Experiencing Interruptions?

A Letter from Perdition

The Courier is a nomad who has been delivering letters between the few remaining pockets of civilisation on a ruined earth for as long as he can remember. It is a hard, dangerous, solitary existence. Until the arrival of the Stranger...

  • Mark G. McFarlane
    Director
    Talisman, Sometimes, The Quiet Season, Mara
  • Mark G. McFarlane
    Writer
    Talisman, Sometimes, The Quiet Season, Mara
  • Mark G. McFarlane
    Producer
    The Quiet Season, Mara
  • Jimmi Johnson
    Producer
    The Quiet Season, Mara
  • Alex Morrison
    Producer
    Mara
  • Alex Morrison
    Key Cast
    The Red Shoes, Echo, The Maniac Project, Redhook, Sometimes, The Quiet Season
  • Martin Haddow
    Key Cast
    Taggart, Karma Coma, 2014, The Fairy Flag
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama, Supernatural
  • Runtime:
    27 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 27, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    50 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Mark G. McFarlane

Mark G. McFarlane is from the small village of New Cumnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. A former mining village with a rich history, New Cumnock was surrounded by stunning natural beauty that inspired Mark to start pointing a camera at it. . The son of a hard working single mother, Mark escaped from often difficult times into the worlds created by the likes of John Carpenter, David Lynch, and Ridley Scott.
After a dalliance as a graphic designer for a popular high street fashion retailer, Mark fully embraced the filmmaker inside himself, moved to England, and set himself on a path to learn all he could about becoming a better filmmaker, finally earning his BA (Hons) in Media Production.
During this time Mark and his short films were nominated for several Royal Television Society Awards, worked with quality performers such as Clare Grogan, and was considered for the Scottish BAFTA New Talent Award in 2012 for his short film 'Sometimes'.
After a series of small successes and reasonable sized failures, Mark decided to return home to the nourishing atmosphere of his hometown to produce feature film scripts and new short films. His first was the well received 'The Quiet Season', which directly led to the production of 'A Letter from Perdition' filmed entirely in and around his hometown.
Mark is 34, lives in New Cumnock, and is currently hard at work doing pre-production on his first feature film.

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Director Statement

Having recently returned to my hometown, I wanted to express how good it felt to be back by showing off the incredible stark natural beauty of the surrounding countryside. It was on one of my walks in that countryside that I was inspired to return home and immediately begin writing the story of The Courier. Within hours I had a treatment, and within a few more I had my first draft of the script.
I feel very passionate about this project, and it's themes of love, loss, family, and home are extremely important to me. I also wanted to make a film that I could show my cinematic and narrative influences proudly, mixing genres and styles, from Western to Documentary to produce and end result that resonates after the end credits have rolled.
A lot of hard work and endurance was needed to produce the film through a bitterly cold Scottish winter, however both the cast and crew elevated their performances and gritted their teeth through it all, to produce a piece of work that I feel each and every one of them can be proud of.