Director Andy Vallentine’s THE LETTER MEN stars Garrett Clayton (NBC’s Hairspray Live!, King Cobra) and Matthew Postlethwaite (Netflix’s Peaky Blinders). Following its World Premiere at Tribeca, and after winning Best Director and Best Editing at Social World Film Festival, and Best International Short at the Paris Film Festival, this true story will now vie for a 2023 Academy Award®.
THE LETTER MEN is based on the real love letters written by Gordon Bowsher to his sweetheart, Gilbert Bradley. Their love letters were exchanged throughout World War II, between the years of 1938 and 1941, but were not uncovered until 2017. The two men met in Devon in 1938, only to be separated in 1939 when Bradley was drafted into the British Army. Life as a homosexual at that time was incredibly difficult: gay activity was a court-martial offence, jail sentences for so-called “gross indecency” were common, and much of society strongly disapproved of same-sex relationships. The two men were taking a tremendous risk by exchanging such intimate letters. Keeping them, and not burning them, was an even greater risk. It’s therefore unusual for letters such as these to have survived. This historical collection of over 200 letters is the largest collection of LGBTQ+ love letters from that era, providing gay filmmaker Andy Vallentine with unique, intimate, and tender source material for THE LETTER MEN.
Using the actual text of the letters, THE LETTER MEN transports us directly into the places of the letters and their hearts, battlefields, air-raid shelters, and lost, golden moments.
Director Andy Vallentine is currently in post-production for his film The Mattachine Family, written by creative partner and husband Danny Vallentine. This film is being produced by Zach Braff (Garder State, Scrubs), Scot Boland (Pinocchio, The Hobbit), and Mike Diaz, and stars Nico Tortorella (Younger), Juan Pablo Di Pace (Fuller House), and Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek).
Andy has developed content with Amy Baer at Gidden Media, Tyra Banks’ Bankable, and Brian Volk-Weiss at the Nacelle Company. He has worked with recording artists like Charlie Puth and Tritonal, and popular media personalities like Patrick Starrr and Joey Graceffa. He has created commercials and branded content for Mercedes-Benz, MAC Cosmetics, Sephora, The Department of Veterans Affairs, The Ad Council, Goodwill, and Major League Baseball. Andy’s combined content has been viewed over 1 billion times.
90% of the cast and crew of THE LETTER MEN identify as LGBTQ+. It was co-written by Andy and his husband Danny Vallentine. This live-action short film was produced by Cameron Hutchison, Mike Diaz, and Siddharth Ganji, whilst the stunning cinematography was created by Oren Soffer – who is director of photography on Gareth Edwards new feature film True Love, his follow-up film to Star Wars: Rogue One.
The OSCAR® shortlist will be announced on December 21st.
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