Indie Film of the Month: London to Brighton

Believe it or not, independent film production in Britain is going through something of a purple patch. Following Andrea Arnold's excellent BAFTA sweeping Red Road, this month sees the release of Paul Andrew Williams' award-winning directorial debut, London to Brighton. A thrilling slice of British realism, it has deservedly scooped awards at the Edinburgh, Raindance and Dinard film festivals. Remarkably, it achieved this with a budget of just £800,000.

The film tracks a day in the life of low-rent prostitute Kelly (Lorraine Stanley) and 11 year-old runaway Joanne (Georgia Groome), fleeing to Brighton to save their lives. Having become involved in a fatal sexual transaction with a millionaire, they are pursued by his son Stuart (Sam Spruell) and Kelly's pimp, Derek (Johnny Harris). It's the kind of taut drama which the British Film Industry seems to have virtually abandoned in favour of more commercially viable Britcoms.

Writer/ director Williams developed the story from his 2001 short Royalty and decided to make the film independently, knowing the dark subject matter was unlikely to secure major backing. "One of the producers helped raise the money through his friends", says Williams of funding the project. "That was the way I wanted to do it as there was no outside influence on the film at all."

The flip side of true independence is damn hard graft, as he discovered when shooting the film. "You'd have a situation where you've got a page and a half of the script to shoot in 45 minutes because you couldn't have the location for any longer," he remembers. "I mean, the last day was a 15 hour night shoot but everyone was really behind it."

Williams didn't allow the tight shooting schedule to impinge on the look of the film; the often handheld, subjective aesthetic perfectly matching the narrative and sharp pacing. "I wanted the camera to appear like it was right there, the way we see things," he says. "We don't see things on a 35 mill frame and I wanted to absorb people into this world."

Budgetary restrictions were not a consideration for the filmmaker when casting the film, having decided to re-cast Stanley and Harris in their original roles from Royalty. Stanley delivers a performance of real conviction as the morally conflicted Kelly, turning tricks as a means of raising the cash required to escape with Joanne. Devoid of saccharine laced Hollywood morality, the pair have an incredible dynamic and a tangible will to survive.

While it's unlikely to break box office records, London to Brighton is a rare treat these days, being a well-crafted, convincing and enthralling British thriller. Williams has already graduated to bigger things, with £2 million budget dark comedy The Cottage scheduled for release next year. If the determined and talented director can fulfil the promise of his debut, he's set to become one of our industry's leading lights.