Christ Church graduate directs Raindance’s most-nominated film

Set between Oxford's limestone colleges and the salt-encrusted Suffolk coast, Breakwater follows the tentative romance between university student Otto (Daniel McNamee) and retired angler John (Shaun Paul McGrath) whose lives fuse irreversibly over the shared trauma of losing a loved one. Their relationship darkens when the past exhumes itself in the form of guilt, grief, and ghosts. 

Oxford students made up the vast majority of the romantic drama’s cast and crew, with many extras and four crew members – Minna Moody-Stuart (Chief Financial Officer), Jasper McBride-Owusu (Financial Assistant), Saphia Hussain (Violin Coach) and Mia Beechey (Assistant Hair and Makeup Artist) – drawn from Christ Church. ‘It was important for me to draw on my experience as a student at Oxford and Christ Church, and to utilise our production's unique strength as a student-led project,’ Max says. The students were joined by professional lighting and camera crew, and by professional actors including Shaun Paul McGrath, whose credits include Endgame (2005), The Widows Moon (2022) and Salvable (2025), and Will Gao from the Emmy-nominated Heartstopper. 

Oxford and Christ Church also provided the setting for part of the picture. Filming took place over 26 days, the last six of which were in Oxford. Two days were spent in Christ Church, beginning in Max’s own student accommodation – a dark oak-panelled room that that became the protagonist’s room in College – and ending in Christ Church Picture Gallery where they wrapped the film. ‘There is such a rich filmic and literary heritage surrounding the city and College which we wanted to draw upon, in addition to capitalising on our access to its dazzling beauty as a shooting location,’ Max explains. However, the team felt that Breakwater ought to extend beyond Oxford, the film also being set on the rugged East Anglian coast, where Max is from. The dual settings were inspired by and mirrored the plot of two characters coming together from differing backgrounds, and prepared the ground for great storytelling. As Max puts it, ‘The combination of settings pits golden quadrangles against sweeping countryside and sea, providing a perfect foundation for potent and striking cinema.’ 

Potent and striking cinema is precisely what Max, Jemima and the wider team have delivered. Breakwater is the most nominated film at this year’s Raindance – the UK’s largest festival of independent filmmaking – with five nominations, for Best UK Feature, Best Director, Best Debut Director, Best Performance, and Best Cinematography. This remarkable achievement is the culmination of exceptional determination and hard work: getting the project off the ground alone required nine months of pre-production in which Max, Jemima and their fellow undergraduates raised a £30,000 budget, composed eight script drafts and built the film’s 40-strong crew. Editing the film took more than 18 months – extending beyond the whole of Max’s final year at Christ Church. Modestly, Max assures us that he handed in all essays on time. More than that, he secured a double-first class degree. 

The world premiere of Breakwater took place this week at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival, which is currently under way in London’s vibrant West End film district. The Christ Church community would like to congratulate Max, Jemima and all of those Christ Church and Oxford graduates who contributed to this project, and to wish them the very best of luck at tomorrow's awards ceremony. 

Discover more about Breakwater on the film’s site.