brett@o-region.co.uk
Weekend Retreat is a multi award-winning Cornish black comedy.
“a darkly comic twist on the domestic hostage situation... adds momentum to the Cornish new wave” David Parkinson, Empire Online
Weekend Retreat is a darkly comic thriller set in an isolated house in the picturesque Cornish countryside. Karen Campbell has brought her husband Duncan away for a “quiet weekend”, a chance to communicate and rebuild their fractured marriage. Duncan plays along but seems distant. During their first night they’re taken hostage by Kevin and Gary Tregidger, estranged brothers desperate for money who thought the house was empty. Gaffer taped back to back the Campbell’s marriage is pushed to the limit while the Tregidger’s can’t stop bickering long enough to get the job done. As the weekend draws on the stakes are raised as secrets are revealed and body parts are lost.
Produced by Denzil Monk (Happy Christmas) and Simon Harvey (The Midnight Drives) the film stars Esther Hall (Rome, Waking The Dead, Spooks) Dominic Coleman (Psychoville, Special People, Clubbed) and Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy, The Football Factory, Dean Spanley).
Winner The Golden Chough Cornwall Film Festival 2011
Shortlisted LOCO Discovery Award 2012
Winner Best Director London Independent Film Festival 2012
Official Selection Breakthrough London UK Film Focus
Shortlisted Best Feature Cannes In A Van Awards 2012
Winner Best Actress Bootleg Film Festival Edinburgh 2013
Winner Best Film Bootleg Film Festival Edinburgh 2013
Shortlisted Best Feature Berlin Independent Film Festival 2013
Shortlisted Feature Length Drama Celtic Media Festival 2013
Winner Best Director International Film Festival of Wales 2014
Winner Best Action Sequence or Choreography at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Supporting Actor Dudley Sutton at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Comedy at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Costumes at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Editing at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Hair and Make Up at the Global Independent Film Awards
Best Production Design at the Global Independent Film Awards
Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Global Independent Film Awards
Independent Spirit Award at the Global Independent Film Awards
2nd Place Write Shoot Cut Two Minutes Silence Competition 2013
Official Selection Cornwall Film Festival 2013
Official Selection London Short Film Festival 2014
Winner “Best Professional film” Viewfinder Film Festival 2008
In competition CELTIC MEDIA FESTIVAL 2008
Plymouth BBC Big Screen December 2009
BUSHO Festival Budapest 2010
ARTKINO Festival Moscow 2010
2nd place CUT! ZONE HORROR short film competition.
Broadcast on PROPELLER TV 29/10/08
In competition ABERTOIR HORROR FESTIVAL 2008
Winner of “Film of the Festival” 2003 at The Cornwall Film Festival.
Winner of “Best Film of the Festival” at the 2005 Fresh Five Festival in Bristol.
Brett Harvey is a writer and director based in Cornwall. His short film work has won awards at The Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films, Fresh Five Festival, Viewfinder Festival, Cornwall Film Festival, Frightfest, Total Film Magazine and he was the Southwest Regional Finalist in the Orange 60 Seconds of Fame competition at the BAFTA’s in 2008. He’s directed promo’s for o-region, Kneehigh Theatre Company, Enjoy Truro, Plymouth Theatre Royal, Freefall Dance Company, Cscape Dance Company and Theatre Damfino. His first feature film Weekend Retreat won the Golden Chough award at the Cornwall Film Festival 2011, Best Director at the London Independent Film Festival 2012, Best Actress and Best Film at the Bootleg Film Festival 2013, Best Director at the International Film Festival of Wales 2014 and 9 awards at the Global Independent Film Awards. His second feature film Brown Willy was released into cinemas in 2016. It played in international film festivals and The New Statesman described it as “Cornwall’s answer to Withnail and I”.
Featured on Clashmusic.com
Featured on avclub.com
A short (ish) documentary about the past and the future of the Pydar Street area in Truro.
Entrepreneurs de pointe – Leading from the edge – Bretagne – Cornwall.
40 entrepreneurs, 20 films, 2 regions at the edge of Europe. Made by a team of film makers on both sides of the channel, these 20 paired portraits provide a new perspective on Brittany and Cornwall. Who are the people doing business at the end of the land? What are their stories and is there any resemblance?
I was lucky enough to be the director of the Cornish crew on this project. We shot and edited throughout 2014. You can view the whole collection here.
The Kneehigh Cookbook is a huge online education resource.
I was privileged enough to shoot behind the scenes footage while they were creating their new show 946 in Summer 2015. I made 20 behind the scenes films which are scattered throughout the website. Click here to have a look around. It's well worth your time!
