Fantasy epic gets Worthing premiere

Gallowmere was filmed in Lewes, at Michelham Priory and in the Ashdown Forest among a range of locations. It was also made with help from Northbrook College. Arundel and Worthing were also used in the making.

Running at 110 mins, it promises a “grimdark fantasy about making the most of second chances.” In the film, our heroes set out to explore rumours of a shadow that has plagued the people of Gallowmere. Something twisted lies in a forest north east in the Realm of Elverdin. Dark magic has caused a sickness to fall over the sleepy village of Gallowmere. Jornas the Mage gets his companions Dagon (Rogue), Nimue (Elf) and Solomon (Assassin) to assist in a campaign to find the root of evil. Not all is as it seems…

The screening will be at the Dome Cinema in Worthing on Saturday, October 12. See https://www.domecinema.co.uk/event/91928# and also www.gallowmerethemovie.com.

Brighton-based film-maker Oliver Hollingdale is the man behind it all.

“I'm very proud of what we have achieved. It was a massive collaboration with many talented people from Sussex. It is a fantasy film with classic themes of good versus evil and also the classic themes of honour and courage and stepping up to do the right thing against overwhelming odds. The story is that this darkness has descended over the tiny settlement of Gallowmere. Our hero is a mage who is a jaded character who was part of a trinity of mages. Through the years he resides more as a hermit but due to the recent events he's come out of exile to explore the darkness and investigate what is happening in Gallowmere .

“More than 200 people were involved in the making. The credits are massive and it had such a range of talents. The funding was a mixture of crowd funding and a mixture of personal funding and external funds. I don't really want to say how much it actually cost for various reasons but I hope people are entertained by it and surprised by it – and surprised by what we have done with an insanely limited budget. I hope it will give indie film makers more of a chance. We're looking to take it to festivals now but the ultimate thing would be distribution.

“It's a story that my friend Craig Standen and I came up with. We have done some projects together in the past. We've done community projects before and we thought this would be a good opportunity to create this fantasy project. We've got lots of talent from the West Sussex area and we feel it's a great little story. Gallowmere is like a Middle Earth-type place. With fantasy when you are creating an original you have got like a sandbox in which you can make anything happen. We have got a completely clean slate to create a whole new world. We're not basing it on anything that is pre-existing. It is this fictional Middle Earth realm and the story is focused on the classic thing of good versus evil.”