Princess & Peppernose, directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Darkest Hour), combines music, dance and puppetry in a short fantasy folk tale.

Filmed at the medieval Restormel Castle in Cornwall, one of the most remarkable castles in Britain, the 20-minute short is a beautifully crafted and wonderfully weird film told through the cinematic storytelling vision of Wright, capturing the power of magic, the magic of love and the right to choose who to give your heart to.

Shooting during lockdown with production from Ridley Scott’s RSA Films, cinematography from Wright’s regular collaborator and Academy Award-nominated DP Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina, Atonement), and in collaboration with members of theatre company Kneehigh, Princess & Peppernose was born from Wright’s love of puppetry and wanting to explore a new creative challenge.

“My parents ran and founded the first dedicated puppet theatre in the U.K., and I’ve never made a film with any puppets in it so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to return to those roots and explore what that might be like,” said Wright.

Cinematographer McGarvey added,  “We’ve had great experimental fun making it, working with shadow play, puppetry and the simplest of moving lights. It’s very much back to the filmmaking that I started off doing with a Super 8.”

Wright was afforded complete creative control of the project, allowing the filmmaker to fully express his creative inventiveness. “My only piece of advice for all fledgling filmmakers is that it’s the imagination that is important,” said Wright, “everything else should be at the service of the imagination. Imagination is key.”

Samsung partnered with RSA on the film, with the project being shot entirely on a Samsung Galaxy device. Released ahead of Wright’s feature Cyrano (Haley Bennett, Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn), Princess & Peppernose is screening in Times Square and Piccadilly Circus and now available to watch online.

Credits

Client Samsung Production RSA Films, bicoastal/international, and Kneehigh Theatre, Cornwell, U.K.  Joe Wright, director; Seamus McGarvey, DP; Mike Shepherd, associate director; Carl Grose, script writer; Caspar Delaney, producer; Stuart Butterworth, production manager; Becky Bishop, production coordinator; Algy Sloane, location manager; Liz West, script supervisor; Danny McGrath, 1st assistant director; Sarah Greenwood, production designer; Katie Spencer, set decorator; Jacqueline Durran, costume designer; Sian Miller, makeup artist; James Collins, art director (build only); Catherine Morgan, props maker; Lloyd Vincent, Nick Turnbull, prop master; Danny Edwards, SFX. (Toolbox: stop motion) Editorial Tomasso Gallone, editor. Music Ian Ross, composer & instrumentalist; Mark Aspinall, musical director; John Warhurst, music editor. Cast Princess: Anjana Vasan, Mirequag: Beverly Rudd, King: Paul Hunter, Jeremy: Mike Shepherd. Puppeteers: Sarah Wright, Liz Walker, Nix Wood. Chorus #1-6: Giles King, Syla Goodey, Katy Owen, Scott Folan, Nandi Bhebhe, Omari Douglas.

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