I was able to catch a screening of Fire Horse at the recent Washington West Film Festival (http://wwfilmfest.com/) at the end of October 2013.
Roddy is the owner of a local convenience shop (originally owned by his father) who supplies various goods to the local residents. Ada is a customer who has been buying from the shop for many years. Ada though getting on in years still has very strong views and beliefs. She was determined to support Roddy's shop against the spread of supermarket chains.
It is a credit to first time Director, Matt Bell, that he was able to assemble a top rated cast for this short film. All of Barnaby Kay (Roddy), Nicola Walker (Roddy's wife) and Doreen Mantle (Ada) have impressive and long lists of credits on UK TV. Barnaby Kay gave what I thought was an understated performance which made it easy for the audience to root for Roddy. Doreen Mantle also gave a superb and moving performance as Ada.
It is a poignant story that has universal appeal. Director Matt Bell explained that as a youngster, he lived in a village where old folks, war veterans and also the younger generation all shopped in the village stores and chatted. He returned to his village after 10 years in London and was shocked to see that everything had closed, from the stores to the pub. It saddened him that the community spirit he knew as a child was lost and that young people would no longer experienced such close ties between generations. That was his motivation for putting together this short film.
I hope that Matt Bell will continue to direct as his first effort showed real promise. I also wish that this short film will become more widely available after it has done the film festival circuit so that a wider audience can get to watch it.
Roddy is the owner of a local convenience shop (originally owned by his father) who supplies various goods to the local residents. Ada is a customer who has been buying from the shop for many years. Ada though getting on in years still has very strong views and beliefs. She was determined to support Roddy's shop against the spread of supermarket chains.
It is a credit to first time Director, Matt Bell, that he was able to assemble a top rated cast for this short film. All of Barnaby Kay (Roddy), Nicola Walker (Roddy's wife) and Doreen Mantle (Ada) have impressive and long lists of credits on UK TV. Barnaby Kay gave what I thought was an understated performance which made it easy for the audience to root for Roddy. Doreen Mantle also gave a superb and moving performance as Ada.
It is a poignant story that has universal appeal. Director Matt Bell explained that as a youngster, he lived in a village where old folks, war veterans and also the younger generation all shopped in the village stores and chatted. He returned to his village after 10 years in London and was shocked to see that everything had closed, from the stores to the pub. It saddened him that the community spirit he knew as a child was lost and that young people would no longer experienced such close ties between generations. That was his motivation for putting together this short film.
I hope that Matt Bell will continue to direct as his first effort showed real promise. I also wish that this short film will become more widely available after it has done the film festival circuit so that a wider audience can get to watch it.