Icharus Broken - OUT NOW ON DVD!

Baz Bamigboye, entertainment columnist for the UK national newspaper 'The Daily Mail' gave this critique on Icharus Broken, 22nd December 2006.

Watch out for Lucy Garner, Charlotte Hunter, Michael Keogh, Tom Sawyer, Lis Shahlavi, Philip Clayton Smith and Cassandra Williamson who star in director and actor Tom Wilton’s full-length feature film, Icharus Broken. Mr Wilton bankrolled the project himself on a budget of £1,600, which included feeding the cast and crew at his home every day.

The result is an intense drama, using the time-switching style of 21 Grams, about various couples connected by love, drugs, murder and loss.

Mr Wilton also stars in the film as a young man just released from jail, and it becomes clear someone close to him betrayed him.

There’s a raw energy about this film…

The Courier, 5th February 2007. Article by Hannah Boylin.

Spotlight on… Tom Wilton

"Tom who" I hear you say? If you don't already know then this is one chap that you most definitely should check out. With a number of gems already under his belt, Wilton has just pre-released his second full-length film, Icharus Broken; a fractured love story, which examines the heart-wrenching consequences of love, death and the pursuit of happiness. It chronicles the route of several different lives as they intertwine and break down, with the inherent message that life is hard. However, it hasn't been a smooth ride for Mr Wilton either. He originally started out as an actor, but work was sparse and hard to come by. As Tom explains, "it was then that I thought I'd write a script, and well, I got sucked into it all from there. I'm an accidental film maker". It is in this way that he began to unravel film making from outside the traditional routes. Six years later his first film, Nightbird, was completed and since then, it has been hard to keep this fella down. "I want to be in a position of appearing in, making and distributing my own films within the next few years", smiles Tom. However, maintaining a day-job and a sense of normality alongside these ambitions has proven more than frustrating: "It's been a long and hard trek so far…But when I do get great responses to my work, it makes it worth the tears, stress and debt it's taken".

Indeed, response should be good. With influences including Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Shane Meadows and Tarantino, we do not expect anything short of sheer class. Wilton's films are best described as "lo-fi, character pieces". Or, as Tom explains, "you could just say hand-held film making mixing far out concepts with human condition stories". Typically, they indulge in random edits, sharp, swift scene changes, long yet claustrophobic shots, and extended moments of silence: simple effects that wield an incredible command. However, it is not just shrouded in grey skies, but inherently comic. His shorts are openly humorous: Colin Can't Be Killed and Kate Heart Craig are two little darlings with an almost burlesque take on the chasing of dreams and the unsuspecting dreamer. In his full-length films, Wilton's humour is dark, dry and so subtle that it stands precariously balanced between sadness and outright comedy. The mesmerizing power of this effect leaves the audience numb; should we laugh? Or should we cry? The ethereal elements of such work are so deeply rooted in reality – so tantalizingly close to our own experience – that it is difficult to pass judgement with blatant outward expression. Instead, we are thoroughly moved and experience a feeling of uncompromising awe. The ordinary is captured so beautifully and manipulated so devastatingly that we can do little else than watch: life is indeed hard it has just kicked us in the face.

It is fair to say that Tom Wilton is a unique storyteller, telling unique stories. Pop along to bringitgiveitfilms.com and see for yourselves. This is one story that must be read: one man's fractured tale of talent and unyielding dedication. We can only sit back and look forward to the day when that cast comes off and this passion is free from restraint.

Evening Telegraph, December 6th, 2007

A film-maker who turned his back on London to work in Derby is now winning awards.

Tom Wilton's feature film, Icharus Broken, won Best International Film at the Detroit Film Festival. The film, described by him as a "cross between Crash and Traffic", is now being released on DVD in America.

The 29-year-old, of Sitwell Street, Spondon, moved to Derby five-and-a-half years ago. Originally from London, Mr Wilton said that he moved to the city because it was easier to make films here.

He said that he had received invaluable help and advice from East Midlands Media - and that he would have had to compete with hundreds of other film-makers for assistance in London.

He said: "It made sense to move here. There are lots of good film-makers in Derby and it's a good place to be.

"I wouldn't have had access to the same resources in London - there, you're just one of hundreds of film-makers."

Mr Wilton said that details had not yet been finalised about how much money he would be getting from his DVD contract but that it would "see him right for a while" and allow him to make more films.

After Icharus Broken's success at the festival, the film enjoyed a small-cinema run in the US and is due to be released on DVD there in the New Year.

Independent film-maker Mr Wilton wrote and shot the film with his cameraman, Phil West, in 2006. It took them eight days to shoot and cost just £1,600 to make.

The film fought off stiff competition to scoop the award.

Mr Wilton said: "We were up against films that had budgets running into millions of pounds.

"It was exhilarating. We'd been rejected by 15 other festivals and this one was our last - we thought we'd have one last go."

The film also received a special commendation at the Dereel Film Festival, in Melbourne, Australia.

The city centre, Spondon and Duffield form the backdrop for the film, which Mr Wilton describes as an "emotional drama".

"It's about several lives that all link in with each other. The best way to describe it is as a cross between Crash and Traffic," he said.

The film features actors from the city and the soundtrack was written and performed by musician Jonny Hill, also of Spondon.

Three of the 11 members of the cast are from Derby and Mr Wilton said that he recruited them by getting in touch with casting directors and agencies.

Mr Wilton, who trained as an actor in Kent before moving into film-making, also appears in the 90-minute film.

He said that he thought that the film went down well in America because people could relate to the story.