Now, this is a bit special.
Laura Bayston, co-founder, actor and producer behind Cheltenham-based production company, Jackalor Films, has written, produced and co-starred in an astonishing new short film, Old Windows.
The highly-anticipated film is by prolific filmmaker Paul Holbrook, an award-winning writer/director and proud working-class Bristolian, born and bred in Hartcliffe. It's a subtle and sophisticated 17-minute follow-up to his world-dominating previous films Hungry Joe and Hollow (winner of best cinematography at Rhode Island) which he is currently submitting to film festivals worldwide, with its world premiere already locked in at the BIFA-Qualifying Manchester Film Festival this March.
The tenderly-written film, which is shot through with an understated menace just barely bubbling beneath the surface, also stars Gavin & Stacey’s Larry Lamb as Harry. The powerful role, that he was simply born to play, is backed up by the phenomenal talents of Laura, a natural and gifted actor who is mesmerising on screen. The film, set in the 1990s with a colour palette that perfectly reflects both the setting and era, tells the story of a struggling café owner whose mundane life is upended when a mysterious gentleman comes in for tea and cake.
'Harry's like a character I've kind of known all my life,' says Laura, 'he's a mish-mash of lots of different people I knew growing up as a kid. I feel like the 90s was on the edge of something new, and Harry's coming back into the world as a man very much tied to the late 50s and 60s... he's coming into this new generation, and it doesn't sit well with him.'
The film was shot by emerging director of photography James Oldham, and was backed by the fledgling, female-fronted production company Jackalor films, with producers Jackie Howard and Laura Bayston at the helm.
Instagram: @paulholbrookfilm; @laurabayston1; @jackalorfilms; @larrylambofficial
Twitter: @holbrook99; @LauraJBayston; @JackalorFilms; @larrylamb47
Facebook: @OldWindowsShortFilm
