A short film which is centred around the Manx experience of patient transfer trips for cancer treatment is due to be filmed.
Local filmmaking duo Dark Avenue Film have made the film based on the director’s experience.
Patrick Crellin accompanied his mum to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in 2007 while she underwent radiotherapy for breast cancer, he was only 10-years-old at the time.
Through his production company and with his cofounder Bethany White, he has adapted the memory of the trip into a 30-minute short film called Shutter Speed.
Manx Patients
The film follows an upbeat mother Fi and her photography-obsessed daughter Una, and while the trip starts off like a holiday, Una soon becomes curious about her mum’s treatment.
The trip brings them closer together, both through open conversation about the disease and through Una’s insightful photos of her mother.
Partly filmed on island, the film will feature Chris Killip’s ‘Isle of Man’ book in a key bonding moment for mother and daughter, as well as a version of the Young Photographer of Mann competition where the character’s photographs are showcased in the story.
Emmy and BAFTA winner Dearbhla Walsh is an executive producer on the film.
Positive Story
Aiming to show a positive story of cancer on screen, as an antidote to the majority of feature films which depict a cancer diagnosis as fatal despite 50% of those diagnosed now surviving thanks to lifesaving research.
The project is now crowdfunding for its remaining budget on Kickstarter.
Offering rewards such as seeing the film early, prints of Una’s photos or even visiting the set, the team are excited to present a Manx story to the world through universal themes of family, humour and navigating illness.
Read more about the project, share and donate to the Kickstarter here.
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