Red Summer Sunset expected to hit local screens this year
GUERNSEY will be seen through the lens of 1880s America this summer with the release of a new, neo-western feature length film that was shot entirely on-island.
Last Flamingo of the Red Summer Sunset is a revisionist period drama set in America in the late 19th century.
It follows the story of a psychotic antagonist set on exterminating the lone survivor of a local tribe wiped out in a mass genocide decades previously.
It is narrated by Western actor Billy Slaughter, and local actors Andrew T Hislop and Cameron Ashplant lead the cast, which also includes Dane Rhodes, Dean Hollingsworth and Brandon Ashplant.
A trailer to promote the film has been released online.
Mr Ashplant, whose previous work includes Marooned Awakening, which premiered at Beau Sejour last year, wrote, starred in, co-directed and produced the film.
He was inspired to undertake the project after working on Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth in 2021 with many of the actors now involved in Last Flamingo.
‘While working on Shakespeare I enjoyed delving deeper into the language used and looking at the dialect of that era. I wanted to depict that in a narrative-focused revisionist western setting,’ he said.
Mr Ashplant added that a lot of time was spent on writing the script because he was eager to examine different meanings and interpretations of the text.
‘It’s an experimental film. I wanted to explore the neo-western genre and the religious symbolism of the late 19th century,’ he said.
While some of the filming took place at external locations on the island, such as at Grandes Rocques, most was done in indoors in a room at Les Cotils.
Mr Ashplant said that the venue was an appropriate setting for the era in which the film is set.
‘The room looked like it could be from the time period. Filming in one room also meant that we were able to spend more time on the rehearsal process, which is not normal for screenplay,’ he said.
The film has been in post-production since February last year. Mr Ashplant said that the film would be shown at the Mallard Cinema upon its release, and that his production team, Across The Channel Films, was in talks to release the film on Amazon Prime as well.
‘We are also hoping to hold a premiere for it in Leicester Square in London, but that’s still in very early stages at the moment,’ he added.
While filming in Guernsey had its challenges, Mr Ashplant said that it was good to have done it on-island.
‘Because it’s smaller it means you don’t have to travel very far to get to filming locations, and people are always keen to help out if you need it. Overall it was a great experience,’ he said.
