An Act of Valour

An Act of Valour DVD cover art.

An Act of Valour is a 2010 short film and the directorial debut by the respected English actor Allan Corduner. It was written by Juha Leppäjärvi, and produced by Janet Sate for Caravanserai Productions. The film premiered at the 24th BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in March 2010.

Synopsis

A London gay couple, Kevin and Will, face a grim morning after, anxiously waiting for the next news broadcast. At a police station, Detective Sargeant Russell is trying to pacify Lisa, whose boyfriend seems to be missing. There's a body on a nearby common. Something happened the previous night, but who's going to pick up the pieces?

Cast

Henry Blake as Will & Juha Leppäjärvi as Kevin

• Juha Leppäjärvi as Kevin
• Henry Blake as Will
• Marcus D'Amico as DS Russell
• Victoria Bavister as Lisa
• Gerard Monaco as Jeremy
• Dorian Black (aka Dusty Limits) as Bette Noir
• Kristin McIlquham as PC Harris.

The cast of An Act of Valour mainly consists of members of the Caravanserai Productions and Acting Studio, but also of experienced actors like Gerard Monaco, and most notably Marcus D'Amico, best known for his portrayal of Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver in the Channel 4 adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Director Allan Corduner had previously worked - as an actor - with both D'Amico and Monaco in the West End: with D'Amico in the play The Boys Next Door at the Comedy Theatre, and with Monaco in the revival of A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Production Background

Writer and actor Juha Leppäjärvi was inspired to write An Act of Valour after a news-story some years back. He kept developing the script at Caravanserai Acting Studio, of which he is one of the original founding members, through read-throughs with other members and the resulting feedback.

For a character-driven piece like this, Leppäjärvi specifically wanted a director who understands how to direct actors, so he persuaded his partner, the respected stage and screen actor Allan Corduner, to direct and lend his long acting experience to the project.

The film was mainly financed by money generated through a fund-raising event in September 2009 at Royal Vauxhall Tavern, where the host Dorian Black aka Dusty Limits chatted on-stage to celebrity guests Ruby Wax, Miriam Margolyes and Belinda Lang.

Originally, Leppäjärvi and Corduner had approached D'Amico with the idea of him playing the drag-queen Bette Noir (a pun on French expression bête noire). However, it was eventually agreed he should play DS Russell instead. Dorian Black was then asked to play Bette.

References

1. http://www.caravanseraiproductions.com

External links

• An Act of Valour at IMDb