Battle Over Britain film set to premiere at Grantham’s Savoy Cinema will showcase the ‘toll war has on people’

A Lincolnshire-based director shares what it was like behind the scenes of his latest war film ahead of its premiere.

Battle Over Britain, a World War Two drama that recounts the battle of soldiers defending their country against Nazi Germany, is set to premiere at Grantham’s Savoy Cinema on Wednesday, November 29.

Director and producer Callum Burn, from Sleaford, talks about filming entirely in Lincolnshire and how the motion picture shows audiences the “toll war has on people”.

He said: “We came to this idea from the 1969 film Battle of Britain, which is more about the events of the battle.

“Our idea is more of a personal take on that story, which is something all of our films are like.

“They focus on the characters and the mental toll of war.

“It’s about how the men deal with loss, the loss of losing friends and how they deal with people who would come in one day and die the next.”

Being local to Lincolnshire, Callum chose the county as the film’s main location due to its RAF prominence.

He said that the county was full of people who are “passionate” about the subject, so there were “people more willing to help with this project”.

Callum added: “Lincolnshire is also very flat so you got nice long days filming there.”

He also discussed the budgetary challenges that his crew came across during the filming process.

“Being a low budget film, you have to do multiple jobs,” explained Callum.

“Filming on location as well is always difficult because you can’t control the weather or crowds of people watching.”

However, a highlight for Callum was seeing the film come together.

He said: “When you are on set, you get the actor in costume in front of the camera, and there is a huge amount of joy you get because you are seeing the film come together.

“Again, for a low budget film you have to film it quickly so you see it come together quite quickly.

“So it’s really exciting! We were very lucky on this shoot because everyone got along very well and everyone was really passionate about the film and project.

“They put in 110 per cent and it was probably the most enjoyable shot I have been on because everyone really pulled together and wanted to make the best film possible.”

From a young age, Callum has been “obsessed with the idea of filmmaking”.

He shares a passion for film with his father Andrew, who was also a producer on the film.

Ahead of its premiere, Callum hopes audiences will be “touched by the story”.

He added: “I think we can learn from it.

“Audiences can learn the toll war has on people and I think in the case of World War Two, the old classical war films in the 50s and 60s didn’t really show the emotional toll, so I think it’s something that should be shared.”

To buy tickets for Battle Over Britain, visit https://savoygrantham.co.uk/SavoyGrantham.dll/Booking?.

The film will begin at 7.30pm and is followed by a Q&A.