Black Samphire – an environmental horror about water pollution – premiered at the buzzing Ritzy cinema in Brixton just before World Water Day – but its subject was far from the urban sprawl of south London.
Filmed in West Sussex, the modern-day monster the short film portrays is water pollution and its suffocating effect on Britain’s rivers.
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
The filmmakers behind the project – Silicon Gothic co-founders Cathy Wippell and Joseph Archer – say it’s a message they felt compelled to shout about.
“Our world faces so many huge, complex, intangible problems out there, and what Silicon Gothic does is we take those problems and ‘monstify’ them, so we make them physical and understandable.”
As rivers around the country are polluted by sewage, caused in part by a changing climate and extreme weather patterns, it offers a timely message.
A keen open-water swimmer, Wippell – who is both the co-star and author of the film – was inspired to write it after stretches of water she was once able to swim in in her home county were closed off due to rising water toxicity levels.
Wippell tells Sky News: “It’s not something that’s really obvious when you look at a river and you don’t really see what’s sort of lurking under the surface. So, to make something like that tangible and like a threat was really important with the story.”
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And the production’s eco-credentials ran deeper than just its storyline, with two beach cleans during pre-production to help raise funds and a strict sustainability policy practiced throughout the shoot.
The production company has pledged to carry out at least one climate positive action per film, not only trying to complete a swifter shoot and produce less waste, but proactively trying to fix damage already caused.
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Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
All cast and crew were asked to sign a green rider ahead of the shoot, detailing the sustainability measures in place on set and basic conduct measures, including bringing a refillable water container to set and agreeing to separate rubbish.
Pass it on, don’t burn it
All meals available on set were vegetarian or vegan, and in place of plastic-wrapped crisps or cereal bars, over 160 flapjacks were homebaked for the shoot.
In the spirit of a “circular production”, assets from bigger TV and film productions were re-used for the shoot, and after wrapping, items were passed on or donated onwards.
Archer admits items from fast turnaround movies and shows are sometimes burned rather than passed on – a crying shame amid a cost of living crisis and pressing concerns around overconsumption of the world’s resources.
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
Even the month of the shoot – October – was chosen to ensure that no birds were nesting in the marshes, with priority given to the natural cycle of the marshland, not to the film production.
‘Forget trailer sizes – it doesn’t matter’
Fittingly for a film commenting on the damaging effects of over-consumption of resources, battery-powered generators, rather than traditional gas ones were used as well as LED lights over fluorescent lights in an attempt to be more efficient.
Australian actor Ishtar Currie-Wilson, who stars in the film alongside Wippell, tells Sky News it was a joyful production to work on.
She explains: “The green rider was really refreshing to me, I think because it’s really small, simple, actionable changes. And I think from an individual and like an actor’s perspective, it’s something that we can bring on to all other sets moving forward.”
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
The First Omen star goes on: “I know on big productions, there are conversations about trailer sizes and things that really don’t matter. But you can make little changes and it feels quite good as an actress to be able to have control over the variables.”
National treasure Stephen Fry
Comparing it to other jobs, Currie-Wilson says: “After being on this project, I went and did reshoots for a bigger project and was completely aware of my, just single use plastics. So, I made sure that I had a keep cup and my water bottle, and I kind of looked into the past of how much waste I personally would use on a set without thinking about it.”
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Another element in the film is actor and comedian Stephen Fry, who voices an unseen character – a less than supportive media boss.
Describing him as an “absolute delight”, Wippell says his involvement “made a massive difference”, with the recognition and gravitas of his voice “really adding something to the film”.
A micro-budget film with big ambitions, the part-crowdfunded project hopes it will set an example to larger studios.
Setting an example to other studios
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
Wippell explains: “It’s so important to do these things at a smaller indie level because it holds the bigger companies accountable as well for their own sustainability measures on their sets. If we can do it with this amount of money, [they] can do it with millions of pounds.”
Away from its eco-credentials, the 13-minute production uses its short screen time to lay bare the plight of our precious river habitats.
The equivalent of more than 1,270 years of raw sewage has been dumped into Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas since 2016, according to Environment Agency data.
But despite hitting the headlines, both water companies and regulators seem slow to take action.
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
Campaigning group River Action UK, which partnered with the production, hope those in charge will now sit up and take notice.
‘Delving down into the murky depths’
James Wallace, chief executive of River Action UK, who came on board during production to executive produce the film, says that while they’d previously used animation and short documentary films in their work, this was the campaigning group’s first venture into the world of horror.
He told Sky News: “I couldn’t resist [the film]. It delves down deep into the murky depths of what’s going on in our rivers when it comes to sewage pollution, agricultural pollution, other nasties that lurk in our water.”
He goes on: “It’s going to tell a very powerful story, one that’s going to be really hard to ignore if you’re a politician, if you’re a polluter, or if you’re a member of the public. Hopefully this will really get into the heart of what’s going on in this world.”
Image: Pic: Silicon Gothic
But decades of underinvestment in the sewage and water systems, mean it’s an issue no one seems quite ready to deal with head on.
With the clock ticking as dirty water is pumped into seas and rivers, this green tale about dark forces, strives to highlight the potential horror story flowing through our waterways, and the consequences of ignoring the signs.
Watch the full interview on The Climate Show with Tom Heap, Saturday and Sunday at 3.30 and 7.30pm on Sky News.
Black Samphire is now being developed into a full-length feature film. For more info on the project’s progress visit @blacksamphire on Instagram.
Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.
The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed theUS rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.
“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.
“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.
“An underdog that bites back, just like me.
“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”
Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.
Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.
The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”
Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Image: Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
Image: The fire gutted the main stage
Image: Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Image: Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
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The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Image: Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.