Filming finishes on project about White Rock bombing

The project, entitled Occupied, was written and directed by film graduate Alex Bates.

The filming took place between 8 and 11 January, and then 16 and 17 January. Mr Bates said he was nervous about filming during the winter, but everything went well.

‘The weather was fantastic,’ he said.

‘I was worried for months about maybe having to delay for the weather, but it was amazing. Whenever we were filming outside, it was nice and overcast, so the lighting was nice and soft.’

An extra challenge was that the original bombing took place in June, meaning the summer costumes left some actors chilly.

‘Whenever we stopped filming, between takes, we were putting coats on people,’ Mr Bates said.

‘We wanted it to look authentic, but also try and keep people warm.’

There was a main cast of six actors, but also more than 40 extras who stepped in to help.

Salerie Corner car park was the main location, standing in for the White Rock. An area of the car park was closed off for the filming.

‘We went on quite a few location recces to try and find the right place,’ Mr Bates said.

‘The White Rock looks too modern and busy for filming. Salerie looked the most similar to how the White Rock looked in the 1940s.’

Filming also took place at Burnt Lane and a bay north of Bordeaux.

Mr Bates said they now had a lot of footage.

He has a clear vision for how the 25-minute finished film will look and an editor is now putting the film together.

Mr Bates said he was very grateful to everyone who helped out during filming and supported the project.

The former Elizabeth College student graduated from the Northern Film School in Leeds last year and said making the film had been a wonderful opportunity.

The film will follow the White Rock bombing, where 34 people were killed and 33 were injured in attack by German planes in June 1940.

There were also 49 vehicles damaged or destroyed, the majority of which were lorries of tomatoes waiting to be exported.

Occupied is sponsored by the Guernsey Arts Commission and Clameur Du Cinema.

Before lockdown was announced, the film was set to premiere at Beau Sejour on 20 April.