Logline

Birds, nature and countryside. A country road is just a country road until the corpse of the young and beautiful Belle is dumped roadside by an anonymous driver.

The English Dahlia is a film about a rarely used country road, about a passage of time, and about the body of a young murder victim. It's about the significance that is given to certain places because of the grisly events that become forever attached to those places, but it's also about how, ultimately, the world moves on but for only a handful of people.

The film opens on the country road, wildlife and a lone jogger come and go. Then, after night falls, an anonymous driver comes and goes, however, he leaves behind the body of his most recent murder victim. The jogger runs past without realising for several days, and others also pass. Eventually the body is discovered and the police also come and go. With time the road returns to just being a road again, significant to no one but the driver who will always have the memory of the beautiful young victim that left left behind there.

Belle

Belle is the young murder victim who is left in the long grass by the side of a country road. Stripped of both her clothes and, for a time, her identity by the man that murdered her, it takes us awhile to learn anything about Belle at all.

Detective Sergeant Dan Ricard

A world-weary veteran investigator. DS Ricard is approaching the end of his time in the force and he realises it.

Detective Constable Clara Martins

Reluctant protégé to DS Ricard, DC Martins is younger and has yet to prove herself as an investigator. Though they are only separated by one rank, Ricard and Martins are separated by many years of experience which leads to philosophical differences that impact on their working relationship.

Samia

A lone jogger who uses the road for her regular runs, passing the remains of Belle without realising for quite some time before discovering the body.

Noelle

Belle's younger sister who arrives to mourn her deceased sister.

The Driver

Anonymous murderer.

We are asking for investment to cover the cost of production. The money that you invest will contribute towards:

• Location
• Paying performers an equity wage
• Transportation costs
• Catering
• The many props needed for the production

Your money will also contribute towards festival entry fees. Our ambition is to enter the film into Aesthetica Short Film Festival, followed by other prestige film festivals such as the BFI London Film Festival.

"We're not just asking you to invest in a short film, I'm asking you to invest this talented young group of filmmakers. I'm asking you to invest in the potential future of the British film industry. I originally attended film school a decade ago, but I have never been around a more talented group of young filmmakers as I have been while working on this project. Please invest in them" - Director Jamie Stirling

WRITER / DIRECTOR - JAMIE STIRLING

PRODUCER - JESSICA GYAMFI

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - OWEN HUGGETT

HEAD OF POST PRODUCTION - WIKTORIA ZYCH

SOUND RECORDIST - RACHEL MELBOURNE

We hope you like our project and want to be involved. And all that's left to say is...