Private Project

Life in Colors

Life in Colors' follows a few brief moments in the lives of two women from the United Kingdom in the 1940's, it takes us on a journey of their passion, love and desire to be together in a world that is against that love.
In a world where both men and woman are forced to conform to a society these two women marry men yet their love for each other grows stronger and more dedicated over the two decades.
The women only really ever feel alive and true to themselves when they are together, their world becomes alive with color and happiness once again.
Barbara and Betty live for those brief fleeting moments which leads to the ultimate sacrifice.

  • Mark Margason
    Director
    Man in the mirror
  • Victoria Broom
    Producer
    As Producer -'Threes a shroud' 'its not the winning' 'invasion of the scream queens'
  • victoria broom
    Key Cast
    The Herd, Deranged, ZWOS, Open all night, Stalker, Legacy, The Anomaly
  • Charlotte Hunter
    Key Cast
    Emmerdale, The Herd
  • Baz Salam
    Key Cast
    Man in the mirror
  • Simon Pembroke
    Key Cast
    Shadows End
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    LGBT, DRAMA, PERIOD, womensrights, queercinema, 1940's
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 16, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Shooting Format:
    Red 4K
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • L Fest
    Uttoxeter racecourse, Staffordshire.
    July 17, 2015
    World Premiere
  • Kaledescope Film Festival
    Little Rock , AL
    July 31, 2015
    North American Premiere
  • Meta Queerfest
    Belarusian
    September 2, 2015
  • Barcelona LGBTI Film festival
    Barcelona, Spain
    October 30, 2015
    Barcelona Premiere
  • Visionaria International Film Festival
    Associazione culturale c/o Santa Maria della Scala, Piazza Duomo 2 - 53100 Siena (Italy)
    October 24, 2015
  • Latest TV (UK TV screening)
    UK TV and online (Freeview 8, Virgin 159)
    October 11, 2015
  • Lesbian Oscars
    London
    United Kingdom
    March 1, 2016
    Lesbian OSCAR for Best Short Film
Director - Mark Margason
Director Statement

When Victoria told me her idea to create a black and white film with mimimal dialogue , an original score ,being set in the 1940's, and made for the LGBT community I was instantly hooked. That evening 'Life In Colors' really piqued my interest and the story was born.
I had been aware of Victoria's work as an actress many years before and recently we worked together on the film 'Man in the Mirror' , so when Victoria told me she wanted me to directed this film, I jumped at the chance.
Not only does the LGBT community have a strong presence in the short film world, but the difference from todays current society and how homosexual activity was perceived in Britain in the 1940's to now is a different world , and its that message that I wanted to share with the world by making this film. This film delves into a society which was forced to conform to the ways classified as 'normal', in the 1930’s and 40’s this was more than just a stigma, it was a very serious criminal offence, one which carried a huge social taboo, imprisonment and death.
I really felt the film needed to be shot in a certain way to do the story justice and to also do the LGBT community justice, Victoria was adamant on having a cast and crew made up of Gay, Lesbian, Straight and Bisexual men and women who really connected with the story and the purpose of the film, We both agreed subtlety was a key factor in getting the message across, We wanted to avoid sex and nudity and concentrate on the love and intimacy aspect of these two women. We showed the characters struggle through use of flash backs, along with using black and white and colour variation to enhance certain scenes and to really bring out those moments when the women felt most alive.
It was very important to me as a director to really get an essence of the relationship between the two male leads Robert and Harry, their relationship is completely exposed on screen yet it is never shown, never discussed yet it is there. This was very important to both Victoria and I that the intimacy was minimal between the males, yet it was there, this slight moment showed the hypocrisy in a male dominated world, and the disgrace and shame homosexual relations caused to households and families. The aim is to show young (and old) LGBTQ people just how different the times are now, how much support is there for you.

There are many sensitive moments and subjects in this film, we as a LGB and straight cast and crew each took our own journey to make sure we showed these with the respect they deserve.

My hope was to make this story come alive and to do it justice, I hope you can see the passion, dedication and love these two women truly felt for each other