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Farewell She Goes is a late 18th century story about two young women who sneak away from their strict stately home existence to lay their pet canary to rest.
One white, one mixed race; these are cousins bonded by more than blood. Stood at the cusp of the ocean, it soon transpires that one of them is pregnant, and they contemplate what should be done.
WHY DO WE WANT TO TELL THIS STORY?
Our vision for Farewell She Goes was born from, and inspired by, the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804). Dido was born to an enslaved African woman and white naval officer who sent her to be raised alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray in England. As the two women grew up side by side and shunned racial conventions, they defied society and formed a unique bond. This, to us, is where the intrigue lies.
For years, women in film have poured the tea, kissed the lips and been talked at by men. Now, finally, they've started talking (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, FLEABAG, BOOKSMART). We are creating a film that seeks to help this wave of change grow to a tsunami.
This is a story where two women, their intricacies and complexities as individuals, and their relationship with the world and with each other is unashamedly and deservedly the sole focus. This being a friendship between a white and a mixed-race woman, with their lives inextricably linked, is something that we still seldom see in a modern context - let alone a period film.
The period drama genre has seen waves of interest in the past year, but still black women are relegated to playing the maid; a footnote in the history books. Not only is this factually incorrect - for wealthy, independent women of colour existed, as evidenced in the historical reality of Dido Elizabeth Belle - but it is a disservice to the inclusive and expansive stories that we could be telling.
The heart of this story is a friendship between two women, grappling with life changing circumstances, whose secrets lie at the bottom of the ocean and whose hearts lie with each other.
The plan is to submit Farewell She Goes to as many international film festivals as possible. Once the initial film festival run is complete, we plan to bring the film to art houses and streaming platforms around the globe. A feature length script is already in development and we plan to use this short as a proof of concept to gain sufficient financial support to shoot the feature-length version.
Our goal is to use this film, not only as a beautiful and poetic story to inspire and empower women globally, but to raise awareness, support and funding for women's rights. We will be partnering with a women's organisation to host a Gala event in London in 2021 in which we screen the film, invite influential individuals and organisations and raise both money and awareness for our partnered charity and the many many women who need it.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR
A couple of months ago a friend posted on Facebook
‘Anyone got any films about female friendship you’d recommend?’
I stopped and thought about it for a while. Which films were there that I could suggest, that were entirely about female friendship? Not at all to do with a man? The Bechdel test reared its head and challenged me. Pitifully, I could think of very few mainstream films that do follow this. When Isabella and Cat approached me with FAREWELL SHE GOES, I was delighted to read a script that really was purely about female friendship. This doesn’t mean it’s all happiness and sunshine, of course, because that’s not what female friendship is. Even in this brief window into the world of our two protagonists, we see love, frustration and admiration play out in full. These are rounded characters with flaws, and they are all the better for it.
Through the metaphor of what to do with the ill-fated canary, these women consider the illegitimate pregnancy at hand and what should be done. This too appealed to me, as it is a conversation we still comparatively rarely see on screen. Whether to have a child or not is still presented as a fairly clear choice: if you are married, do, if you are not, do not. But when there is life growing inside of you, this is surely not such a simple decision to make. In putting these issues through a period drama lens, I actually feel that Isabella and Cat have made them feel even more pertinent, by highlighting how little has changed over the centuries, and how we still need to lift the stigma on such topics.
I’m hugely excited by the potential to bring a modern and authored directorial approach to the film. I want to push myself to make bold choices and take the audience on an emotional roller coaster.
I hope that FAREWELL SHE GOES will inspire many other future filmmakers, female or not, to consider how drama does not have to be centred around a romantic relationship, and that period dramas in particular do not all have to be about discussing the best potential suitor over afternoon tea.
THE TEAM
Sophie King - Director
Sophie is a BFI Net.Work x BAFTA Crew listed director and NFTS graduate. Her shorts have been shown at numerous BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals worldwide including Encounters, Underwire and St Louis, and have been distributed on primetime US television, Amazon and iTunes.
Her latest film, SWAN, stars Mark Addy and was produced as part of the Uncertain Kingdom scheme. Released by Verve Pictures, it will tour cinemas nationwide in 2020.
Ann Evelin Lawford - Cinematographer
Anne Evelin is an award winning Dutch cinematographer, currently based in London. She is a lover of fine art, the sublimity of nature, supporter of mental health, an environmentalist and humanist, and adores the eternal qualities and textures of film. She has shot projects for Channel 4, BBC, Nike, Burberry and Mulberry amongst others. Her training in artist film makes Ann Evelin the perfect fit to bring an extra dimension and painterly feel to our film.
Claire Tailyour - Writer
Claire is an award winning writer of documentary and drama. She studied at USC School of Cinematic Arts. She is a BAFTA Crew member, a Sundance International Scriptwriter Semi-finalist ’15, and a Semi-finalist for The Academy Awards’ Nicholl Fellowship ’08 for her feature script TURNPIKE. Claire was a Producer at the BBC for many years before leaving in 2013 to set up her own production company Slackwire Films whose first commission was the steampunk sci-fi Ruby's Skin starring John Bowe (THE HOUR, SILENT WITNESS, CORONATION STREET) and Olivia Cooke (ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, BATES MOTEL).
Savannah Power - Producer
Savannah started in factual TV docs before producing her first feature, Ilkley, soon to be released. She has produced and line produced numerous shorts and commercials, working on a BBC proof of concept with Elation pictures, and more recently with Pulse Films, Radical Media and with the Uncertain Kingdom scheme producing one of their 20 short films entitled SWAN. She is also a producer alongside Helen Simmons and Stephanie Aspin for Erebus Pictures who are developing numerous film and television project with a whole host of various directors and writers.
Backscatter Productions Ltd
Backscatter Productions is an award winning, female-led production company that stands as a platform for new and diverse voices in the film industry. Set up in 2018, they produced two short films in 2019, their first, Clementines, has gone on to achieve global success at festivals winning multiple awards.
LOCATION
The Jurrasic coast in Dorset will form the backdrop of the film. The Jurrasic coast is an area of outstanding beauty with its dramatic cliffs, rolling trails and sandy beaches. Lulworth Cove, Kimmeridge Bay, Durdle Door and Chesil Beach are possibilities. There are no towns between Swanage and Weymouth so the coastline is almost entirely untouched, with beautiful deserted bays and caves.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Each shot will be perfectly composed in a painterly and almost stylised way, with softly lit figures precisely balanced in the frame, often surrounded by vast beautiful scenery. This represents how society often sees these women as beautiful objects within a painting, and yet it is this expectation of constant composed perfection that traps them.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Now we need your help to turn our idea into reality. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has only further illuminated the relevance and importance of making films like this, with daily news about rising violence against women as they are trapped at home, access to abortion becoming harder than ever and BAME people being disproportionately affected across the world. Clearly, the themes and issues of this film are as pertinent and under-explored today as they were centuries ago.
Whilst Covid-19 has somewhat affected production plans, we still intend to shoot in September 2020.
Setting the film in the 18th Century means that the shoot will need meticulous attention to detail. Costume, production design and script supervision will need to be accurate and stylish. Securing the right beach will be integral in achieving the moody, dramatic aesthetic to reflect the highly charged themes in the film. Ensuring accommodation and travel for our crew whilst on location, will also be a significant but essential cost.
All of the donors will, of course, be a huge part of the outcome and we are truly grateful for every single one of you that believes in this project.
Take a look below to see a breakdown of how our budget will be spent:
Risks and challenges
Of course there will always be challenges and risks when undertaking a film project. We are shooting on the beach so it will be crucial to risk assess the area thoroughly. We will need very good insurance as well as meticulous preparation. The landscape is a hugely important part of our film; it is almost the third character, with the moody Jurassic coast and crashing waves telling the story in a unique and enticing manner. In this sense, we are committed to caring for the environment and doing all that we possibly can to work responsibly. It is integral to this story and our caring for it will reflect that. The shoot will take place in one location which will minimise the need to travel, thus reducing our carbon footprint. We will transport all cast and crew using public transport. Where a car is necessary, such as for transporting equipment, we will use car-shares.
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