The sleepy English village of Ravenswood has always been a mystical place; tales of ghosts, ley-lines,
fairies and the devil have all been part of the village's heritage for over a thousand years.

But nothing prepared the villagers for one summer's day in the mid nineteen sixties; an alleged
UFO abduction of a local farmer catipulted the village into a mecca for conspiracy theorists, paranormal
investigators and new age gurus.

And now, with the UFO allegedly returning to the village, a tribal conflict is brewing between the local
residents and the 'spiritual pirates' who have invaded their green and pleasant land.

This is a close encounter of the rural kind!

Return to Ravenswood is the type of film known as a mockumentary, a fictional story that is shot in the style
of a standard documentary. The actors play their roles straight and naturalistic to give an emphasis on realism and authenticity. To explain this further, the script is structured to detail what’s to be achieved in each scene but there is absolutely no dialogue written down…not a jot…zilch…bugger all! This unorthodox method allows the narrative to
remain fresh and spontaneous whilst giving the room for actors to have some fun with their characters. 

The premise for the film originates from various documentaries about paranormal incidents. 
Another source is the BBC’s recent documentaries about The National Trust and in particular an episode called ‘The Stones’. This presented the ongoing conflict between pagans and new age worshipers, wanting to celebrate the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge (21st June) and English Heritage trying to meet their needs whilst protecting their own agenda. Ever since the infamous ‘Battle of the Beanfield’ in 1986 (a violent clash between police and new age travellers at Stonehenge), there has been an uneasy relationship between the authorities and the so-called ‘counter culture’ that is only now having bridges built.

The UFO plot is the extra plot layer that I wanted to add to the mix. Personally, I find the subject of ‘little green men from outer space’ a little bizarre; the fact that people actually believe alien beings would travel billions of miles through space just to turn up at the most remote, desolate place on Earth and make themselves appear to a solitary farmer or lone driver in the middle of no-where a bit absurd…what does that achieve? The famous inventor of the Communications Satellite and 2001: A Space Odyssey author Arthur C Clarke, said in 1977 that he was annoyed with Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ because he couldn’t believe people take the subject of UFO’s so seriously.

So think of this production as a hybrid of all that is wonderful, mysterious and downright ubsurd in our world, rolled
together in a neat bundle of improvised, new age shenanigans.

Establishment vs. Non-Establishment, Heathens vs. Heritage…let the battle commence!

Marq English
Director