Lees from Kendal. The director, Eric Knudsen, was keen to work with non-professionals from the area where the film was set.
Connor has been part of community theatre productions since the age of six. He also sings and plays the trumpet, and has won awards for music and singing. His father Rob, a former maths teacher, has also been involved in community theatre for many years.
Shooting took place during the Easter holidays in 2013. The whole cast and crew lived in a couple of cottages near the primary locations. “This allowed for a communal feel to the production process and was an efficient way of organising the shoot,” says Knudsen. “It meant that the principal photography took only two weeks, in part because the production was blessed with uncharacteristically good weather.”
The film is also being distributed online at theravenonthejetty.com, iTunes and Google Play.
A signed and numbered Limited Edition Production Scrapbook and DVD is also available. The book is the story of the film, scene by scene, and includes the complete final screenplay and the DVD of the film.
One Day Films Limited is committed to the production and distribution of quality, thought-provoking independent films and has produced a number of creative documentaries and feature films. Past funding partners have included the Danish Film Institute, Channel Four Television, the EU’s Media Programme, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Arts Council England North West and a number of private investors.
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