An independent movie made by a Kingsbridge-based filmmaker received its UK premiere at the weekend.

Shalborne, a period drama set in Edwardian England and filmed mostly in Devon, was screened at a packed Dartington Barn Cinema on Saturday, October 26.

The film, which took about seven years to make from concept to release and four years to shoot, depicts the struggle of a woman trying to escape a cruel and powerful husband.

Following the screening, director Caroline Corrie spoke about the challenges of making the film, which despite having a sub-£250,000 budget, was lavishly shot in sprawling locations, including Dartmoor.

“The beauty of (Dartmoor’s) weather is that you get these moments where the sun just breaks through. One minute it was just wild and stormy, and the next minute this beautiful sky would emerge,” she told the audience during a Q&A session.

Ms Corrie, who played the lead role in addition to being the film’s screenwriter and producer, also designed and made the costumes.

“I had never made any clothes (before). It was another sort of fun project...straight in the deep end,” she said.

She thanked Dartington as well as individual private landowners for providing access to their properties for the shoot, including Mary Ann Rob, the owner of Cothay Manor in Somerset.

“She was just so lovely. She said ‘I'll do anything I can to help you’, and that was really early on in the whole process.”

Ms Corrie explained the importance of adding historical context in shaping the film’s themes of change and injustice, particularly the events leading to the Russian Revolution.

“The Bloody Sunday massacre in St Petersburg in 1905 triggered a lot of unrest in Russia and in Europe, and sort of led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

“It felt like a really pivotal moment. These workers who were treated unbelievably badly had come to the Tsar's Palace peacefully to ask for better working conditions and they were just shot at.

“That (was) a backdrop for Helen's (the protagonist’s) personal revolution - she was caught up in this time of change.”

Read the full feature interview with Caroline Corrie on page 17.