Taglines: A magical dance story.
Iris Warriors, is made up of two stories, two sets of characters. The first story works like book ends, frames the story of the Iris Warriors. In a small orphanage in England during World War II, Miss Shaw (Jessica Brown Findlay) and eight children are trapped in the cellar seeking shelter from the German bombers overhead.
In a desperate attempt to distract the children, Miss Shaw shares a mythical story with them, a timeless tale that magically transports them to another world. The second story is the ballet dance, the magical world the children, and the audience, are transported to – the creation myth that tells of the union and conflict of Darkness and Light which leads to the birth of colour, the Iris Warriors.
The Warriors fill the world with dance, colour and life, but a dark force threatens to end their world. Two stories become one. Together, they are stronger, more powerful, more engaging. Together they are the Iris Warriors. Iris Warriors is a visual spectacle, a nostalgic, breath-taking feast of colour, light and action. The story is told through the universal languages of music, dance and colour, allowing Iris Warriors to be enjoyed by all nations and all ages.
Iris Warriors is an American period drama film directed by Roydon Turner and starring Jessica Brown Findlay, Cindy Okkers, Sven-Eric Muller, Henk Opperman, Michelle La Trobe, Kingsley Beukes, Elzanne Crause, Vuyo Mahashe, Londiwe Khoza, Gemma Trehearn and Louis Talbot. The screenplay, written by Don Macnab-Stark and Roydon Turner.
About the Story
England, 1940: When bombs trap eight children in the cellar of their orphanage, their teacher, Miss Shaw, starts to read them a story. As the story unfolds, they are magically transported to a timeless, mythical island…
Darkness ruled the world, thriving in her cold and dreary isolation, stretching forever back into the frigid past, and endlessly on into a bleak, unchanging future. Then in an instant it all changed – there was something else, something strange had invaded her world. Light. Light was fast and powerful, moved quickly, leaving a trail of his presence as he swirled and flitted around her, his graceful steps and dazzling eyes seducing her.
After an eternity of loneliness, Darkness quickly surrendered to his charms. Darkness’s dark passion frightened Light – she was too fierce, too demanding, too powerful. And even though Darkness now showed him love and compassion, Light sensed her need to control him, own and restrain him. He knew he could not stay – it would destroy him. Without warning Light vanished filling the universe with brilliant stars in his wake.
Darkness was devastated and angry, but when she dreamt of revenge, she felt something stirring within her – Light had left her a gift. She grasped her stomach, plunged her fingers deep in the crevices of her icy cape, pulled her hand out – there was something there. As it darted away from her, bright light burst forth from it, stunning, dazzling. Darkness gazed upon her magnificent first-born child, at his beauty and brightness, she named him Yellow.
Six more children followed: Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet, the Iris Warriors, each one an exquisite colour that brought joy to the dreary dull world that Darkness inhabited. But when she reached for them, the Warriors rejected Darkness’s embrace, wanted to be free. And with each rejection, the love she felt was diminished, the temporary warmth replaced by the creeping cold of bitterness. Darkness wept with loneliness, and from her anger and her hatred she created the Shadows, small versions of Darkness – born of her wicked, dark mind, an army of evil wretches, eager to do her bidding.
With the Shadows at her heels, Darkness began to destroy the beautiful world that the Iris Warriors had created. Knowing her children’s weaknesses, she came up with a plan to eradicate them, using their own vices against them. One by one, Darkness and the Shadows tempted and divided the Iris Warriors, destroyed their world, the playful Iris Warriors oblivious to what was happening around them.
The growing darkness wormed its way into Yellow’s head as he saw the cold blackness around him. Yellow went to find his brothers and sisters, but when he saw them he was shocked. Instead of being strong and vibrant they were like shrivelled frozen leaves. He must act alone. There was a flash of light as Yellow confronted Darkness, but Darkness was too strong, her icy breath sucking the life out of him.
A scream escaped Green’s lips as she suddenly hurled herself forward, wrapping herself around Yellow in a protective blanket. For a moment the others remained frozen, then one by one they raced forward, determined to help battle their dark mother. Darkness reared up, her dark icy cloak overshadowing all of them, swooped down on the Warriors, her Shadows scampering around, separating and dividing the Warriors. Sensing a weakness, they targeted Violet, focused their attack on her. By the time the other Warriors reached her she was still, silent. For a moment it seemed she was dead, but the love of her brothers and sisters revived her, she took Yellow’s hand and climbed to her feet. Then all the Warriors joined hands to complete a circle.
As they formed the circle, their colours merged and combined into a dazzling bright light – not their seven individual colours, but the pure, brilliant white of their father, Light. The light grew and grew, washed over Darkness as she stood, frozen, stupefied. The Shadows quailed and quaked, tried to hide behind their dark mother, but the force of the Warriors’ combined light was too strong – the Shadows were blown away like fog before a rising storm.
As the Iris Warriors moved forward, Darkness slowly retreated. Each step backwards that Darkness took weakened her, until she could no longer move. The circle that the Iris Warriors had formed erupted into a sphere of white flames, drowning all that was dark in brilliant clear light. Darkness was vanquished. With a last gasp, she fled…
In the cellar, the last candle flickers and dies. There is a gasp from the children. Are they trapped in the darkness forever? Then from above comes a rumble, a burst of light, as the rescuers find them. With a soft smile, Miss Shaw closes the book, helps the eager children climb up into a bright new day.
Iris Warriors (2022)
Directed by: Roydon Turner
Starring: Jessica Brown Findlay, Cindy Okkers, Sven-Eric Muller, Henk Opperman, Michelle La Trobe, Kingsley Beukes, Elzanne Crause, Vuyo Mahashe, Londiwe Khoza, Gemma Trehearn, Louis Talbot
Screenplay by: Don Macnab-Stark, Roydon Turner
Production Design by: Rob Rae, Roydon Turner
Cinematography by: Grant Appleton
Film Editing by: Rafael D’Andrea, Tim Goodwin
Costume Design by: Malikah Hajee, Lloyd Kandlin
Set Decoration by: Charis Beasley
Art Direction by: Christopher Bass
Music by: Jacob Bright, Matthew Olyver
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Gravitas Ventures
Release Date: April 2, 2022
Views: 77
