WHY I HAD TO MAKE MY FILM IN BRISTOL

THE old Brooks Dye works, Avonmouth Bridge, the Wills Memorial Building, Birdcage Walk in Clifton, Trenchard Street car park, Greenbank Cemetery – these are just some of the locations a discerning Bristol audience member might spot as they sit through Eliminate: Archie Cookson.

The new espionage thriller was completely filmed in Bristol – as director Rob Holder returned to his West Country roots.

Rob was born in Clifton and lived there for about ten years before moving to North Somerset, then after going through film school and working in London for a while he returned to live in Bedminster.

“Many of the locations used in the film were places that I had walked through or had a connection with when I was a kid,” said Rob, 32. “My Dad was a lecturer at Bristol University and I think the imposing architecture and labyrinthine layout of the Wills building really imprinted itself on my mind.

“We re-visited the university as the cover location of Archie’s secret translation department. You can really believe there might be something covert lurking under the enormous corridors and musty books.”

Eliminate: Archie Cookson is about a forgotten spy who, after mysteriously receiving incriminating tape recordings, must evade those who want him dead and bring the implicated men to justice.

The film is the first Rob has written – he had been working as a cameraman in the film industry for a number of years but had never shaken the desire to direct. So he decided to make a movie.

“I had no idea that I would actually achieve it,” he said. “Having never written a film before, I decided that I would need some isolation to get started. Myself and two friends travelled to Scotland and stayed in a small cottage on the edge of a loch for three weeks. Without TV, mobiles or internet, I managed to get down 60 pages of what would eventually be

He returned to Bristol several years before the film was finally shot last year to scout the city for buildings and other locations to use.

“Bristol has some amazing architecture and outdoor spaces,” said Rob. “Everything we needed was here and the majority of people just pass them by on a daily basis because they see them so often.

“The support and generosity of the people of Bristol meant that we managed to secure almost all of the locations that I had had in mind when writing the film.

“I genuinely don’t believe that we could have made the film anywhere else.”

The locations and director are not the only thing about the film that are Bristolian – many of the rest of the cast and crew, including executive producer David Bunker, are also from Bristol, and the film was entirely financed from the area.

It stars Paul Rhys, who played Ivan the vampire in Bristol-filmed TV series

And the score for the film was composed by Bristol musician David Hamill, which was played by the Bristol Ensemble.

“One of the enduring memories from

“We were let into the locked building by someone we didn’t recognise before being ushered towards the main concert hall – all very cryptic!

“Suddenly, some amazing music exploded from beyond the doors. It took me an age to realise that this was the score for my film.

“I had signed off the composition with David weeks earlier on his studio computer but it was a totally different experience listening to the Bristol Ensemble play it live.

“We all sat there, grinning like lunatics for the entire session.”

The film premiered at a prestigious British film festival earlier this year – the Minghella Film Festival in the Isle of Wight.

“It received an amazing reception and the team mingled with Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Bonneville and Duncan Kenworthy, the producer of

“We hope to have more screenings nationwide in the autumn,” said Rob. “And we would love as many Bristolians to be able to see the film as possible. We will be sure to let everyone know when it is available in the cinema or on DVD. It would complete a journey for me if we were able to play the film in the Watershed because it is the cinema that first lit my burning interest in film and storytelling.”

But even as

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