A WRITER’S new short film dealing with themes of grief and loss was shot in Leigh for just £2,000.

Rich With, a father-of-two from Westcliff, has a new short film titled “Christmas Spirit” available to watch online for free.

Echo:

Scene - actors Bert and Curtis on set

The film, directed by Andy Delany – who has previously directed videos for super groups the Spice Girls and Duran Duran – helped shoot on location in Leigh over the course of several days in November.

The film stars Curtis Flowers as “The Man” and Bert Davis as “The Boy” and follows the duo through the man’s struggles to deal with the loss of his wife ten years ago.

The boy adores his father and consistently tries to bring his father out of his grief by instilling some, however small, semblance of Christmas spirit.

The film follows the two characters through a series of festive sequences, slowly unravelling the man’s grief as his son tries to get him to accept his position.

Rich said the story came from a “what if” scenario drawn from his own life experiences.

He said: “The birth of my child was quite dramatic when it happened. Thankfully, I did not lose my wife, but the story stemmed from there. It wasn’t particularly challenging to write, but the subject matter is obviously very tough. This is Bert’s first film, we held auditions and he was the fifth one and was just so perfect we couldn’t believe it.”

The film has since been completed and released on social media and YouTube channels.

Rich added: “Obviously Christmas is a time for celebration, but for many of us it’s also a time of reflection as we look back at the loved ones we have lost throughout the year. It’s perhaps not remarkable that many of us have lost someone we care deeply for at Christmas time.

“This film is for anyone who can resonate with that. It’s been shared around a lot in bereavement groups and many have said how it touched them.”

Watch the film at bit.ly/2LRKEMI.