Lou McLoughlan – filmmaker – 16 Years Till Summer
FRED’s Matt Micucci interviews Lou McLoughlan, who made her feature directorial debut with the documentary 16 Years Till Summer, which is screened at the 30th Dok.fest – International Documentary Film Festival Munich in the DOK.international section.
Lou tells us about making that transition between short filmmaking and feature filmmaking. She also tells us about how the project began and what interested her about it.
We discuss with her the importance of building the right atmosphere and having a certain balance of realism and aesthetic to take 16 Years Till Summer to the big screen the right sensibility, especially considering the delicate nature of its story.
16 YEARS TILL SUMMER: After spending 16 years in prison for murder, Uisdean comes home to nurse his father, bringing a dangerous mix of troubled past and big ambition into the lives of those who love him.
Set in a church-going village in the Scottish Highlands, the film follows the redeeming relationships Uisdean builds with the people that need him; his father and his lover, both drawn to the good intentions and ‘new start’ Uisdean promises to bring into their lives.
This achingly beautiful film looks at the scope we have to re-invent ourselves and the stories we develop to make sense of our mistakes. As Uisdean earns the trust of his father, Calum, and lover, Audrey, the film shows how society puts those stories on trial and, far more painfully, how it causes us to question those we love.