EIFF 2015: Video interview - Blood Cells' Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull

Filmmaker Martin Smith introduces the team behind new British film, Blood Cells, following its screening at the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

ReelScotland asked me if I was interested in talking with my favourite filmmakers from this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, and when I heard that Blood Cells from directing duo Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull was to have its UK Premiere at the festival I was keen to speak to them about their process and how they brought to the screen such an ambitious project.

They have produced a mesmerising film, beautifully realised, which clearly shows the value of a long term collaboration with cinematographer David Procter and features a cast drawn from actors and non-actors alike.

The lead role is played by Barry Ward, whose Adam is a drifter, cut off from his community. He embarks on a road trip across the length and breadth of England, navigating a past that he struggles to escape.

The role subverts the expectations in many ways, drawing a rewardingly rich portrait of a man on the fringes of society. Haunted by the effects of foot-and-mouth epidemic of the 80s and a past which he is scared to revisit, Adam drifts from park bench to sofa, gunning his way awkwardly across the country, relying on the sanctuary of friends, family and strangers.

The film's exquisite sound design, a blend of eerie music and field recorded sound effects have been meticulously constructed by Seomore to bring a rich atmosphere to Adam's world, one which owes as much to Herzogian weirdness as the traditions of European social realism.

Seomore and Bull deliver a compelling film, ravishingly shot, which offers a fiercely original, strong new voice in British cinema.