"We were incredibly lucky" - An interview with Kieran Freemantle
A drone swoops down over the Shetland Isles, taking in the stunning scenery. Except it’s not the Shetland Isles, it’s the Clee Hills in Shropshire, and all is not well. A young woman has just escaped from a secret facility on the island and is now searching for a way home.
In our review for Just a Girl, the latest short film from Kieran Freemantle, we noted how effectively the Shropshire and Hereford locales were used to represent the Scottish archipelago. Speaking to Kieran over Zoom, he highlights the excellent work done by location manager Elisaveta Abrahall in finding the ideal shooting spots.
“There was talk about shooting in Scotland but, unfortunately the budget meant we couldn’t make this happen,” he said. “But the rural setting was very important to the piece. We always see these dystopian scenarios taking place in cities. I really wanted to explore how these world-changing events would affect life away from that.”
In Just a Girl an unspecified plague has wiped out the female population – Kieran points to Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and the comic book series Y: The Last Man as influences for this – and our lead, Katie (Lydia Fitzwilliams), is one of the few survivors, held in the Shetland facility to start repopulation.
“I had the idea in early 2020, when we all had a little bit more time on our hands,” Kieran said. “When I met the producer Yasmine Alice, we were able to start putting the pieces together. We completed the shoot in June last year.”
Fitzwilliams does an excellent job of portraying the complex emotions the central conceit brings about. Conflicted about leaving the facility (and the bloodshed it requires) at the start but also desperate for her own autonomy.
“It was so important to get the casting right for Katie because she really is central to the film,” Kieran said. “Honestly, we were incredibly lucky during the casting process and were blessed with some truly excellent actors who auditioned. But Lydia stood out because she was so passionate about the role.”
Alongside Fitzwilliams, is Olly Bassi who plays Jack. An isolated farmer still grieving for his wife and daughter. After finding Katie alone and injured on the island, Jack takes her back to his farm. “I’d always envisioned the character of Jack as older, gruffer,” Kieran explained. “But when Olly auditioned, he brought this fatherly feeling to the role that fit perfectly.”
Given that these are two strangers meeting in an authoritarian future – and one of them being a woman who is being hunted for her reproductive capabilities – it wouldn’t have been surprising to see more tension between the characters. Kieran explains that there had been plans for the leads to be warier of each other, but the performances of Fitzwilliams and Bassi changed this a little.
“It was pretty clear early on that there wasn’t going to be an extended period of mistrust in the film,” he added. “And we made a few adjustments during the shoot to clarify that Jack has good intentions.”
One of these moments happens just after Katie wakes up at Jack’s farm. After telling her that she can use the shower, and find some fresh clothes, Katie believes that he wants something, and Jack is quick to point out that he isn’t interested in that. “That was Yasmine’s idea to add that line,” he said.
True to Kieran’s intentions to show a dystopian future in a quieter, more character-driven way, Just a Girl ends on a question. Its open-ended narrative leaves us wondering what will happen to the characters. “There’s obviously scope for a follow-up, and I’d love to develop the story further,” he added.
However, he added that he’s keen to work on smaller products for the moment and has a few ideas that he’s working on while Just a Girl plays the festival circuit, where it has already been awarded Best Drama at the Rome Women Film Festival back in May this year.
Check out more info on Just A Girl at https://www.bastetproductions.com
Matthew Tilt
Twitter @Matthew_Tilt
