Dust & Waltz

The People Behind The Film

At three minutes (including titles) you would think that Dust & Waltz would be a pretty trivial affair. Instead we learn about the love, the relationship, the history and the future of a couple deeply connected. It is a lot of information crammed into a short space of time. Yet somehow the film manages to have space for long, thoughtful silences, beautiful music and dance. If the TARDIS in Dr. Who was a film, it would be Dust & Waltz.

The writer / director is Darren Bransford (who looks approximately 8? years younger than he is). We met him at his shared flat, decorated in a cozy, modern style with his father’s artwork displayed on the walls. It looked immaculate – showing the ordered mind of a successful actor and director.”Actually, I’ve just run around tidying up,” he said.

We had a restriction of 3 minutes for this competition entry

We were very lucky to have Sarah Lamesch, who played Stella, present as well. Sarah, like her character, exudes a calm strength. Meeting her helps us to understand that some actors just have that intensity that is often a marker of ability.

We wanted to know about the acting process, and how Darren managed to create such a sense of space and epic cinema in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.

German cinema very much allows time for just.. silence

Partly because of the acting style and also the directing choices, Dust & Waltz feels very continental. Darren is a massive fan of German cinema and in particular Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). He is even teaching himself the language and hoping to do a degree all with the final goal of a career in the land of cheap rent and good bread. Darren is known in the UK for his turn on soap Hollyoaks which he joined, after a ten year acting career, aged twenty playing Nick O’Connor.

You could really see what he wanted from the scene.

Sarah trained in dance at the conservatoire before deciding that “dancers are crazy” and that she’d much rather work as an actress. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire! Sarah praises Darren’s clear directing style. And it paid off. Among others, Dust & Waltz has been accepted into the Official Selection in the St. Alban’s Film Festival and the Mile End Short Film Festival. We congratulate Darren, Sarah and the rest of the cast and crew with this film and hope to feature more of their work.