Dawnbreaker

Directed by Elinor Lower (they/them) as part of Exeter Phoenix's recent round of commissions, Dawnbreaker follows a post-menopausal recluse forced to hand over her life’s work of ensuring the sun rises and sets to a sceptical child.

As the film's title implies, a sunrise is a crucial plot point. However, the production's budget-friendly set didn't actually face east, and the extremely early hour of a true sunrise made it difficult to schedule scenes with the child actors. It proved much more cost-effective to utilize VFX to composite an artificial sunrise spanning across the windows.

While the eventual shot used in the final cut was quite brief, I provided the director with several lighting and timing options to ensure it perfectly fit the required mood.

Dawnbreaker premiered on the 6th of March at Two Short Nights 2026