IN PICTURES: Eastbourne Pier turns film star!

Brighton-based actress Kirsten Callaghan is playing Mercedes Gleitze, the first British female to swim the English Channel – a lost heroine of her time – in the Brighton-based project written and directed by Elliott Hasler, aged 19. “The filming in Eastbourne went really well,” Elliott says. “The pier is a fantastic period-looking pier. The film is set in Brighton, but the pier there is a bit too modern. We wanted something set in the early 1900s, and Eastbourne Pier looked perfect for that." Filming for the movie, which looks set now to be released in summer 2022, was put on hold for the three or four months that lockdown lasted. All photos by Kevin Harwood