WATCH: Trailer gives a taste of film about White Rock bombing
ISLANDERS have been given a glimpse of a new film about the White Rock bombing and its aftermath.
A trailer has been released for Occupied, the brainchild of writer, director and film graduate Alex Bates.
The bombing saw 34 people killed and 33 injured in an attack by German planes in June 1940.
Filming took place in January before lockdown, with a cast of six actors and 40 extras filming at Salerie Corner, near Bordeaux and in Burnt Lane.
Since then the small team has been hard at work to put together the finished film.
‘It’s been an intense few months,’ Mr Bates said.
All visuals of the film are now in place, with music and colour grading still taking place.
Mr Bates said his one regret was not being able to get real planes, but it would not have been feasible on the small budget. Instead self-taught special effects artist James Maxwell did the effects.
Mr Bates said he was pleased with how it looked.
‘I’m really proud of how the special effects are coming out. And the whole response to the trailer has been overwhelming,’ he said.
While Mr Bates is based in Guernsey, some of his team is in the UK, so there have been a lot of Zoom meetings and split screens to ensure there is good communication about how the film was coming together.
The former Elizabeth College student graduated from the Northern Film School in Leeds last year and said this had been a very different experience to what he had done before.
‘I’ve learnt an enormous amount,’ he said.
‘It’s been a huge learning curve. The last film I did was at university and there were support systems in place to make sure things go smoothly. But in the real world we have to deal with it ourselves.’
Mr Bates is keeping details of the plot under wraps, only saying that it will handle the bombing and the start of the Occupation.
The final film is about 24 minutes long, and there are more than 100 people named in the credits.
There are still some final tweaks needed and Mr Bates said he hoped it would be finished at least three days before the premiere.
Occupied is sponsored by the Guernsey Arts Commission and Clameur Du Cinema. The film will be shown at Beau Sejour on 13 May, with tickets going on sale later this week.
