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A Young Woman Revisits Her Past in 'Summerland' at the Virtual KCET Cinema Series on July 28

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Q&A immediately following with director Jessica Swale and actors Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Summerland is the poignant story of Alice (Gemma Arterton), a young English writer with a broken heart who retreats to a small seaside town during World War II. When a young boy and evacuee from the London Blitz named Frank is unexpectedly placed in her care, Alice opens her heart and discovers new possibilities in her life. This is the first feature film for award-winning British playwright, theatre director and screenwriter Jessica Swale. The cast includes "Downtown Abbey's" Penelope Wilson, Oscar-nominated Tom Courtney, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Vera and Frank Bond as Frank. With a love story between two women, Alice and Vera, at its core, the film examines deep themes of faith, spirituality, loss and belief through the concept of Summerland, a conceptualization of the afterlife which has long been used in paganism.

“Summerland is a pagan idea of what heaven is,” explains Swale. “It's a notion of a place that exists alongside ours. And the idea that you can communicate between Summerland and normal life by leaving signs or messing with the edges is something that's not specifically pagan, that's borrowed from a notion of lots of different myths and legends. It's more about what Summerland represents. It represents the possibility of something beyond and of something magical."

Immediately following the screening, Deadline’s chief film critic Pete Hammond, who can also be seen on KCET’s Must See Movies, will moderate a Q&A with director Jessica Swale and actors Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

The film screens on Wednesday, July 28 at 7 p.m. PDT. Only $10 per viewing link. Limited space available.

To sign up, click here.

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