‘Open Country’ releases at Exeter Phoenix Two Short Nights

Exeter Pheonix south west short film commission Open Country will premiere at Two Short Nights in Exeter on the 17th February.

The film features Jamie Robson alongside Cornwall actors Jowan Jacobs, Jenny Beare and Jack Brownridge-Kelly.

Featuring powerful and nuanced performances from the lead roles, Open Country explores a tense relationship between cousins as they attempt to find common ground with each other following a death in the family. The script and film was shaped and written through workshopping with the principle cast ahead of production.
 
Jamie Robson's previous credits include the BAFTA winning My Loneliness is Killing Me (2018), the Aftersun director Charlotte Wells' Sundance nominated Blue Christmas (2017) and Ross A. Wilson's upcoming project, Archivia (2023). Robson also stars in Jonny Dry's BFI NETWORK short film Mackling, produced by Ella Turner and written by Callum Mitchell, later in 2023.

Jowan Jacobs’ credits stretch across both film and theatre, most notably as Hugo Leigh in Mark Jenkin’s BAFTA winning feature film Bait (2019), as well as theatre work with Wildworks, The Minack Theatre and Coppice Theatre.

Jenny Beare’s work includes film credits Sensibility (2022) and Mark Jenkin’s Happy Christmas (2011) as well as theatre work with the Minack, Kneehigh, Goldentree, Wildworks, O-Region and wider artistic, musical, and storytelling work with the likes of Eden Project and Tate St Ives.

Jack Brownridge-Kelly makes his first step into film work, bringing an extensive background in theatre, with credits including The Minack and Ha-Hum-Ah’s production of Carl Grose’s Superstition Mountain (2022), Titus Andronicus (2018), Twelfth Night (2018) at the Globe Theatre and The Velveteen Rabbit (2019).

René Huwaë, Director of Photography on An Tarow (2020) returns as a frequent collaborator to shoot the film, with Ella Turner as Art Director and Associate Producer.

The film completed production in September 2022 in West Penwith, Cornwall thanks to the support of individuals, local groups and organisations, including the Lafrowda Hall in St Just, the male vocal choir Boilerhouse, Cornwall Camera Company, Bosena, Ha-Hum-Ah and Falmouth University Film of School and Television.