The first feature film to be shot and set in Bristol for 60 years has premiered in the city - and is now expanding to other cinemas across the country.
The Fence was made by 27-year-old film-maker Will Stone and filmed and set in Hartcliffe last August, and is now becoming something of a sleeper hit in cinemas. It was due to show for a week at Showcase in Cabot Circus and Avonmeads, but has proved so popular that screenings there have been extended into a third week.
The movie was a feature-length version of a short film made by Will, inspired by stories from his father about growing up in Hartcliffe in the 1980s. It follows a teenager trying to get his stolen motorbike back, and stars David Perkins and This Country's Paul Cooper.
Read more: Hotly anticipated film about Bristol council estate completes shoot
On Friday (September 16) there will be one-off screenings nationally, at Showcase cinemas in Leeds, Paisley, Reading, Dudley, Derby, Southampton and Cardiff. Cineworld Hengrove has now picked the film up and will also be screening from Friday.
Will's short film version of The Fence racked up 4.3 million views on YouTube and he secured a six-figure sum in funding - a shoe-string budget for a feature film - to make the full-length version of ten days last August.
Making the movie in and around South Bristol caused something of a stir, with hundreds of people signing up to be extras or help out in making the film. Will, who now lives in Whitchurch after living in Hartcliffe until he was 11, was overwhelmed by the response to a call out for people to get involved.
"The film's based on my old man," said the former St Bernadette school pupil when talking to Bristol Live last year about turning the short film into a feature-length movie. "My dad grew up in Hartcliffe and had these wacky stories from the 70s and 80s which I thought were hilarious.
“He is basically, more or less, the main character, with a bit of his brother and some of his friends mixed in. My motivation was really about connecting with my dad’s life. He’s one of my idols, and I look up to him and love him very much. He’s had a very different life to me.”
The short film, just 20 minutes long, followed a teenager determined to get his stolen motorbike back. It’s a simple but charming story, with a sharpness of comic timing unusual for a student film.
Will shot it on a shoestring £2,000 budget on an estate in Salisbury, while studying film at Bournemouth University. Soundtracked by classics from The Beat and The Pogues, The Fence conjured a 1980s Hartcliffe, a world of ska suspenders and punch-ups. Will had modest hopes when he posted the short on Youtube in 2018 – but it reached a million views in six months.
Now the feature-length film has been made and released, it is causing a stir around the country.
It's still in the cinemas now and the aim is for the movie to then go on an online streaming site - they have secured an online distribution deal with a company that will approach the big streaming sites on their behalf.
Will said: "I'm fairly confident that this is the first Bristol based feature film since 'Some People' back in 1962! There have been lots of film productions in the city, but almost none of them are actually set in Bristol and/or about people from Bristol."
Around 90 per cent of the film was shot in south Bristol. Although set in Hartcliffe, only a few scenes were filmed there — one in Millennium Green and a couple of driving scenes around the estate. Other locations included Whitchurch, Stockwood, Keynsham, Warmley, Cadbury Heath and Radstock.
Will added: "Most of the filming was outside and on location. We didn't have the budget for studio space or builds so we relied on real locations. When location-scouting, we found quite a lot of people knew about the project already, even just knocking on random people's doors. That was really encouraging, to know it was getting around."
The excitement around the film brought challenges too, with more than 2,000 people coming forward after Bristol Live published Will's appeal for locals to apply for cast or crew roles.
"We had to hire a casting director to help trawl through all the applications," said Will. "People were really keen to be part of it and it was quite disappointing there was no way we could involve everyone. We didn't think the response would be so massive. But I wouldn't take anything back. I'd rather have that problem than not enough. interest.
"We couldn't have made the film without people's generosity. The two main motorbikes used in the film were just given to us by the owners, who said, 'Let us know when you're done.' The bikes were from the 70s or 80s. We had to look after those very carefully.
"Pubs and social clubs helped us out a lot. They either didn't charge us, or charged very little. Notable spots were the Sartan Club in Hartcliffe, The Harvester Pub in Stockwood, Hungerford Social Club in Brislington and a mostly empty set of houses in Warmley owned by a development company called Bromford.
"We had a bit of a disaster trying to secure a house interior which looked right for the era. Our original one fell through two weeks before filming, so we went on Rightmove and called a bunch of agents. We found a gentleman who let us film in his recently deceased mum's house, which had a very dated decor. It was super lovely of him to let us do that. He said his mum 'would have loved the idea'."
Will was proud that of more than 50 speaking parts, the vast majority were filled by actors from Bristol or surrounding areas. He added: "I think what we’ve achieved with our micro-budget is hard to rival. Every penny is up on the screen where it should be and I truly believe this is one of those few little Indie films that has the potential to break the mould and surprise people."
Read next:
The A to Z of Hartcliffe - 26 (and more) things that put the heart into the 'Cliffe
The amazing doctor who dedicated his life to the people of Hartcliffe finally retires
Corrie legend and two local kids bring movie magic to Hartcliffe
The £8m South Bristol Youth Zone - 'world class' or 'black hole'?
To keep up-to-date with the latest South Bristol news, join our community of subscribers with my South Bristol newsletter here.
