Synopsis: Jodie Baxter is a Captain returned home from Afghanistan after being injured in a rigged booby trap that has left her scarred both physically and on a deep psychological level. She struggles to reconnect with her husband on a sexual and emotional accord and begins to realise the distance between herself and her child as her daughter hides pivotal moments of puberty that a mother should be there to support. In the middle of moving out of their Service Family Accommodation, Jodie escapes to her one place of solace, a hotel where she resides to be free and remember the past. It is there she notices and becomes obsessed with a couple, an abusive older man and a young prostitute who he humiliates and debases. Following them back to their room, Jodie enters into the situation and it is through an extreme act of violence, lust and in her eyes ‘protection’ she has a revelation concerning what she has experienced and what has been haunting her deep within her cognisance.

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Soldier Bee as a screenplay started very differently to how the finished film stands alone. It began with my desire to create something that would delve into the psychological trauma people feel after being physically and emotionally injured by events that are beyond their control. This brought me to a stage where I wanted to explore Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD which naturally led me to the idea of a male soldier and what he would do after going through said trauma once he had to resume normal life. The starting screenplay was violent as research shows violence and withdrawal as two of the main symptoms men feel once they are no longer fighting and are home with their families. It fitted well into the horror genre but once more research was carried out I realised a horror based film would only cheapen the issues that the story would challenge us with. I took the story back to the start and began to realise the strength in making the protagonist female instead of male as so many films and television series follow male soldiers as they struggle with PTSD. That is not to say there is any disservice in the importance of showing such accounts, however I wanted to tell the story from a woman’s perspective because I was aware of how little there is that shows what happens to women after they witness the horrors of war. It opened the story up to far more interesting questions and themes. I knew such a story would benefit from a woman’s writing and so it was then that I brought a friend and screenwriter, Elizabeth Mason, to join the project to help me evolve the screenplay into something that would give female soldiers justice. We went through several drafts until we finally decided to simplify it and make it the story of a woman struggling to reconnect with her family after seeing the bodies of a woman and child and being blown up by an IED. Not only did we feel this would change her on a monumental level in terms of her role as a wife and mother, but that it would alter her sexuality and keep in her a violence she would always continue to carry. I believe this story is very relevant today as when women are finally allowed to work in army fields they have never previously been involved in such as the front line it creates the question: how do women cope with battle? We know now having watched the finished film that this is one that will challenge audiences with its sheer brutality on a subject not regularly shown. We just hope it sheds light and starts people asking questions.

Alex Hardy graduated with a B.A. in Acting from Rose Bruford College in 2004. Since then he has worked as an actor consistently in Television, Film and Theatre. His credits include leading roles in prime-time television, such as A Touch of Frost, Family Affairs, Red Dwarf, as well as award-winning features such as Hush Your Mouth.

Although in demand as an actor, Hardy was always keen to be more proactive and creative in other ways. He worked with production company Greenwich Films over a number of years, getting invaluable hands-on experience in a variety of roles, on a wide range of projects. In this time he was trained in editing, sound-design as well as in production and directing. Alongside this he honed his visual skills as a photographer (photographing bands and actors), and as an illustrator and storyboard artist.

Pretty soon he saw that the way forward was to bring all these disparate skills together and train to be a director.

Hardy directed micro-shorts and small web virals, and then in 2009 he decided to get officially trained at the Met Film School, earning the Practical Film-making Diploma.

His graduation film Initiation was selected, from thousands of other entrants, for the finals of the BAFTA Soho Short Film Festival, and continued to find success on the festival circuit giving him excellent exposure. It was then acquired by Shorts International and is selling worldwide.

He followed that by joining forces with Ryan Elliott at Odd Boy Films directing the cutting-edge, big budget music promo 3:16 for the new band These Furrows.

The success of this led to Hardy and Odd Boy Film being commissioned to create a documentary for the same band, which was aired on Channel 4 for 4play Music.
Hardy continues to write and direct promos and commercials for clients such as UnderDog, Becks, Adam F, Glasvegas and the Fratellis. His aim is to bring a truly cinematic visual flair to all his work whether the budgets are tight or generous.

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