Tell It To The Bees

Gripped by a failing marriage and the responsibilities of having a young son, Lydia finds solace in her growing bond with the town’s new female doctor.

Tell it to the Bees

Year: 2018

Director: Annabel Jankel

Producers: Daisy Allsop, Nick Hill, Annabel Jankel, Nik Bower, Laure Vaysse

Co-Producers: Sean Whelan, Tomas Eskilsson

Executive Producers: Deepak Nayar, Alison Owen, Ben Roberts, Lizzie Francke, Sunny Vohra, Ross McKenzie

Screenwriter: Henrietta Ashworth (adaptation), Jessica Ashworth (adaptation), Fiona Shaw (novel)

Principal Cast: Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger, Emun Elliot, Lauren Lyle, Kate Dickie

World Premiere: Toronto International Film Festival 2018

UK Premiere: BFI London Film Festival 2018

Creative Scotland investment: £200,000 Production Growth Fund


Synopsis

Gripped by a failing marriage and the responsibilities of having a young son, Lydia (Holliday Grainger) finds solace in her growing bond with the town’s new female doctor Jean (Anna Paquin).

But this is the 1950s in a post-WWII rural Scotland, and the womens' relationship prompts raised eyebrows in their provincial circles. A romance before its time, Tell It to the Bees is a heart-wrenching portrait of a love against all odds.

Set in Scotland, production took place in 2017, across locations like Loch Ard, Touch Estate, Balfron, Boquhan, Deanston Village, Doune, and the historic Morton Young and Borland Lace Factory. Tell It to the Bees received its Scottish Premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 2019 and featured at BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The film received its UK cinema release on Friday 19 July 2019.