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The Lost Palace

The Lost Palace is a ghost story set in 1943 in the dilapidated manor of Great Ashfield House. When two disparate worlds collide, the boundaries between the living and the dead blur, leading to an exploration of mortality's enigmatic nature.

  • Frederick John Philip Shelbourne
    Director
  • Edward Spreull
    Director
  • Lucy Alana Andia
    Director
  • Lucy Alana Andia
    Writer
  • Lucy Alana Andia
    Producer
  • Saskia Wakefield
    Key Cast
    "Ivy Hollond"
  • Eleanor Griffiths
    Key Cast
    "Elsie Hollond"
  • Caroline Maroney
    Key Cast
    "Kate"
  • Juliet Dante
    Key Cast
    "Mrs Hollond"
  • Edmund Dehn
    Key Cast
    "Gardener"
  • Estefania Carpio
    Cinematographer
  • Emily Marquet
    Art Director
  • Wilf Jevons
    1st AC
  • Jack Brookes
    2nd AC
  • Caterina Castro
    Gaffer
  • Deborah Oluwa-Lajuwomi
    Spark
  • Louis Wearing
    Sound
  • Caitlin Ross
    Hair & Makeup
  • Lorraine Kinman
    Costume
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    13,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:5
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Frederick John Philip Shelbourne, Edward Spreull, Lucy Alana Andia

Freddie Shelbourne trained at Fellini’s Cine Città Studios in Rome. He went on to assist Woody Allen and Darius Khondji in the camera department. He moved to London in 2017 and established an independent production company that currently specialises in creating bespoke content for artists, museums and galleries. He spent the last year in Mexico City, pursuing a a long-form documentary (in production) about the artist Bosco Sodi and a short creative documentary (in post production) about the photographer Sergio Yazbek.

Lucy Andia discovered a love of storytelling while working as an archaeologist in Southeast Asia - curating exhibitions in local museums about her team's prehistoric findings. Her filmmaking career began in the curatorial department of Royal Collection Trust, where she produced short documentaries about the decorative arts. She now co-directs an independent production company with Freddie, specialising in short documentaries for the arts. She is currently co-directing a long form documentary with Freddie about the Mexican artist Bosco Sodi and is writing her first horror feature screenplay.

Edward Spreull stated his career in New York studying 8mm & 16mm Film at NYFA, then going on to be trained by under the wing of Daniel Barber (Director of Harry Brown) who guided him before going freelance.

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Director Statement

Late last summer at Great Ashfield House Freddie, Edward and Lucy came across a letter in a drawer. The letter was dated 1943 and written by a WW2 Land Girl. In the letter, the Land Girl described her experience visiting Great Ashfield House to record its contribution to the war effort. Entering the grounds, she wrote that she entered a world that seemed to exist outside of time, a “lost palace.” There she encountered three extraordinary women, Mrs Hollond and her daughters. Our short film is inspired by this meeting of worlds.

Edward Spreull grew up in Great Ashfield House, surrounded by objects left behind by the Hollond women. The result of a strange series of events involving a baby seal, his grandfather and a request for goat’s milk, the house was left to his family, with the understanding that they would preserve and protect its structure and contents. Through Edward, we have all become fascinated by the original occupants of the house, studying their letters, scrapbooks and photographs, and imagining what their lives were like when they lived alone in the “lost palace.” Filming in Great Ashfield House and using the original furnishings to complement and inform set dressing, our film is an attempt to bring to life a world that already feels very alive to us.