“Starman From Heaven” was shown at the International Moving Image Society evening for LGBTQI films and filmmakers on Tuesday, 10 July 2018 at Zero One, Soho, London.
Elliot Kershaw presented his original, amusing, characterful and ambitious film at the above event. “Next to no budget…” (his words), location filming in Brighton (hard not to make a great film if you have Brighton at your disposal!), original and outstanding costuming (Brighton has numerous retro shops and costume hire places!). All the stuff, in fact, in place for a great film but as I have said elsewhere on this Blog; “…just because you can, does not mean you can!”. But fortunately Elliot can and has talent in abundance to pull off a lively, fleet-footed, engaging, witty approach with quick action, believable characters and a story line. This is Elliot’s first short film: it will not be his last and his true originality and ability to select his angles well, to use hand-held camera techniques with discretion and to keep the action flowing in keeping with the subject matter. There is nothing slow or pedestrian about Elliot’s approach; the subject matter calls for swift changing of scene, dynamic use of soundtrack and quick fire exchanges and Elliot manages all these with accomplishment!
The story is, initially a straightforward Wanabe tale but with a number of twists to keep the audience engaged: Eddie Queens lives in Brighton and wants a career as a singer songwriter. He has talent and ability but currently lacks the confidence to push himself. Cautiously he approaches successful friend and club singer Harvey and asks if he can open for Harvey at his next gig. A complication is that that Eddie is also discovering new things about his sexuality, an issue that does not go down, initially, too well with his girlfriend.
The film takes us through the sexual challenges he is facing, his relationship with his parents about his career choice, his first terrifying efforts at public performance and what happens as his confidence grows! Using the variety and interest that Brighton as a backdrop gives, Elliot’s direction rips along from seafront, to performance venue, to confession and meeting with parents, to awkward encounter with girlfriend, to performance and result! Will the ambitious singer songwriter triumph or will he Die the Death? Will the girlfriend disappear and will Eddie resolve his sexuality question? All matters to be resolved by following the links beyond this trailer and seeing the complete film! You will not be disappointed.
Filmmakers emerging in the independent circuit may not have the big distribution deals to fund them and covering the cost of filmmaking can be modestly expensive and frustrating. But there is always YouTube, Vimeo, easily established web-sites to promote your work. And it is possible to film in the morning and reach millions by the end of the same day. We look forward to Elliot Kershaw’s next venture with anticipation and the young filmmaker can look to the future with confidence.
