BEN
Written & Directed by Tom Ruddock
OFFICIAL SELECTION TO OSCAR QUALIFYING AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL.
WORLD PREMIERING ON OCTOBER 21st at 7:10pm CST 2021.
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TRAILER
Two years after climbing Ben A'an, a once love struck couple return to repeat the steep hike, this time with a challenge that wasn't on the map.
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Ben for me, is always going to be a film that originated around friendship. From a breakfast date with Will (Joel) where the story began to development of the locations and world with my producing Partner Shelley, to the incredible four days we spent shooting the film in Scotland with our amazing cast and crew. The heart of this film was build around friendship and the incredible experience we had was a testament to how beautiful it can be to create art with friends.
I’ve always searched to explore hope in my films but never at the expense of reality. Myself and the team of this film all know Grief well and this gave me the chance to really delve deep into those toughest of moments we could experience in our life, but also how we find a way through them.
They say; to learn in writing with characters, you need to 'kill your darlings’ and for me in this film, it has never remained more true. Writing the film about a couple’s dark journey up the mountain, I felt it was so important to show the light and the joy so we could really see where these characters had come from to really feel where they arrive to by the end.
I knew I needed two actors willing to give the project everything they had and I couldn’t have asked from more from both Lara & Will. They bared their all on that mountain.
To highlight the different timelines, we shot the two different time periods on separate camera’s with different focal lengths and framing styles to each time period. I wanted to carry this through in the grade as well, to really show the difference in the separate ’seasons’ of life this couple was going through.
I’ve made films before where I’ve had the luxury of a big team and budget, but this film really was shouldered by a small handful of people who went above and beyond to bring excellence with less help.
I’m incredibly proud of so many aspects of this film and the experience of making it will stay with me forever. I hope the audience connects with the simple story of two people on a journey - that we did whilst making it; and know that even in the darkest of situations light can be found.
CREW - 1st Assistant Director - JOSH MATHIESON - Cinematography - KUPA WARNER - Sound - WILL LANGDALE - Make Up - STEPHANIE FAULKNER
POST PRODUCTION - Edited - HANNAH LECKEY - Sound Design - MARKUS FFITCH - Colourist - KARL BARNES-DALLAS - Music composed by JONATHAN ABRAHAM & SHELLEY RUDDOCK - A VIEW 35 FILMS PRODUCTION.