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PENNYWORT

By Rebekah FORTUNE

Drama - Completed 2020

On the isolated Lincolnshire fens, a young woman struggling to process her recent Asperger's diagnosis discovers a life-affirming talent for animation: an empowering, magical talent.

- Year of production
- 2020
- Genres
- Drama, Social issues, Animation
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Budget
- 0 - 0.3 M$
- Duration
- 17 mn
- Director(s)
- Rebekah FORTUNE
- Writer(s)
- Laura TURNER
- Cast
- Elinor MACHEN-FORTUNE, Eleanor HAM, Ciera JONES, Olivia AARON
- Producer(s)
- Clare PEARCE (Lost Eye Films Ltd)
- Synopsis
- The Lincolnshire fens: a beautiful, barren land. 22-year-old Freya is a talented artist. Inspired by the strange creatures of rural folklore, Freya has ambitions of art school. But she struggles to let people see her work, fearing judgement. Freya is hiding a deeper secret, struggling to process her recent diagnosis of Aspergers’ syndrome, taking refuge in her imagination instead.
  
  Freya’s tutor tells her she needs to impress in her art school application. Freya is scared. Routine keeps her safe: her best friend Beth, working in a coffee shop, her favourite customer, pensioner William. People look at Freya weirdly and she knows it, hates it. It reaches a crisis when Freya defends William from bullies, ending up in a fight that her brother gets involved in when he tries to stand up for her. Her mum tries to soothe, but Freya feels defeated. She must change, stop herself from being so weird. She destroys her drawings.
  
  Freya tries to embrace “normal” life, accepting an invite to the pub. There, Freya freaks out, overwhelmed by the crush of people, the claustrophobia, her own drawings coming to life all around: strange, twisted incarnations of her sketches. Freya flees. She seeks refuge on the marsh; the creatures pursue her. She must do the seemingly impossible. She must embrace her own true self - her creative, artistic spirit - to battle her demons. In a magical, passionate sequence of self-identification and empowerment, Freya stakes a claim for who she is, vanquishing the darkest creations of her own mind, enabling her to then submit her best work for her art school application. Freya can finally start to own her life and her future.