1) A young girl is given a flower by a middle-aged man and tries to find a place to plant it in the local park and forest. 2) In the forest, she encounters a community offender who tries to interact with her. He shows her some toys from his rubbish bag. 3) The community offender then plants the flower for the girl in a small hole. He smiles at her and walks away. The girl waits and then leaves in the opposite direction.

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Anywhere but Here
UnitedKingdom 2016
Director:Jack Woods
Reviewed by J. R. Woods
A cold autumnday a MIDDLEAGED MAN is in his gardendigging up a flower andputting it in a bag.He
then puts it on a walland fills in the holewith soil.He thengoes andgets a bird-table andputs iton
top ofthe spottheirused tobe a flower. He then walks inthehouse and gives the flower to a YOUNG
GIRL. He thensays something to her and walks out ofthe room closing thedoor behindhim.
The young girl is dressed upwarm andwalks away from the house. Shethen walks out ofthe garden
and down the pavementto a derelict patch of grass.After looking at the patch of grass for a while, she
decides itbestnot toplantin there. Shethen walks toa localchildren’s parkandstarts trying tofind a
place to planttheflower.After a ballflies pastherand nearly hits the spot she was looking to plant
the flower in. Shedecides tomovetheflowerto a saferplace.
She goes to a forest anddecides totake a reston a log. A COMMUNITY OFFENDER is picking up
rubbish inthebackground with a brightgreen veston anda black bag. Aftera small amountoftime
he sits onthelog and tries to seewhatthegirls holding. Hethen opens in his rubbish bag and takes
out severalgrubby toys.He thenshows themto the girl andlays them on thefloor.Shepicks up a dog
toy and he gently tries to takethe flower butshedrops thedog andpulls theflowercloser.He then
picks thedog. Hethen lays the dog on thefloor and takes a step back. Shegoes andlays theflower on
the ground beforepicking thedog,then goes andsits back onthelog.He goes to the flower and picks
it up under her watchfuleye. Hethen bends downand plants the flower in a littlehole hemakes then
smiles atthegirland walks off. Thegirlthen waits for a littlewhileand gets up andwalks in the
oppositedirection.
The YoungAdult, Lewis Woods, stepping away
from the tenseencounter withthe YoungGirl,
Amber Clough.
Directed by Production Beacon Media Cast
Jack Woods Designer Productions Amber Clough
Written by Jack Woods In association Young Girl
Jack Woods Music with Lewis Woods
Director of Composer JRW Films Community
Photography Jack Woods and Offender
Jack Woods Make-up Realwatch Alan Woods
Edited by Design Entertainment Middle aged
Jack Woods Claire Clough man
Whereas The Most Beautiful
Man in the World creates
tensioninthe question of
whether the male is an
estrangedfather figure or a
dangerous stranger. Anywhere
But Here highlights the
different ways strangers inreal
life might tryto interact with
children. It opposes
stereotypes and scripts and
challengesus to reconsider
our notion that allstrangers
are harmful. Both grittypieces
that conformto the genre of
socialrealism. We see Woods’
film fromthe girl’s point of
view. This is verysignificant
and contributes to the tension
once we realise her concern
and love for the flower. The
plot devise unifiesher stakes
with the wider environmental
stakes we all face in the early
twentyfirst century. This
amplifiesthe anxietyand
pressure of the piece because
she trusts the community
offender with
After the communityoffender
plants the flower, I found
myself sighing withrelief. Too
much tension hadbuilt up in
the scene andcatharsis was
much welcomed at the point
when it finallyarrives. The film
has a tight structure andthe
climax felt veryrewarding, but
I felt that onlyafter the
communityworker picks his
bag up andwalks away, when
we see the last image of the
flower planted inthe ground,
do we reallyconsider the
importance of the girl’s
journey. The flower is safe, ina
place that it canstayfor the
rest of its life. This filminthe
end is quite heart-warming.
With his debut Redemption Jack Woods delivereda
bitinglyrealistic portrayal of disaffected youthonthe
fringes of suburbia. His new short filmreturns to the
same suburbanno-man’s-land. Nature is under threat
and a Young girl is on a missionto helpa flower. As
innocent as this tale is, there is a lot oftension within
the plot whena youthcommunityoffender (played
with daringambiguitybythe Director’s brother Lewis
Woods) approachesthe girl. Amber Clough gives a solid
performance as the Young girl. Inher actingdebut, she
puts ina strongperformance as the wordless
protagonist. The film’s locationalso contributesto the
emotional tension- a young female whois alone in a
forest witha potentiallydangerous person makes for
uneasyviewing. This filmmight easilybe seenas a
government advertisement teaching childrenabout
stranger danger as the Young girl goesthrougha lonely,
shadowyjourney, searching for a place to plant her
flower. The film delivers other challenges relatingto
environmental issues and how much people care about
the greeneryaround them. Cinematographyis well
handled byWoods, especiallyinthe second half during
the forest scenes, whichhave a real sense of brooding.
The costume andset decoration is well designed. In the
costume of the communityworker, a luminescent,
yellow jacket and scruffyand rippedclothing lies all the
stereotypicalhazardsignalsof someone whohas
offended and might again. The piece brings to life a
worst case scenario, creatingtensionwhile leaving us
on the edge of our seat throughout the encounter. It
then delivers anendingof maturityand catharsis by
allowing the characters to wordlesslyendthe
interactionincomplete innocence. Jack Woods’ new
film hasa definitive linkto the 2002 film, The Most
Beautiful Manin the WorldbyAlicia Duffy– both
narrate the uneasymeetingof a third party.