David Allain answers questions about writing and directing
his deeply personal short film Revelations.
In 2020, six films incorporating the theme of “Freedom” were selected to go into production, shooting for two days each with a package of top-of-the-range ARRI camera equipment.
We spoke to the six directors ahead of a Leicester Square showcase screening of their Challenge ALEXA-winning films. Read our interview below to find out how the Challenge ALEXA-winning filmmakers navigated covid disruptions, tricky weather conditions and tight timelines to create something special.
Can you tell us a little bit about your film? What is it about, and where did the idea come from?
Our film explores the idea of freedom of choice. Revelations sees a young man, Drew, attend the funeral of his estranged mother and remember a few key moments that defined their relationship. Despite years of pain, Drew decides to see if his family’s differences can be reconciled before time runs out. It is inspired by real events: I was raised in a Christian cult, I left it as a teenager, and then my parents suddenly stopped speaking to me a couple of years later saying they would only resume contact if I returned to their cult. Jumping ahead, I heard from my parents for the first time in years when my mother became terminally ill.
Revelations is a bittersweet film about acceptance — the choice we have to accept people as they are — and making it has informed a large part of my grief journey.
What has the ALEXA shooting package allowed you to explore that you otherwise couldn’t have done? And what did being selected as a Challenge ALEXA filmmaker mean for you and your project?
Back in 2019, pre-covid, I originally entered Challenge ALEXA by pitching a proof-of-concept scene from a long form piece with the same title. It featured a protagonist who had a similar relationship with their parents, seeing their terminally ill mother for the first time in years (since being disowned). When the Challenge ALEXA judges realised that this fictional idea was inspired by my life experience, they asked if I would consider telling my actual story instead. I didn’t imagine people would be so interested in what’s happened in my life, but I really appreciate the judges’ encouragement to tell a story that was even closer to home.
The shooting package provided everything we needed to capture incredible shots (along with the help of Trinity Operator Seb Joly), and I loved shooting with the Signature Prime lenses.
Given the process took over two years to complete due to long pandemic delays, the support from the ARRI and Directors UK team meant so much: first suggesting I tell a more personal self-contained story, and then all their support when our shoot got postponed for over a year, and them making everything they could available for us to have the best chance of succeeding against some pretty extreme odds!
What did you learn from taking part in Challenge ALEXA that you will take forward in your career?
I learned that having your shoot postponed can be a blessing. Having more time allowed us to find better locations, raise more money, and allowed for some great cast scheduling to fall into place.
As a director, I’m often keen to shoot as soon as possible, but having the additional time for prep, patiently accepting that we would have to wait, and then finally shooting when the time was (kind of) right taught me some useful lessons.
What were the main challenges of your shoot and how did you overcome them?
Covid, covid, and climate change. We were originally due to shoot on the last weekend of March 2020, but found ourselves in lockdown when the date came around. Our shoot was postponed until summer 2021: this meant we lost some funding I’d raised but allowed me time to raise some more. A brilliant new company, Niche on Demand, came aboard at the eleventh hour and have been great collaborators ever since.
Finally, in July 2021, we were about to shoot: then less than 48 hours before filming, we lost our lead actor because of covid. We couldn’t postpone further – who knew if covid would strike again or who it might strike next time? We forged ahead, recast our lead, and everything worked out just as it ought to have done. Due to covid and other last-minute illnesses, on the first day of filming we still lost half our sound team and two members of our camera team. On the second day of filming, we began a unit move and got hit by a sudden storm which led to hospitals in East London being flooded: the extreme weather made newspaper front pages the following day. The biblical weather seemed apt and there’s no denying climate change when things like that happen on an otherwise sunny summer’s day.
Making Revelations was all about adapting to whatever came our way and accepting that there are many things we cannot control — this also speaks to the film’s themes. I am eternally grateful to all of my collaborators (including Directors UK and ARRI) as it was a wild ride that I’ll never forget.
Who were your collaborators on this project?
Key collaborators include several people I’ve worked with before: renowned casting director Kharmel Cochrane, incredible cinematographer Amelia Hazlerigg, composer Alexandra Milne, and editor Max Windows. New collaborators included working with producer Laurelle Jones, funders Zena Tuitt and Sabrina Clarke (Niche on Demand), post-production house OnSight, and the cast including newcomer Joshua Riley alongside Kola Bokinni (Ted Lasso) and Wil Johnson (House of the Dragon).
Have you got any future plans for your Challenge ALEXA short?
We have submitted Revelations to a bunch of festivals. One is scheduled later this year, and we are waiting to hear back from many others — you can see the film’s trailer and follow its news at revelationsfilm.com. After it has had some time on the festival circuit, we will make it available online. The film is supporting two mental health charities — The Good Grief Trust and CALM — so we hope to do some special screenings to help raise funds and awareness for them too.
What other projects have you got lined up next?
I am currently directing a block on an ITV crime drama. We are shooting on the ARRI ALEXA Mini LF, which is superb. The Revelations short film began as a proof-of-concept idea, so I’ve returned to that initial concept and am developing it into a miniseries. The miniseries is very different from the short film, but comes from the same world and shares many of the same themes, so I’m excited to see where that goes!
For project or press enquiries contact studio@davidallain.com