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Production News
GERMANY CALLING!
How the film industry rallied round James Breese as
he brought Benjamin’s Struggle to the big screen. If single-mindedness and sheer persistence are the yardsticks, then Breese’s filmmaking
career is very firmly on track.
A fter cajoling almost every corner of the British film
industry, from film stock and equipment companies to top talent fore-and-aft of camera,
writer/producer/director Breese’s ambitious new British short drama is not just in the can but also about to be world premiered.
Set in the mid-30s, Benjamin’s Struggle tells the fascinating ‘what-if’ story of a nine-year-old Jewish boy’s attempt to topple the Third Reich by stealing the original manuscript for Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
Breese, 32, perhaps better known as the presenter of popular TV shows like Everything Must Go and The Life Laundry, has long been fascinated, if appalled, at the idea of people collect- ing Nazi memorabilia and so decided to parlay this into the plot for his lat- est film, a kind of cautionary tale.
No stranger to filmmaking having already made a BIFA-nominated short (My Funny Valentine, with John Hurt) and some commercials, Breese has pretty much poured all his own resources into the 17-minute Benjamin’s Struggle, which he hopes will act as the perfect ‘audition’ for a feature-length version in due course.
From taking out an unsecured bank loan and channelling his fees from TV and a weekly Sunday Mirror column on antiques to selling his cher- ished “top end” Harley Davidson motorbike, almost Breese’s entire focus has been quite literally getting the film on screen.
And the support, he admits, has been remarkable with the likes of Lee Lighting, Panavision and Fujifilm help- ing make his dream an elegant reality with resulting production values way beyond the scale of his actual resources.
He, co-producer Rebecca Tranter, DP Stephen Brand, a long-time Breese collaborator (invaluably mentored on this project by Sue Gibson BSC), along with experienced crew such as pro- duction designer Alec Walker and gaffer Terry Lewis, filmed for 13 days, recreating Thirties’ Germany in Bristol. In the cast are Alison Doody, Andrew Sachs, Nicholas Amer, Susannah Hamilton, Danny Webb and young newcomer Guy Davies.
“Ever since My Funny Valentine,” says Breese, “I always wanted to make another film to show I could handle something of feature quality down the line. The idea was to make something utterly cinematic. I think I’m learning all the time and I certain- ly direct from the heart.”
Breese’s ambition also extends to any profits that might accrue from the film: “Every penny earned from it will go towards two charities – the Holocaust Centre and the Lidice Memorial. That was my commitment from Day One.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Benjamin’s Struggle was originated on 35mm Fujicolor Super F-500T 8572 and F-250T 8552
Photos from top l-r: Guy Davies as Benajmin; Nicolas Amer and Jeremy Clyne; DP Stephen J. Brand GBCT frames the shot in the background; co-star Alison Doody above: Writer/Director/Producer James Breese, Mentor Cinematographer Sue Gibson BSC, Brand and Camera Operator & Steadicam Dion Casey GBCT SOA (photos courtesy Andre Regini/Kingbridge Photographic)
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