“A genuine modern masterpiece” – critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode
“One of the most original and stylistically bold films to world premiere in Berlin” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Ravishing cinema” – Screen International
“One of the most thrillingly original British films in years” – Little White Lies
“a history lesson in film technique; a contemporary tale about the fault lines in British society and one of the standout debut features of the year – Cinema Europa
Attracting rave reviews on the festival circuit and from top film critics, a new feature film due for UK-wide release has a Bristol connection of which Totterdown film fans can be especially proud.
Because ‘BAIT’, a drama shot in Cornwall on a 1970s Bolex camera with 35mm black-and-white film, is the debut feature production from Totterdown’s own Kate Byers and Linn Waite – the founders of Early Day Films, which operates out of Stanley Hill.
The film is the story of Martin Ward (played by comedian Edward Rowe), a Cornish fisherman in a village becoming increasingly tense with class conflict as moneyed Londoners reshape the traditional setting into their holiday resort. Martin’s brother has repurposed the family fishing boat to provide booze cruises; they’ve been forced to sell their cottage to second home buyers (Mary Woodvine & Simon Shepherd). Even the local pub now closes in the winter when the tourists’ teenagers aren’t around.
Although the setting is Cornwall, Kate says it links to here. “The film is about family, and a real sense of a connection to a place and to me that’s what Totterdown is about, too.”
On August 16, the film starts an advance tour of the South West, with a preview screening and Q&A with writer/director Mark Jenkin at Bristol’s Watershed on August 22 before it enters the main programme at Watershed and other cinemas from August 30.
Tickets for the Watershed preview are on sale now https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/9867/preview-bait-qa-with-mark-jenkin/.
View a trailer online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=eVlPl0SXFiE.