Introducing Miranda’s Letter from British Council | AD

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This year the British Council and the GREAT Britain campaign have commissioned a series of films using Shakespeare as inspiration – great timing as this year marks 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. To commemorate this occasion there are many different celebrations going on as part of Shakespeare Lives, a global programme celebrating William Shakespeare’s work and his influence on culture, education and society.

Shakespeare was a huge part of my teenage years – reading his works, acting out his plays in drama and watching TV adaptations too. Shakespeare will be something we learn from indefinitely.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and has charitable status. and the latest in their film series is Miranda’s Letter, based on The Tempest and exploring the important relationship between mothers and daughters and how they are portrayed in Shakespeare.

Miranda’s Letter is centred around Miranda, the title character.  Miranda lives on a remote island with her distant father who seems preoccupied with books rather than having any interest his daughter. The film follows Miranda as she roams the island with the words of a letter from her mother, her most prized possession, echoing in her head.

The film launched on 20th June and you can watch it through the British Council’s YouTube channel below:

Miranda’s Letter is beautifully filmed and full of emotion. It doesn’t have much dialogue, aside from the letter, but it doesn’t need anything else – the story comes across perfectly through the emotive soundtrack and great locations of the filming.

Miranda’s Letter is a great testament to Shakespeare and at only just over five minutes long it’s perfect to watch whenever you have a spare moment. I have even gone back to watch previous British Council films in the series and I’m looking forward to watching more as they are released.