Yoliswa von Dallwitz | DoP

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Shell

2011 / 1:2,35 / HD Alexa / 90min 

Regie
Scott Graham

Produktion
Margaret Matheson, Bard Entertainments Limited und David Smith, Brocken Spectre

Co-Produzent
Flying Moon, ZDF, Spielfilm

CAST
Cloe Pirrie, Michael Smiley, Joseph Mawle, Ian De Caestecker, Kate Dickie, Morven Christie

Preise

  • Bester Film (20.000 €) im Spielfilmwettbewerb des 30. Torino Film Festival 2012, Turin, Italien
  • Nominierung für das außerordentliche Debüt von Scott Graham bei BAFTA! 2013, Großbritannien
  • Nominierung für UK Critics’ Circle Breakthrough Award, Großbritannien
  • Cloe Pirrie Gewinner des „Most Promising Newcomer“ beim British Independent Film Awards 2013
  • Cloe Pirrie nominiert als eine von BAFTA Breakthrough Brits of 2013
  • Gewinner des „Best Film“ at Santiago Film Festival Chile, 2013
  • Gewinner des „Best First Film“ beim Brussels Film Fest, Belgien 2013
  • The European Award beim Zlin Film Festival, Tschechien 2013

Festivals

  • Film Festival de San Sebastian, Spanien 2012 / Sektion New Director
  • Busan International Film Festival in Süd Korea
  • 56th BFI Film Festival London, Großbritannien 2012
  • Brighton Film Festival, Großbritannien, 21.11.2012
  • Glasgow Film Festival, Großbritannien, 15.03.2012
  • Filmfestival Linz, Wettbewerb 2013
  • Cinema Corso beim Mosaico d’Europa Film Festival in Ravenna, Italien 2013
  • Im britischen Kino (15.03.2013), DVD Start Juli 2013

Manning a practically-disused service station in the remotest highlands of Scotland, Shell (beautiful performance by Chloe Pirrie ) lives with only her broken-down mechanic father (Joseph Mawle) for company, yet her warmth radiates out to keep Shell on the map.

Shell gives the viewer much to digest; visually, it’s a completely unexpected take on the Scottish highlands and often brilliantly so. Through Yoliswa Gartig’s crisp camera, the pale blues and icy moonlight are cut through with moments of flashing scrub to make Shell seem otherworldly, not even Scottish. Added to the howling wind – a considerable achievement for soundman Chris Campion, given the elements – it’s enough to send a shiver down your spine. Sometimes we don’t see a car for a week in winter, Shell says, and you can believe it.

Shell is pale too, abandoned by her mother when she was four and homeshooled by her father. All is clearly not right in Shell’s world, but she’s intrinsically a bright soul who has an effect on everyone she encounters. Pete, meanwhile, is taciturn, damaged, an epileptic who is terrified of physical warmth, perhaps for good reason. He repairs cars which are involved in frequent accidents in the area, often due to collisions with the local deer.

This leaves Shell alone to deal with the attentions of local loners when all she really wants is her dad. Perhaps too much.

Screendaily