Free Spirits
Synopsis
Free Spirits is set in a bar in south London and follows four characters over the course of the hottest day of the summer: bar owner Bandanna Bob, fighting off a takeover bid; his friend Matty, who's having girlfriend trouble; Jimmy, a boxer trying to make a comeback; and aspiring actress Kelly, who likes Bob but is too shy to tell him.
The single location and one-day timespan of the story helped keep costs to the minimum. Principal photography was scheduled for a mere eight days, including interiors in the main location, a Clapham pub. The deal struck with the pub's owners that the crew would arrive at 8am and wrap by 5.30pm each day meant that cast and crew worked at a heroically frenzied pace.
Free Spirits was the lowest-budget feature ever to be completely post-produced at Twickenham Film Studios. In fact, Sir Richard Attenborough was cutting his latest film, Grey Owl, in the room opposite at the time, and his editing staff donated 30,000ft of mag stock to Free Spirits.
Knott's next project is a screenplay for Swedish production company Channel 1; he is also working on a spec feature script called The Googly.
Details
- Year
- 2000
- Type of project
- Features
- Director
-
Oliver Knott
- Composer
- Big Jim Sullivan.
- Dir
- Oliver Knott 1999. 35mm. 86mins. Exec prods: Richard Kilshaw, Mark Jackson. Prods: Oliver Knott, Harry F Rushton. Scr: Knott. DoP: David Byrne. Prod des: Lars Toronto. Ed: Rhino Von Dingo. Main cast: Leon Herbert, Richard Clements, Sally Ann Marsh, Jimmy Flint. Budget: Low. Funding: Private sources.
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Bar Room Productions 1 Atkins Road London SW12 0AA Tel: (44) 20 8673 2129 E-mail: oli@v-max.fsnet.co.uk
Page updates
This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Free Spirits
Director: Oliver Knott
Year: 2000
Set in a bar in South London, Free Spirits is an hilarious, sexy, feel-good and deliciously foul-mouthed comedy following the fortunes of four individuals throughout the course of the hottest day of the summer. Bandana Bob, the Bar owner, is fighting off a takeover bid from a particularly ruthless developer. Matty, Bob's trusty sidekick is having trouble with his furiously maternal girlfriend. Jimmy, a boxer on the comeback trail, is having a hard time supporting his family, not to mention his double crossing manager. Kelly, an aspiring actress, really likes Bob, but being shy, is unsure how to proceed with her amorous desires. And then there's the customers - office girls, clergymen, drug dealers, bald men, salesmen. You won't believe their antics, or reasons for being in the bar. Never will you see a British comedy in quite the same way after seeing Free Spirits. A comedy about being who you want to be, and doing what you want to do . . .
Paper Cut
Director: Jack Sain
Year: 2026
Long-lost siblings meet for dinner. They end the night in drag. By sunrise, a shocking revelation tests the limits of love and acceptance. PAPER CUT is a debut feature from queer British writer-director Jack Sain. Alex has just found Alice - the birth sister he never knew existed - living four tube stops away. He invites her and her boyfriend over for dinner at the comfortable London home he shares with his boyfriend Sasha. Everyone is on their best behaviour. Everyone has rehearsed. By midnight, all four of them are in drag at a queer nightclub. By 5am, something comes to light that none of them can take back. The film puts social satire through an experimental lens, with a propulsive original score and formally adventurous set pieces, including a split-screen sequence. It asks what happens when people who pride themselves on openness are confronted with something they cannot absorb. The cast includes legendary trans actress Adèle Anderson, Olivier Award nominee and longtime member of cabaret trio Fascinating Aïda, and Barney White of ITV's Professor T - pairing established stage and screen talent with brilliant newcomers.
Life Is 4 ½ Metres
Director: Jeevan Singh
Year: 2026
A coming-of-age drama exploring identity, faith and belonging. What begins as an internal conflict develops into an emotional journey that forces the central character to confront what his faith, family and heritage truly mean to him. Inspired by true events, Life Is 4½ Metres is an intimate and heartfelt story about growing up, the bonds between father and son, and the quiet struggles that can shape a young person’s identity. At its heart, the film explores how the traditions we sometimes question can ultimately become the things that connect us most deeply to who we are.