Grimace
I met Jacqui Bellamy in 1994 and we talked about her existential film idea - a woman plagued by ideas of identity and relationship - The nausea of everyday life. I liked the idea and Jacqui's sensitivity to it.
I saw the fifties mis en scene as a challenge and Jacqui had undertaken a lot of research into prop sources. The hardest challenge was finding a café that would satisfy our large crew and cast for 6 nights. We found a café in the nick of time - The Montessa on Infirmiary Rd opposite what is now 'Tesco'. This was attached to young men's hostel and they were all very excited about the film and many appeared in it as 1950's extras. The film was a lot of hard work shooting at night. Our borrowed production vehicle was crashed when two production assistants went off house hunting two days before the shoot. One of Jacqui's friends came to our rescue and insisted on doing all the crew and cast pick ups. Great! Marks and Spencer's provided gourmet food - more than we could eat and everyone was very happy. Sharon Aldridge and Jon Wilson shot and Farhad Ahrarnia art directed ably assisted by Deborah Pullan/Kelly. A memorable shoot with fab editing and sound track. Screened at the cine-women Festival in Norwich 1998. Most of the props were skip finds or borrowed from fifties specialist shops or the burger restaurant at Meadowhall!
Stills by Farhad Ahrarnia.
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