STAFF at a Jericho cinema are thrilled a First World War drama filmed in the city will be specially screened in Oxford next week.

The Phoenix Picturehouse is one of 400 cinemas across the country which will host a special preview of film Testament of Youth on Monday evening.

The BBC film adaption is based on writer and University of Oxford graduate Vera Brittain’s memoir of the First World War, including her time in Oxford, and her awakening to pacifism.

Picturehouse manager Martin Langley said: “We are so excited about it.

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“To have the opportunity for the preview, it really did not take a thought at all. It’s probably the easiest decision I have had to make.

“Oxford is a wonderful place and I think it’s right that it is celebrated on screen.”

Ms Brittain’s memoir recalls how her hopes of an education at Somerville College were put on hold as war broke out.

It follows her time as a nurse during the conflict, which includes losing brother Edward and fiance Roland Leighton at the Battle of the Somme.

Oxford Mail:

  • Joanna Scanlan pictured during filming 

Her 600-page classic, written in 1933, has been condensed into a two-hour film, which had its world premiere at the British Film Institute London Film Festival last October.

And last year the film was shot at city locations including Merton College.

Somerville College communications officer Alexander Monro said: “She left a big legacy and I think, of all the memoirs, it was certainly one of the most successful.

“It’s a fairly remarkable story and she was one of the people who I think was able to bring home the reality of the war.”

Film fans are set to get a first glimpse of the drama ahead of its UK-wide release on Friday.

It will be followed by a live question-and-answer satellite link-up with cast members, as well as Vera Brittain’s daughter Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby.

Last November Baroness Williams, also a graduate of Somerville College, shared memorabilia from the First World War during a commemorative event at the college.

Oxford Mail:

  • Alicia Vikander plays Vera Brittain in the film

Who was Vera Brittain?
VERA Mary Brittain is best remembered as a writer and pacifist.
Born in 1893, she was offered a place at Somerville College to read English Literature in 1914. 
But she decided instead to become a nurse, serving during the war in Buxton, London, Malta and France.
Ms Brittain returned to Somerville College in April 1919.
Her best-selling 1933 memoir Testament of Youth recounted those experiences and awakening to pacifism.

 


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