The city is in its death throws. Suicide is the norm. Nobody is happy and everyone is turning into fish. They are food to the monstrous seagulls that dominate everything, from the festering garbage hulks on the river to the buildings of the once proud city. Witness to a beautiful act of rebellion, an ordinary man realises he must take action.
-Southampton. Sloping along in the stone-faced misery of an indifferent city, the human race has succumbed utterly to their urge to create fodder for the seagulls. So much so that they themselves are slowly taking on the qualities of fish – day-by-day becoming food for the gigantic birds that loom above them. Systematically becoming a slave species, the humans still cling to tokens of the past – or of the future – something simple that can be kept hidden; a colour. The colour they have chosen is red. To buy the poison they inevitably use to kill themselves, the price is to give up their tokens to the POISON SELLER.
DAVE, one of the most slavish of all the fish people, one day finds himself helping the beautiful SCARLET who, in a suicidal revolutionary gesture, exposes a bright red dress to the angry birds above. Instantly disgusted with himself he hurries to his menial job – incubating seagull eggs with his feeble, ancient colleague, RICHARD. Despite Dave’s best efforts to help Richard in his tasks, the physical labour is overwhelming and the old man is dragged away. Unable to stop thinking about the bravery of the woman he helped – or the deathly fate of Richard, Dave forces himself to take action – he races to prevent Richard’s suicide.
But it’s too late, Richard undergoes the horrible suicidal transformation into fish-meat in Dave’s arms. Dave has lost everything, he cannot return to work, he is a failure and now the shadows are closing in. Just as the end is upon him, he finds himself under an umbrella – looking up at the beautiful revolutionary dress of Scarlet.
The city is in its death throws. Suicide is the norm. Nobody is happy and everyone is turning into fish. They are food to the monstrous seagulls that dominate everything, from the festering garbage hulks on the river to the buildings of the once proud city. Witness to a beautiful act of rebellion, an ordinary man realises he must take action.
-Southampton. Sloping along in the stone-faced misery of an indifferent city, the human race has succumbed utterly to their urge to create fodder for the seagulls. So much so that they themselves are slowly taking on the qualities of fish – day-by-day becoming food for the gigantic birds that loom above them. Systematically becoming a slave species, the humans still cling to tokens of the past – or of the future – something simple that can be kept hidden; a colour. The colour they have chosen is red. To buy the poison they inevitably use to kill themselves, the price is to give up their tokens to the POISON SELLER.
DAVE, one of the most slavish of all the fish people, one day finds himself helping the beautiful SCARLET who, in a suicidal revolutionary gesture, exposes a bright red dress to the angry birds above. Instantly disgusted with himself he hurries to his menial job – incubating seagull eggs with his feeble, ancient colleague, RICHARD. Despite Dave’s best efforts to help Richard in his tasks, the physical labour is overwhelming and the old man is dragged away. Unable to stop thinking about the bravery of the woman he helped – or the deathly fate of Richard, Dave forces himself to take action – he races to prevent Richard’s suicide.
But it’s too late, Richard undergoes the horrible suicidal transformation into fish-meat in Dave’s arms. Dave has lost everything, he cannot return to work, he is a failure and now the shadows are closing in. Just as the end is upon him, he finds himself under an umbrella – looking up at the beautiful revolutionary dress of Scarlet.
-JO BARNES (Director) has already had success with her previous super 8mm shorts, which have all had an experimental flavour. ‘Between the City and the Sea’ (funded by the Millennium Commission) was chosen as part of a showcase for Shooting People’s talent in 2004 at the Lux Cinema in London as well as being reviewed in Aesthetica magazine. This was followed by Ben Blaine’s Mobile Cinema which took the film all across the country including the Northern Lights festival in Newcastle. Her films have previously shown at Harbour Lights, Southampton; Cinematheque, Brighton and the Cube in Bristol; as well as being part of an OMSK night in Limehouse and various art house venues. Brighton company ‘Final Cut’ has just released one of her films ‘Midst of Paradise’ on their ‘Take Two’ DVD.
Jo graduated from Southampton Institute (now Solent University) in 2002 with a BA (Hons) in Film Studies. She is currently working on her feature debut.
CREDITS
"Bird Feeder" Director. Redbag Pictures Ltd, 2007
Executive Producer: Miranda Robinson
Made as part of the Film Council and Screen South’s Digital Shorts annual scheme. Shown at Cannes Short Film Market.
"Rebelicious" Director. Violent Violet Productions, 2006
Shown at Port Eliot Literary Festival, Cornwall and Exploding Cinema, London.
"Electric Dragon of Venus" Director. Violent Violet Productions, 2004
Shown at LadyFest, Brighton. Final Cut, Brighton; poetryFilm@Greenwich Picturehouse; 291 Gallery, Hackney
"Midst of Paradise." Director. Violent Violet Productions, 2005
Released on Final Cut’s Take Two compilation DVD. Selected screenings at Elemental Arts Festival, Argyll; Rio Cinema, London and Max5 Video Festival, London.
"Between the City and the Sea." Director. Violent Violet Productions, 2003
Chosen by Shooting People as part of their first annual mobile cinema. Reviewed in Aesthetica magazine. Selected Screenings: Northern Lights Festival, Newcastle; OMSK, Limehouse and A Space Gallery, Southampton
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