Our film, Saint Catherines, is a short drama that deals with themes of female friendship, sexual assault, and isolation. The film follows a friendship group who, whilst on holiday, have to deal with one of their friends sexually assaulting the other.
Saint Catherines was inspired by a combination of real experiences and a desire to represent these on screen. According to Rape Crisis England, 90% of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the survivor, yet most media representations of assault don’t reflect this. It was also important to us that we made a film that did not show the assault (as this is often unnecessary) but still had clear messaging and emotional intent. Friendship, and the importance of support and connection, is also a big part of our film, and we wanted to show a realistic group faced with a realistic situation.
We filmed in late February 2024 in the small Scottish village St Catherines, using the caravan park, the forest, and the beautiful lochside as our locations. We shot over 4 days, with a budget of £2.5k raised from crowdfunding and our own inputs. Our cast and crew all stayed together, split between the caravan we were filming in and a small cottage along the road. It was a bit of a tight squeeze for 18 people, but we all had an absolutely amazing time filming, ending each day with chats and games around the fire. The shoot went exceptionally smoothly; however, our accommodation began to fall apart around us! We had an almost-exploding boiler (leading to no hot water or heating… in Scottish February…), a broken front door, and a major plumbing issue! Despite this, it was a fun time for all, and we are all proud of the film that came from our week in St Catherines.
Being selected as a finalist at Worcester Film Festival makes our whole team proud. However, we are made happiest by the knowledge that our film is able to reach more people, and therefore our message can hopefully resonate with more audiences.
You can find us on Instagram: @saintcatherines.film to follow our journey!
