Film • Shoot • Crowdfunding
A couple’s weekend in the hills goes off-track when they have to share a walkers’ hut with an eccentric resident.
Overview
UPPER AIR is an offbeat comedy-drama short set in an iconic Cumbrian landscape.
Synopsis
It’s the end of the summer when Ethan and Sam head into the English Lake District for the weekend looking for some quiet time together. On arrival, they encounter Isaac - an eccentric elderly resident who has made their *bothy of choice his temporary home. Over the course of the day they must navigate this unexpected third-wheel’s quirks while discovering more about his unusual circumstances.
By nightfall, a rapport has formed between the three unlikely bunk-mates, one that puts them in an odd position when, in the early hours of Sunday morning, Isaac’s family comes knocking.
*bothy ~ a small hut or cottage, especially one for housing farm labourers or for use as a mountain refuge.

Release and reception
Upper Air premiered at Manchester International Film Festival, UK.
It played to local audiences at Yorkshire's International Rural Film Festival Hinterlands and at the Osprey Short Film Awards, part of the Keswick International Film Festival. The short was also programmed by festivals outside the UK, receiving nominations and awards.
Cast + Crew
Ethan ~ Louis Cunningham
Sam ~ Eleanor D'Souza
Isaac's Son | Art Dep. ~ Lionel Playford
Isaac ~ Peter Macqueen
Producer | Casting Director
Olivia Bradley
Producer | 1st Assistant Director
Bruno Atkinson
Sound Recordists
Nancy Case
Dylan Byrne
Cinematography | Edit Assistant | Colourist
Ollie Lansdell
Producer | Editor | Writer & Director Production and Funding:
Theodore Simmons Crowdfunded + self-funded
Sound Designer
Guy Henderson
Music
Pecq: Hannah Jacobs, Nicholas O'Brien, Orchestra of St Johns
Associate Producers
Andrew Gale
Seth King
Lakeem Rose
Annie Flynn
Nadine Staes-Polet
Liz Stevenson
Jezian Tudor

"Beautiful, like a strange holiday...
you're lucky to have this place
and these filmmaking possibilities
on your doorstep."
~ Hassan Nazer, British-Iranian Director
Osprey Short Film Awards, Keswick, 2023