Turner Prize nominee Rory Pilgrim describes his pink & green, produced by Danielle Guirguis of Amsterdam-based Smarthouse, as “socially-engaged British cinema” that “reflects the urgent realities of life in the UK, but always with a commitment to hope.”
The film is set on the island of Portland, off the south coast of England, a place both beautiful and windswept but steeped in poverty, and the location of two prisons. In the film we meet troubled teenage besties Amy and Katy, and Jake, an inmate fighting to cope with life behind bars. When two mysterious orbs, one pink, the other green, emerge from the bowels of the earth, they instil a greater sense of hope and optimism, both in the core protagonists but also the wider community who step forward to offer support.
“pink & green is difficult to put into one box, and I think that is one of its main strengths,” producer Guirguis tells Business Doc Europe. “It deals with the systems we uphold as a society, and how they can keep people trapped within them. But it is not an issue-driven hybrid documentary in the conventional sense. Rory approaches that reality through music, drawings, and elements of magical realism, creating a film that is ultimately about connection, listening and the possibility of repair.”
“For audiences, I think its strength lies in the fact that a very complex and often quite harsh subject becomes personal and emotional, and magical in a way,” she continues. “There is humour, friendship, music and imagination alongside the more difficult realities.”
The Smarthouse producer is confident that partners will respond to the film’s “very clear artistic voice – it can travel across film festivals, art cinema and cultural institutions.”
Director Pilgrim adds how “creating such imaginative spaces is, for me, the vital function of film. As an artist, I combine ‘kitchen sink’ realism with the spiritual and symbolic.”
“For years I’ve drawn sonic orbs; bubbles that protect but are fragile,” he adds. “pink & green uses these orbs to represent both imagination and the need for real-world structures of support, especially for those in prison. On Portland, many are from marginalised communities, disproportionately affected by systemic violence.”
The 85-minute film, co-produced with Tyke Films (UK), has a mooted delivery date of May 2027. Financiers on the project are the Netherlands Film Fund (NL), Mondriaan Fonds (NL), Fonds 21 (NL), Vleeshal (NL), Stimulerings Fonds Creatieve Industrie (NL), Between Bridges Foundation (DUI) and the British Film Institute (UK). Dutch distribution will be handled by Cinema Delicatessen.
“Rory’s strength lies in bringing together film, music, drawings and collaborative practice in a way that feels completely organic,” Guirguis adds. “Music in particular has always been central to their work, giving the film an important emotional language. Another strength is Rory’s way of working with people. Their practice is rooted in long-term collaboration, dialogue and creating a space in which people can speak for themselves. Working with people who bring their own lived experience to the film, that sense of trust and being genuinely listened to is essential.”
“And then there is Portland,” the producer reminds. “A beautiful island where extraordinary landscapes, centuries of quarrying and a very visible prison system exist side by side. Rory partly lives there and describes the film as a love letter to the island. That tension between beauty, extraction and confinement is also one of the strengths of the story.”
She further stresses how sound and music are key elements within the narrative architecture of the film. “The songs, environmental sound and the recurring sonic presence of pink and green gradually connect characters and spaces that initially seem separated from one another. Visually and sonically, we want the film to feel both grounded and slightly otherworldly.”
Guirguis won’t be in Utrecht for NLWave as shooting is continuing over in Portland. Nevertheless, she is keen to fix a festival premiere. “NLWave is mainly about international positioning and building relationships,” she tells BDE. “Moving between art, film and music, we are interested to see how international programmers and sales agents respond to that hybridity, where they see the film travelling.”
“While pink & green is a film very much about people, the relationship with nature, time and our environment is also essential,” Pilgrim concludes. “The island itself is central. Its scarred, quarried landscape mirrors the wounds in our social fabric. Through song and sound, Portland will become a character, giving voice to the land and echoing our need for care, both human and environmental.”
