Michael Pearce’s film, entitled Beast – a romantic thriller filmed in Jersey and Surrey – premièred in Canada last week to widespread critical acclaim.
The story centres on a young woman living in an oppressive family environment who meets a seemingly dangerous outsider who empowers her to escape.
Now Mr Pearce, whose film was funded by the British Film Institute and Film 4, has been unveiled as one of three finalists vying for the IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award – the most significant bursary of its kind in the UK film industry.
Mr Pearce (36) says his experiences of Jersey while he was growing up heavily influenced the way he wrote and shot the film.
‘It’s not an autobiographical film, but I’ve taken a lot of my memories and impressions of growing up in the Island and infused that into the film,’ said Mr Pearce, who attended De La Salle College, Les Quennevais School and Highlands College in Jersey, before going to the Arts Institute in Bournemouth and the National Film and Television School.
‘You felt very free as a kid in Jersey. It was really safe – we never really locked our doors. I grew up close to the beach and went surfing.
‘I saw Jersey as the archetypal small village in a fairy tale and I was always wondering about what happens when you venture outside of it – what will you find in the woods?
‘Beast is about a young woman who is kind of trapped within an oppressive family in Jersey and she meets a dangerous outsider. He empowers her to escape, but he becomes a suspect in an ongoing hunt for a serial killer who’s terrorising the Island.
‘She defends him and has her own dark past called into question. We begin to wonder what her motives are, so it’s a kind of psychological thriller and also a love story where you question the characters that you care about most.’
He added: ‘In some ways I think of Beast like a fairy tale. It’s about a seemingly innocent protagonist growing up in a very small environment.’
Mr Pearce, who is up against two other British film directors, will discover whether he has won the IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award at Luminous, the BFI’s biennial fundraising gala, on 3 October.
The bursary is presented in recognition of outstanding British talent and is designed to support a writer and/or director at the beginning of their career.
Mr Pearce, who made his first TV drama, Henry, through Channel 4’s Coming Up scheme, received nominations at the 2014 Baftas and Bifas for his short film Keeping Up With the Joneses.
‘I’d like to continue to make movies where the characters are complex and to continue to create immersive cinematic experiences,’ added Mr Pearce.
