Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Above the Clouds”
Screening: 1 p.m. Oct. 5 Suggested rating: 15 in UK Run time: 87 minutes
The story: On her 18th birthday, headstrong and artistic Charlie makes a startling discovery. The man married to her mother isn’t her dad. Recruiting Oz, a rough sleeper whose only possession is his driving license, she embarks on an epic road trip from Margate to the Isle of Skye to track down her biological father. On the journey they both learn more than they bargained for — about themselves, each other, the importance of family, and why (sometimes) there really is no place like home. The inspiration for the film: “I had read a review of a British road movie (I can’t remember which) that said road movies don’t work in the UK, because you can’t go very far so you can always just turn around and go home again,” producer and director Leon Chambers says. “So the idea grew out of that challenge and my love of US indie movies like ‘Juno,’ ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Sideways.’ I came upon the idea of the driver being a learner, and I realized she would need a ‘responsible adult’ and the idea of the odd couple was born. The title came about when I was flying home from New York and it was raining hard and when I arrived in London and it was
raining there too. But all the time we were above the clouds, it was always sunny.” The filmmakers: Leon Chambers, producer and director; Simon Lord, screenwriter. The principal actors: Naomi Morris, Andrew Murton and Philip Jackson. Awards it has won: Narrative Audience Award Austin Film Festival 2018; Best Actress Naomi Morris and Best Director Leon Chambers, Oxford International Film Festival 2019; Best International Feature, Regina International Film Festival 2019. Next place it can be seen after
FFF: Santa Cruz Film Festival, Ridgefield Independent Film Festival, Margate Film Festival (the UK seaside town where the film is set) and Naples (Florida) Film Festival. It will be released on video on demand in December.