In the picturesque Pembrokeshire village of Saundersfoot, an exciting creative project is taking shape. Emily Batty, a 21-year-old filmmaker and Oxford University student, is embarking on her first feature film "Near and Distant Things" - a bittersweet story that promises to capture both the beauty and complexity of life in a coastal community.

The project, which will begin filming in July, represents not just a personal milestone for Emily but also an opportunity for the local community to participate in professional filmmaking. With support from her father Simon on production and talented young cinematographer Louis Bullock as Director of Photography, Emily is looking to create something truly special that speaks to both the universal and the deeply local.

Your upcoming film "Near and Distant Things" is described as a bittersweet story set in Saundersfoot. Could you tell us about the films that have influenced your storytelling approach? I noticed Manchester by the Sea among your influences - what drew you to that film's particular way of exploring community and emotional landscape?

There are so many influences within this film. But the funny thing about being inspired is you don't always see where it stems from until you're done! Once I finished the script and started working on the lookbook, I got to reflect on what inspired this story, and Manchester by the Sea was definitely an apparent influence. There are similarities within the landscape, both physical and emotional. Yet I think the main thing that inspired me was the editing. The jumping around in time, using memories to actually propel the story forward.

And of course, there is the portrayal of grief and trauma within the context of human relationships. How it fractures connections, but how it produces this deep desire to be connected, hindered by the fear of losing someone else. 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.

Yet Manchester was not my only inspiration. I adore the work of Mike Flanagan. He writes and directs horrors, but his dialogue is so beautiful. He finds such beauty and humanity within horror and tragedy and I think this is something that is really special. There are so many inspirations and I could go on and on, but I think I'll end on one that is really important to me. Jaws. Some people think this film is just a cheesy blockbuster about a killer shark. But I don't see that. I may be biased as I adore Spielberg's work but Jaws is so clever in its portrayal of male relationships. I think that the relationship between Brody, Quint and Hooper is fantastic. I wanted to capture that dynamic - the tension, the camaraderie, the power play. And Quint's monologue when they're sat around the table on the boat, I just love it! This scene was definitely in my mind for some of my scenes between Joe and his brother Richard.

What made you choose Saundersfoot not just as a filming location, but as an integral part of the story? How do you plan to capture both its romantic qualities and the sense of isolation you've mentioned?

Saundersfoot is where I've always lived, and I think, to at least some degree, it will always be my home. I often think I am creatively inclined because of growing up in such a place. I used to write stories and take photos in the woods and the beach to accompany them - the younger me didn't fully grasp the concept of a screenplay, and I think this was my way of writing visual stories.

The landscape is so beautiful. The beaches and forests can be romantic, peaceful, and enveloping or rugged and expansive... it is so dynamic. I think it often reflects the community here, too. It is a tight-knit, supportive, and a close community, but it's small, and it can be lonely. I think this film is personal to me in many ways, but mostly in this.

I adore Saundersfoot, and I think this film is a love letter to it, but it also addresses some more negative experiences of isolation that I think is largely universal to many living in coastal communities. I want this film to capture that embodied and dynamic experience of coastal landscapes and community while also platforming the inherent beauty in this part of the world.

The relationships in the film do this. They are at once loving and fractured. There is a desire to foster them and run away from them. A desire to connect, and a fear of doing so. The character of Olivia, Joe's late wife, is synonymous with the beauty of the landscape. I wanted nature to be a feminine presence, entangled with that of Olivia; thus making it a beautiful and haunting phenomenon. I think this is something inspired by my Geography studies at Oxford, as in my dissertation I explore human and non-human/nature entanglements as represented through filmmaking. Ultimately though, I hope to illuminate the sense of awe and fear that people may experience in such places.

You mentioned the importance of working with your friend Louis Bullock as Director of Photography. What's your creative vision for the film's visual style, and how are you collaborating to achieve that?

Louis is an incredibly talented filmmaker. He is just finishing his time in sixth form, but he has already created a lot. He has a YouTube series called Embers coming up, and he was the DP on my last short film, Drift. I was over the moon when Louis agreed to be DP for Near and Distant Things, because I feel that he sees things the way I do, and he captures nature in such a cinematic and authentic way.

When I first told Louis about the creative vision for Near and Distant Things, I said that I really liked the visual style of filmmaker Natalie Lynn, to which Louis immediately stated his enthusiasm for this, with Lynn being his main inspiration in his cinematography. So I feel that this project is in safe hands, especially after working together on our last film, Drift.

Ultimately, I want this film to feel warm and timeless, like an old photograph. I want to capture the expansive nature of the landscapes, contrasting with the comforting, or claustrophobic human spaces, such as kitchen tables. I think this film will be really beautiful, and Louis and I are both keen to make the human relationships the focus, with the landscape being the fabric within which they are stitched into.

You're opening up casting to the local community across all age groups. What kind of performances are you hoping to draw out from non-professional actors, and how do you plan to work with them to achieve your vision?

The roles in this film are very real, and very relatable. They are deeply human. I'm looking to draw out the everyday, but I'm also looking to draw out the emotional and the raw. This doesn't mean bawling your eyes out on camera necessarily! I just mean that I am after openness and vulnerability.

So often, it is assumed that people, especially men, are non-communicative and do not feel comfortable expressing emotions. Often, films are expected to be realistic in reflecting that. But that is not what I want to do here. I want to portray characters, especially male characters, who are communicative and open, especially when it comes to difficult conversations. It is a positive example, and there is beauty in this vulnerability.

More than anything, though, I really want local people to get involved. I am not after experience; I am asking those who have a desire to act, to work with me to bring a beautiful, local story to life. There is opportunity for so many people ranging from the age of about 5 to 70! I am not the most experienced filmmaker. I am 21 and filming this between finals and graduation, and this is my first feature film. So, I want to work closely with actors, including first-timers, so we can all help each other to create something meaningful. This will be a team effort. It will be hard work, but so rewarding, and I like to think that we will become a close-knit group of creatives throughout the process, doing something to benefit the local community, as well as inspire young and old to create in the future.

You mention Amazon Prime and also potential local screenings, do you have any plans to submit your work to film festivals?

My current plan is to firstly have local screenings as a way of giving back to the community. It's all well and good making a local film, but I want locals to be at the premiere too! Pembrokeshire has so much potential to be a great place for independent film, so hopefully local screenings could continue to inspire filmmakers in and around Pembrokeshire.

After this, the film will go onto Amazon Prime. But I do want to explore film festivals too. The aim is not to make money from this, but I do think festivals could be a good way for everyone involved to gain exposure, and to show the world that anyone can make a low-budget feature film if they want to!

And beyond this film, you also mention other screenplays. Can you tell us about some of your other ideas and long term ambitions within the film industry?

So filmmaking is all I want to do. I think a large proportion of this passion is in the writing of screenplays, so this is something I will continue to do. I think that after Near and Distant Things I would like to try and book a literary agent to make it easier to get my scripts seen. I like to think that maybe I will sell some scripts, build up a portfolio and maybe one day direct another one of my screenplays on a bigger budget, backed by production companies for example.

I want to continue to tell very human stories, mostly dramas, that are heartfelt and bittersweet. I plan to take some time to focus on creative writing after Near and Distant Things is wrapped and after my graduation to build a portfolio and hopefully book an agent. At the same time, I really want to champion independent filmmaking. I have a dream of starting a club or going into schools and getting kids into filmmaking in and around Wales. Filmmaking is hard work, but it is so, so, rewarding. I love it so much, and I would be delighted to share this passion and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.

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