Project Detail

Fanny Lye Deliver'd

Synopsis

1657. Fanny and John Lye and their young son Arthur live lives of Puritan stricture on a remote Shropshire farm in a valley beside a forest. Once a Captain in the English Civil War, now a firm believer in Oliver Cromwell’s republic, John suffers a game leg and therefore it is Fanny who must carry out most duties around the farm, taken for granted by both husband and son.
One morning, when the family are out at church, two uninvited visitors take refuge in their barn: the charismatic Thomas Ashbury and his young ‘wife’ Rebecca Henshaw, who come running from the forest naked as Adam and Eve. Thomas tells a story of robbery by vicious highwaymen. Although suspicious, John offers clothes and shelter for the night - which satisfies Fanny’s compassionate nature.
Whilst the young couple are polite, almost obsequious at first, soon Thomas’ carefree manner can’t help but reveal itself: he makes seductive eyes at Fanny and then draws Arthur into a food fight, for which - despite Thomas’ protestations - the house patriarch disciplines both wife and child. The next day, as Thomas and John coppice wood, Rebecca accidentally reveals to Fanny that she and Thomas are unmarried.
Soon after, three more strangers approach the farm: a Sheriff and his Deputy, accompanied by the local Constable, hunting members of a blasphemous ‘Ranter’ sect. From here, events quickly escalate in ways that will change all their lives forever.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Official Competition - World premiere
Big Screen Competition, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020

Details

Year
2019
Type of project
Features
Running time
110 min
Director
Thomas Clay
Producer
Zorana Piggott
Co-Producer
Robert Cannan, Philippe Bober, Michel Merkt, Joseph Lang
Executive Producer
Thomas Clay, Lizzie Francke, Celine Haddad, Richard Holmes, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross
Editor
Thomas Clay
Screenwriter
Thomas Clay
Director of Photography
Giorgos Arvanitis
Production Designer
Nenad Pecur
Sound
Thomas Clay, Steven Bond, Vincent Watts, Konrad Kassing
Principal cast
Maxine Peake, Tanya Reynolds, Charles Dance, Freddie Fox, Zak Adams

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

UK, Germany co-production

A PullBack Camera (UK) production in co-production with Essential Filmproduktion (DE)

Pull Back Camera Ltd

49 Berriedale Avenue
Hove
BN3 4JG

Sales Company

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