Solidago, 2021
Written and Directed by Jerusha West / Co-created and Co-written with Geoff Hazelton-Swales / Produced by Megan Townley-Wakelin and Sara Pagliaro / DOP Morgan K. Spencer / Edited by Catriona Delbridge / Cast includes: Rosemary Boyle, Rose Keegan, Priya Blackburn and Ziggy Heath
TRAILER | WATCH FULL FILM HERE
Recollecting her youth in the 1960s, Edith looks back on Solidago, an all-female rural community she was sent to in order to give birth to a child conceived outside of marriage.
The film is a part-fictionalised response to the decade’s surge in extra-marital births and newborn adoption rates, dubbed the Baby Scoop Era. Told solely in voice over, Solidago hopes to give voice to the many that have been silenced, and reopen a dialogue.
Solidago was shot in colour - on analogue 16mm film, using ARRI and Bolex cameras - depending almost entirely on Suffolk’s hazy natural light. The lingering shots and slow visual pace cherish the fertile landscape, and reflect nostalgically on the 1960s saturation. The fabric and wood set designs emphasise the era’s affinity with craft and the handmade, as well as the sustainable aims of the project, which saw the costumes naturally dyed and bleached. Solidago’s distinctive world is indebted to director Jerusha West’s fine art background.
Solidago was selected for Leiden Shorts 2022, Suffolk Shorts 2022 and GRRL HAUS Festival 2022. It was featured on Girls In Film, Minute Shorts, Wul Collective, Kodak Shoot Film and chosen to appear in the editor’s choice section of BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine (March 2022 Edition).
Serviced by Kodak Motion Picture Film and Goldcrest Films.
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Recollecting her youth in the 1960s, Edith looks back on Solidago, an all-female rural community she was sent to in order to give birth to a child conceived outside of marriage.
The film is a part-fictionalised response to the decade’s surge in extra-marital births and newborn adoption rates, dubbed the Baby Scoop Era. Told solely in voice over, Solidago hopes to give voice to the many that have been silenced, and reopen a dialogue.
Solidago was shot in colour - on analogue 16mm film, using ARRI and Bolex cameras - depending almost entirely on Suffolk’s hazy natural light. The lingering shots and slow visual pace cherish the fertile landscape, and reflect nostalgically on the 1960s saturation. The fabric and wood set designs emphasise the era’s affinity with craft and the handmade, as well as the sustainable aims of the project, which saw the costumes naturally dyed and bleached. Solidago’s distinctive world is indebted to director Jerusha West’s fine art background.
Solidago was selected for Leiden Shorts 2022, Suffolk Shorts 2022 and GRRL HAUS Festival 2022. It was featured on Girls In Film, Minute Shorts, Wul Collective, Kodak Shoot Film and chosen to appear in the editor’s choice section of BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine (March 2022 Edition).
Serviced by Kodak Motion Picture Film and Goldcrest Films.
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