Based on the award-winning young adult novel by Meg Rosoff, the feature film How I Live Now is released in UK cinemas this week, with rural Welsh locations standing in for England.
The film tells the story of Daisy, played by Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Hanna) a 16 year old New Yorker, sent to the English countryside one summer to stay with cousins she has never met.
Initially resentful, she soon immerses herself in a dreamy pastoral idyll as she falls madly in love with Edmond (played by George MacKay who also starred in Welsh film Hunky Dory in 2011). When their perfect summer is blown apart by the sudden outbreak of World War Three, the family is separated and Daisy is forced to embark on a terrifying journey in order to be reunited with the boy she loves.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King Of Scotland, The Eagle, State of Play) the filming took place in south Wales for 5 weeks from June to August 2012.
The Wales Screen Commission, part of the Welsh Government’s Creative Sector team, was heavily involved in the film production from early 2012 when the location manager got in touch searching for suitable locations in Wales. The main location brief was for a large farmhouse or country house with a few outbuildings, set in beautiful countryside.
Staff from the south and mid Wales offices of the WSC suggested over 50 farms, country houses and estates from its extensive locations database including the one that was finally selected as the main farmhouse setting for the film; Mandinam in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. The estate boasts 450 acres of parkland and woodland with views of the Towy Valley.
The shoot was not without difficulties as the summer of 2012 was very wet, causing some problems for the crew and the property’s owner. The rain certainly didn’t dampen director Kevin Macdonald’s spirits as he has been quoted as saying “How I Live Now was the most fun I’ve ever had making a film.”
Other locations used around south Wales included: Cardiff International Airport; the backlot of Dragon International Studios at Llanilid; Llandovery; Llandeilo and the Ministry of Defence’s training village at Sennybridge.
The WSC also helped to source local crew and facilities for the production and around 27 Wales-based freelancers were employed on the feature film.
How I Live Now was co-developed by Film4 and the UK Film Council and co-financed by Film4 and the BFI Film Fund. It opens in UK cinemas on Friday 4th October.