Northants director creates post-apocalyptic world in new short film

Annalium 8: Sssss is set in a world where all animal life has been wiped out. But a scientist in full bio-hazard kit and with a life-support machine in tow, discovers a young girl in a forest, apparently fit and well.

Andrew ‘Griff’ Griffin, from Towcester, directed the film from a script with no dialogue by Robert Lancey. It stars award-winning actress Francesca Louise White and introduces Minaii Baelfire, who has the distinction of being the first Black young Elsa in a stage production of Frozen.

“Working on a script without any spoken words or any written language cues was a first for me,” said Griff. “It was a really interesting challenge because we had to focus more on visual ways to explain the story.

“We had a great team, and I think the film works really well.”

The eight-minute short was filmed in South Wales and has received an enthusiastic reception at local community cinemas.

“The reaction has been fantastic,” said writer Robert Lancey, who also co-produced with Andy Weltch. “One director at an arts-centre screening said he was ‘blown away’ by it, and we’ve had amazing feedback from the screenings so far.”

The film has now been entered in several festivals to reach audiences around the world. Because it has no dialogue, the producers say there’s potential for global appeal, and the script has already been recognised in several competitions.

The film is due to be released online on Thursday December 7th at 7pm GMT.

From that date, you can see the film free on the Weltch Media YouTube channel here.