Two months ago we previewed Everybody Flies, one of the standout documentaries premiering at the 2019 Raindance festival in London. Today, we spotlight the next project from writer/director Beth Moran and her producing partner Tristan Loraine.
The short film Missing a Note recently premiered at the New Renaissance Film Festival where it won the award for Best Short. The film deals with a young schoolgirl who wants to be a singer, and whose relationship with a former opera singer suffering a mental decline brings the two together in unexpected ways.
The short offers a thematic resonance to some of the films Moran has produced previously. Last year she produced The Frontier: Ukraine and Lucy: Breaking the Silence, two films which put the humanity of its subjects at the forefront. Though the conflicts in those two films were so different, one internal and the other brutally external, it is the personal battle which gives Moran and the filmmakers a solid foundation to explore. And the exploration continues with Missing a Note.
The film is lead by a remarkable performance from Darcy Jacobs, whose previous experience in the West End as well as Aimee Bowe’s 2017 short You Can Cry has given the young actress considerable presence on screen. To build a film around someone so young gives a good indication of Moran’s assured hand behind the camera, however the additional cast members bring a wealth of experience to the project. Known to millions as Barriston Selmy, a fan favourite character from George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, as well as the Gerry-specifically belligerent Grandfather from Derry Girls, Ian McElhinney plays the opera singer in question John O’Connell.
He is joined by the legendary presence of Elaine Page, whose storied musical and acting career spans decades, and whose role as John’s devoted wife Angie adds a powerful emotional dimension to the film.
The short film has done very well across the festival circuit, and a couple of months ago it screened to audiences across the UK as part of a distribution deal with Everyman cinemas, where it played before screenings of Downton Abbey.
It’s crucial for these deals to come about if shorts are to find an audience. They are films made to be seen, and outside of festivals it can be a challenge to enjoy the films on the big screen where they are meant to be seen. We can hope to see more of Beth Moran and Fact Not Fiction Films in the future, in the meantime take a look at the film’s trailer and web presence below the selection of production photos.
Here’s the film’s trailer.
Missing a Note (2019) – Trailer from Fact Not Fiction Films on Vimeo.
You can find out more about Missing a Note on the film’s webpage here, or if you’re all about the Facebook all the latest coverage and news about the film is available here.
