A talented young Coatbridge filmmaker has put the spotlight on his home town as he brings the curtain down on his debut feature film.
Alan Main shot experimental movie True Sickness in his home, Monklands’ West End Park and Dunbeth Park and Bargeddie as he hailed the area as “full of perfect locations”.
The 22-year-old spent a year working on the production, which started life as a short film, and is now preparing the finished product for applications to film festivals this summer.
Independent filmmaker Alan also stars as lead character The Dreamer and wrote the script with friend Cameron Blyth’s help.
True Sickness is a study of mental health and features Alan’s protagonist waking from a nightmare questioning if it was a dream or a warning.
Forced into violence, he finds himself in a “depraved, distorted world of self-reflection and journeys to the deep nature of who he is truly is”.
Former Coatbridge High School pupil Alan told Lanarkshire Live : “The film deals with challenging and provocative aspects of mental illness, which I thought would be an interesting story to write about.
“The plot only features one character throughout the entire film, which I believe is a totally unique and creative new voice in filmmaking.
“The film lasts an hour and 15 minutes. It started out as a short movie which we shot during heavy snow last February.
“We thought it was looking really good so decided to shoot more stuff and add to the story, which led to it becoming feature length.
“I am very happy with the finished film. I think it’s truly original and I’m very proud of it.”
Alan didn’t have far to travel to shoot the production as he took advantage of his close surroundings.
He explained: “Most of the production was filmed in my house, using a lot of different rooms.
“We also shot in West End Park and Dunbeth Park and there was a bridge in Bargeddie that provided a great back drop for certain scenes.
“I had a very small crew and while I starred in the film, and directed it, my friends Harry Sharpe, Cameron Blyth and David McKnight helped with the music, photography and the production side of things.
“In terms of the story, I wrote notes and got Cameron to decipher them and put them into script form.
“I have done a few short films in the past but this was my first feature-length production.
“The amount of work that goes into putting a movie together is incredible and while it was tough going, it was well worth it in the end.”
Alan has had a “strong passion” for film since his late teens, beginning with a life-changing viewing experience.
He said: “I have become obsessed with filmmaking as I’ve gotten older; I started to take it really seriously when I was 17 as I was doing my Highers at school and wasn’t sure what to do with myself.
“I used to get up early in the morning before school and watch movies. One day I put on Once Upon a Time in America and I was absolutely blown away.
“The film was absolutely beautiful to look at and from there I thought, ‘I want to do this’.
“I attended Glasgow Clyde College’s Cardonald campus, where I studied HND creative industries and television from 2018 to 2020.”
Alan is now hoping to share True Sickness with as wide an audience as possible as he prepares to submit it to film festivals.
He said: “The film will be completely finished in a couple of weeks and I am looking to apply to film festivals later this month.
“Hopefully it will get picked up as that would be absolutely fantastic, but we’ll see what happens.”
Regardless of the success of his festival applications, Alan is already turning his creative eye to his next project.
He added: “I have the taste for filmmaking now and I’m going through the process of applying for a Prince’s Trust grant.
“I am filming the first two scenes of my next movie in August and hopefully, if I can raise the funding, plan to finish it early next year.
“It will also be shot in Coatbridge as it’s full of perfect locations.”
To find out more information on Alan and his work, including behind-the-scenes shots from the True Sickness production, follow @playmainfilms on Instagram.
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