1 June: CFylm presents – The Enys Men

Enys Men (Cornish for ‘Stone Island’) is a 2022 experimental folk horror film shot, composed, written and directed by Mark Jenkin. Shot on 16 mm film, it stars Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Flo Crowe and John Woodvine.

The film was shot during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the crew prioritised creating a small carbon footprint during production. Enys Men premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was well received by critics.

Set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer’s daily observations of a rare flower turn into a metaphysical journey that forces her as well as the viewer to question what is real and what is nightmare.

The only feature that suggests a continuous, even though highly speeded up, flow of time is the appearance of a fruticose lichen growing on the flowers over three days, and simultaneously on the protagonist’s body.