Showing this Sunday, January 29 at 5:30pm at the Kino is the newly released dark thriller, My One and Only, followed by a Q&A with the director, Jonathan Murphy and producer, Natasha Murphy.
Shot in Aldwick, near Bognor Regis, Hastings, Rye, Rye Harbour and Winchelsea, (although most is set inside), it is the story of Laura, a single woman shattered by the ending of her relationship with a married man, Ben. To get back at him, Laura starts to date Noah, who she meets on a dating app, whilst at the same time continuing to contact, in fact, stalk her ex-lover. Noah, in his turn, begins to stalk Laura and events take a dangerous and sinister turn. It is “a cautionary tale in not letting go of a relationship that the other party does not want”.
The screenplay, written by Jonathan Murphy, is based on a 2012 Radio 4 play of the same name, written by Dawn King. Jonathan says: “I loved the twists and turns of the plot and thought it would make a very interesting suspense film.” With Dawn King’s blessing, Jonathan wrote a screenplay, whilst living in Brazil, and directed a Portuguese language Brazilian version, Laura, in 2018. On returning to the UK, Jonathan and Natasha set about producing an English version of the film.
The film features Melissa Woodbridge (Laura), Simon Slater (Ben and composer of the score) and Dan March (Noah), all of whom have appeared extensively on stage and screen, as well as Rye’s very own Sagar Arya (Kamal). Interestingly, most of the actors never met as the film was shot almost entirely with one actor per scene.
Jonathan Murphy began his career in the 1990s making adverts for TV, going on the make programmes for Sky, BBC and Channel 4, as well as directing short films with his company, Union Content. The reaction to My One and Only has been very positive. “We have attended quite a few screenings at various festivals that the film had been selected for. A lot of the audience that we spoke to seem to connect with one or other of the protagonists either by having been in a situation like that or knowing someone who had been in a relationship that could easily have ended up like one of those in the film. It will have a limited release in independent cinemas in the UK. Also, a limited release in some other select countries and then it will be on one of the streamers, which is still in negotiation.”
Finding the backing and finance for independent films is always a challenge. “It is never easy to get independent films off the ground: money is always very tight so one has to persevere and complete the project one stage at a time. Once the actors and locations are in place you work out how you are going to pay for that part with the money you have raised. Then once you have shot the film you work out how you are going to pay for the edit and post-production with what is left, and then try to raise some more finance to finish the film,” Jonathan says.
In the future, there are plans for another project relevant to the area and dealing with a topical theme. “We have several other films in various stages of development. One is about a young migrant girl arriving on a packed dinghy across the channel. She manages to evade the border force and is kept safe and out of the authorities’ grasp by local children who live on the south coast, so that will all be filmed locally (currently looking for finance in case anyone is interested!).”
Independent film makers have always played an important role in the history of film, telling thought-provoking stories of the human experience and it is exciting that we are able to support a local film maker.
Image Credits: Union Content , Hugo Takeuchi .