Indie Spotlight- A Dozen Summers

In an ongoing effort to help aspiring filmmakers and promote independent films, particularly those struggling with distribution and releases, we periodically feature films in our “Indie Spotlight” series for your consideration.

A Dozen Summers (2015) (English Language)

82min (UK)

Genre:     Comedy, Drama, Family

Director:  Kenton Hall

Cast:       Scarlet Hall, Hero Hall, Kenton Hall…and more

Writer:    Kenton Hall

The everyday lives of Twin 12-year-old middle England girls Maisie and Daisy McCormack suddenly become a movie with them as on-screen directors in this micro-budget, self-referential “indie” family comedy from writer/director Kenton Hall.

When the movie begins with narrator and 6th ‘Doctor Who’ doctor Colin Baker being amusingly confronted by the film’s two stars in an immediate “Fourth Wall” break, you know this is not your typical indie comedy, writer/director Kenton Hall manages to pull-off a Chaplinesque feat of multi-tasking by also starring in, editing, producing, writing and performing original songs for ‘A Dozen Summers’.

What is essentially a quirky little family comedy about growing up in everyday 21st Century Britain, ‘A Dozen Summers’ is also a clear ode to cinema by director Hall with topical self-referential comedy and plenty of movie references to be found, we were particularly won over by an unexpected but welcome Ingmar Bergman cutaway.

Indeed the film, which does not feature a traditional linear storyline, makes liberal use of “Family Guy” style comedic cutaways and movie references to advance the story and characters, cleverly making up for a lack of budget and in keeping with the cinematic referencing aspect of the narrative.

‘A Dozen Summers’ is a family affair with the director’s real daughter’s Scarlet and Hero Hall starring as the two leads, plus Kenton Hall himself starring as their on-screen Irish dad, using his years of experience as a working actor to deliver a quirky performance seemingly inspired by Ardal O’Hanlon’s “Dougal” in ‘Father Ted’.

It would be easy to punch holes through the film’s story, style and execution but when you consider the lack of resources and therefore ingenuity required to bring ‘A Dozen Summers’ to the screen, the result for us is a refreshingly subversive and rare little British family comedy indie, we’re now curious to see what Kenton Hall can do if he’s given a bigger sandbox to play in.

‘A Dozen Summers’ is released in selected UK cinemas from Friday the 21st of August, beginning with The Phoenix in Leicester and then beyond and on VoD later in the year.

http://www.phoenix.org.uk/film/a-dozen-summers/

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