A SHORT film shot entirely in the Isle of Man will be screened at the New York United Film Festival next week.
Ghostgirl, written and directed by Douglas man Dave Armstrong, has been awarded a prestigious official selection status by the festival.
It has been chosen from thousands to be screened at United - voted one of the "25 Coolest Film Festivals" by MovieMaker – in trendy Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
Dave, from local production company DAM Productions, said the news was "a huge surprise – in fact, the
confirmation email had been caught up in our mail filters and we didn't even realise we'd been selected until
one of the organisers contacted us directly, wondering why they hadn't heard from us!"
Produced by Phil Gates and supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council, Ghostgirl is described as "A beautiful, atmospheric and unique film that tells the story of two very different people thrown together by a curious set of circumstances - with an unexpected outcome".
Dave explained: "I like to think of it as a contemporary love story.
"On the surface, the two characters couldn't have less in common. But they're both in a pretty desperate situation, and in a way, end up relying on each other.
"I think the most interesting angle comes from the fact that one of the characters is dealing with a major
life changing incident – but I don't want to give too much away."
The two lead roles in Ghostgirl are played by actor Oliver LeSueur and Chelsea Gowland from the Isle of Man.
Dave added: "Chelsea was only 17 when we shot the film and had never really done anything like this before.
"We auditioned dozens of girls for the part but during one particular meeting Chelsea just took on the role and immediately brought the character, Marley, to life for us."
Oliver was also a surprising find.
Dave said: "He was actually recommended to us by our friend Roy McMillan (formerly of Manx Radio) who'd worked with him on a radio play for the BBC.
"When we went to London to meet and audition him, we knew straight away that he fit the part perfectly. 'John' is an extremely challenging role – perhaps one of the most difficult any actor would be asked to play – but he rose to it brilliantly and gave an incredible performance."
Filmed in the Island in February, using an almost entirely Manx cast and crew, the short stirred up quite a buzz online as Dave chose to film it on the Canon 5D HDSLR – essentially a stills camera.
He said: "I like to research gear and had read quite a bit about the 5D. At that time people were only just beginning to realise the potential it had for film replacement.
"I'd been following the work of a guy called Phillip Bloom who'd convinced George Lucas to take a look at the camera. When I saw Phillip's footage taken at Skywalker Ranch and read Lucas's praise of it I knew it was something I'd like to try."
Filmmaking community website EOSHD.com picked up on the story and wrote a glowing preview of the film,
suggesting Ghostgirl could be "...the sleeper hit to take HDSLR's to the public".
Click here to read the full preview.
Along with his partner Christy DeHaven, Dave recorded several instructional videos about using the kit - the videos were put on vimeo and YouTube and have not only had thousands of views they've convinced a number of other filmmakers to buy the camera.
So far, the film has only had two screenings – one for cast and crew and one as part of the MannIN Shorts
film night at this year's Isle of Man Film Festival.
Dave said: "We have to be careful about screenings at the moment as some of the festivals we've entered into require that the film hasn't had any official public premieres but we wanted to screen Ghostgirl at the MannIN Shorts night as an example to fellow Manx filmmakers of what can be achieved here.
"Our Island is packed with creative talent and our brilliant cast and crew proved that with their efforts on our own film."
Ghostgirl will be screened at Cobble Hill Cinemas, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, October 27.
