In Detail

Adapted from Roberts’ multi-award-winning stage play, the film tells of the relationship between a Devon farmer and the vet who is assigned to cull his precious herd. Nigel Hastings and David Fielder reprise their hugely successful on-stage roles as Jeff and Michael, with the play's director Paul Robinson making his first film at feature length.

Director Statement:
“Bea Roberts’ award-winning ‘And Then Come the Nightjars’ is a rare find. It’s a story that’s as moving as it is funny, nostalgic as it is incisive, personal as it is political. I had the immense pleasure of directing the stage play when it premiered in London in 2015 – to reviews you couldn’t have written yourself – and was struck then by the potential it had for a captivating film. ‘Nightjars’ is a comedy drama about an unlikely friendship between a Devon farmer, Michael (David Fielder) and the Home Counties vet Jeff (Nigel Hastings) who is assigned to cull his precious herd. It also brilliantly examines the little-mined tragedy of the foot and mouth crisis, which devastated farming communities and changed the face of UK farming forever. Bea explores the crisis from an entirely human, personal angle, making our characters’ struggle accessible, however familiar or not the audience might be with rural life. But she also does this with a finger on our funny bones at all times.

We are delighted to welcome the two main actors, David Fielder and Nigel Hastings, and director Paul Robinson to introduce their film, with a Q&A after the screenings.

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