SOLIDAGO (2021) - Watch full film on Girls In Film here
Director & Writer: Jerusha West
DOP: Morgan Spencer
Production Design: Syd Harmony
Costume Design: Sophie Daniel
Director & Writer: Jerusha West
DOP: Morgan Spencer
Production Design: Syd Harmony
Costume Design: Sophie Daniel
Shortlisted for Best Costume Design at Women x Film Festival (2024)
Women X Film Festival (2024) Screened as part of the BIFA qualifying & BIFA backed programme, nominated for seven awards and winner of Best Cinematography
Recollecting her youth in the 1960s, Edith looks back on Solidago, an all-female rural community she was sent to in order to give birth to a child conceived outside of marriage. The film is a part-fictionalised response to the decade’s surge in extra-marital births and newborn adoption rates, dubbed the Baby Scoop Era. Told solely in voice over, Solidago hopes to give voice to the many that have been silenced, and reopen a dialogue. Solidago was shot in colour - on analogue 16mm film, using ARRI and Bolex cameras - depending almost entirely on Suffolk’s hazy natural light. The lingering shots and slow visual pace cherish the fertile landscape, and reflect nostalgically on the 1960s saturation. The fabric and wood set designs emphasise the era’s affinity with craft and the handmade, as well as the sustainable aims of the project, which saw the costumes naturally dyed and bleached. Solidago’s distinctive world is indebted to director Jerusha West’s fine art background.
Sophie Daniel © 2026