So, it looks as though 2019 might be a productive year, as we have just completed – finally – The Benefit of Doubt.

This follows hot on the heals of the completion of Vladimir and William and La Belle Noise, and surely precedes by a short while the competition of This is Cinema and The New Hope 2, meaning that we should have 5 (five!) new feature films to present within the next few months.

A mood trailer for the film can be seen here:-

And hopefully there will be screenings of the finished film to follow (after some preview screenings over the last 18 months).

About The Benefit of Doubt
Made for a mere £4,000, The Benefit of Doubt tells the story of Ariadne, a young woman who travels to Nice in order to rediscover herself after the end of a 10-year relationship.

In Nice, Ariadne meets first frustrated actor Nick and then hedonist nomad Greg, fellow travellers with whom she explores the city and its surroundings, as she learns once again to smile.

In its tale of a lonely woman who encounters a performer and a bon viveur, The Benefit of Doubt is a reworking of the myth of Ariadne, discovered by Dionysos on the shores of Naxos – as famously painted by Giorgio di Chirico.

The film takes visual inspiration from Jean Vigo’s classic city symphony, A propos de Nice (1930), reworking various of the themes that Vigo explores in his classic text (sport, leisure, overlooked workers, the infrastructure of tourism). What is more, the film sees the characters wander around Nice and its environs in a manner that recalls the French practice of flânerie.

Furthermore, The Benefit of Doubt lies tonally somewhere between Eric Rohmer’s The Green Ray and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, while the film also takes in various of the museums in Nice and its surroundings – including the Fondation Maeght in St Paul de Vence.

Ariadne is played by Hannah Croft, one of rising comedienne duo Croft & Pearce, and the star of En Attendant Godard (William Brown, 2009) and The Repairman (Paolo Mitton, 2013). The film also features performances from Nick Marwick, Greg Rowe, Mark Hodge and Lucia Williams.

In addition, the film’s soundtrack includes music composed by David Miller (responsible for the film’s main theme), Amy Holt, Alex Fixsen and Sam Pauli & Reiver.

Regular Beg Steal Borrow cinematographer Tom Maine is responsible for the images of the south coast of France, while the film is written and directed by William Brown, who has made some 15+ no-budget feature films since 2009.