Film Name(s): Forever Night / Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka
Director/Producer: Martin W Payne
Starring: Forever Night – Sean Botha, Robyn Adams
Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka – Cassandra Haswell
Forever Night – Leonard’s quiet and lonely night on the sofa takes an unexpected turn – and lasts forever.
Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka – It’s just another normal day for Amy – wake up, see cosplay costume, create a character face, file it for another day, sleep, renew, wake…
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got the chance to Director-Producer Martin W Payne a few questions about his films which will have there World Premieres at The Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Forever Night will playing on Saturday 17th January at 10:00hrs andMirror, Mirror: Matryoshka will be playing on 24th January at 10:00hrs
Q. You have 2 films which have been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from Forever Night and Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka?
A. I like stories that turn up, say what they want or need to say, and don’t outstay their welcome. Hopefully that is what is to be expected from both of these short films – Forever Night playing on 17th and Matryoshka on 24th . But I do like stories that make the viewer think and also have more on screen than you necessarily realise (and I don’t mean errant takeaway coffee cups!).
Q. What were your inspirations with the films?
A. Forever Night came about really whilst thinking how Robyn Adams, playing Reina, might show a different persona to other characters that she has played for me. Any actor has to, almost, re-invent themselves to maintain watchability without repeating a character that the audience has seen before (unless it is the same character, of course!) – although I am wondering if we have seen Reina before, perhaps in another life…
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind anyway?
A. Yes, I’ve wanted to work with Sean (Botha, playing Leonard in Forever Night) for some time and luckily he said much the same about me when I approached him! For Leonard, I needed an older male actor who could hold the scene while being relatively in the background and Sean fitted into that role very well.
Also, I met Cassandra at Horror-on-Sea two years ago, and then again last year, and, again, I knew I wanted to work with her. She wasn’t necessarily the first in my mind for Matryoshka, but I mentioned the concept to her knowing it would probably appeal to her cosplay self and, luckily, it did. When you watch the film, you’ll realise the lead actor had to have the skills to be Amy.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. For Matryoshka, I wanted a very simplistic location / set – a bedroom – but it also had to fit into the “Mirror, Mirror” universe (see also Transvile and AfterLife) so I wanted to try and capture the whole scene using mirrors to, almost, see round corners. And, for Forever Night, again it’s just a normal house without any specific horror vibes. Isn’t it fascinating what might be going on behind closed doors in a suburban street…?
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. I think there are always going to be some changes when you have a script and a location that you haven’t necessarily seen sufficiently to become familiar with but, on the whole, no, there were no significant changes. Arguably Forever Night should have had dialogue changes to reflect the weather but that’s a hindsight moment and you don’t necessarily want to burden significant change onto actors for a short film. The time for working on the script, and deciding changes to it, really has to be before the day of production unless absolutely forced upon you.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. With Matryoshka, there is always the fun of setting the DoP the unenviable task of filming in a small room with mirrors at odd angles in more than two places; challenge to the DoP to film without catching the camera or lighting in a mirror….! Forever Night was written to be set on the quintessential dark and stormy evening – with dialogue referring to a damp Reina – so having to pour water over Robyn, getting back behind the monitor, and waiting for the security light outside the house to go off, all before calling ‘Action’…. I mean, obviously that wasn’t fun at all for either of us…?
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. A lack of rain? Why does the weather never read the script! Seriously, the only issue we had was having to wait for darkness for Forever Night so we started a lot later than I’d hoped but still wrapped, just, before 11pm (which was my planned end time).
Q. What makes your films stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I’m not sure – are they different? It’s rare that I go to full-on gore style horror and I do tend to want to be perhaps a bit more psychological horror
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the films?
A. Forever Night: the question “so, what happens next?” – and, maybe, there will be an answer to that next year… but, for Matryoshka, I just hope there’s a thought of “nice!” and a repeated watch.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I have some in my head at the moment, and that can be quite a dark place at times, and am working on producing a couple of short films in April 2026, one of which might be at least a nod towards Brechtian Horror (if such a things exists), as well as another Mirror, Mirror film (already cast).
Q. If someone was looking to produce and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Plan – you have to know what you want to see on screen, how you want to achieve it, and have all the answers to any questions being thrown at you by actors, MUAs, DoPs. And Belief – if you think you can do it, do it, and never regret it. And a great team – so you don’t have to answer their questions because they know what they are doing, and you can trust in them to do their job well. So – Plan, Belief and a Great Team. I’m incredibly lucky to know talented people who I can rely on. But everyone starts somewhere so just head out and make film happen.
Forever Night will have its World Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 17th January at 10:00hrs and Mirror, Mirror: Matryoshka will have its World Premiere on 24th January at 10:00hrs
You can find out more about Bannister Doll Heist and purchase tickets for the film here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
