An Oxford graduate’s dream of creating an independent film in her home village of Saundersfoot is coming true, with the help of the local community and a talented ‘family for life’.

The 21-year-old writer, director and producer of Near and Distant Things, Emily Batty, has always lived in Saundersfoot - where the film was shot - and she surrounded herself with local talent for the filming process.

Emily told the Observer:

“We filmed it in 13 days. I am editing the project myself, and plan to work as quickly as possible so that it can be released as soon as possible.

“First, we will have festival runs, then I will be organising local screenings in and around Saundersfoot, before it is released onto Amazon Prime.

“The film is a feature length drama surrounding a widowed fisherman and his family, as he grapples with the grief when his daughter returns home.

“It’s a film highlighting the importance of human connection and community, and how the fear of losing it, hinders our reaching out for it. It’s a bittersweet and heartfelt story that I believe portrays my vision of life in small coastal communities.”

“I wanted this to be as local a production as possible,” she added. “I was also lucky enough to cast the majority locally. There is much local, and much Welsh talent platformed in this project. The same goes with the crew.”

Indeed, Emily ended up working with many people she had gone to school with at Ysgol Greenhill, Tenby. These include six form leaver Louis Bullock (Director of Photography), Daisy Blackwell (runner), and songwriter Kiah Lindsay who is featured on the film’s soundtrack.

Emily announced her plan to create the bittersweet film back in February. She told Dan Metcalf, of Connect: Pembrokeshire:

“After writing ‘Near and Distant Things’, I was fortunate enough to meet Kenneth Lonergan, who wrote and directed Manchester by the Sea, and something I learnt about him is that he is deeply interested in older films, such as Dodsworth (1936) and City Lights (1931). We spent some time watching clips from such films, and it was apparent that these films were deeply focused on human relationships and their complexities, I think this is a fascination I share with Kenny.”

“Filmmaking is hard work, but it is so, so, rewarding,” she added.

Filming took place in July - at the picturesque Saundersfoot Harbour, including on the water, by kind permission of the harbour authority; at Skrinkle on the coast near Manorbier; in the woods; on the beach; in St Bride’s Cottage; and at the Royal Oak in Saundersfoot, where the actors, crew and extras were welcomed by Byron. The cast also headed to St Issell’s Church for one morning of filming.

Describing her colleagues as a ‘family for life’, Emily said she felt “beyond lucky to have had such a wonderful group of people bring this story to life.”

For news of the film’s progress, fundraising updates and details of local screenings, follow ‘Near and Distant Things’ on Instagram and Facebook.