Darren McAree is James Hadley in Andrew Davidson’s unforgettable tale of guilt, disillusionment, and fear. Hadley arrives at a station in a whirlwind of terror and bewilderment, fleeing from a troubled past that threatens to reappear and turn his world upside down. Along the way, a chance encounter with the mysterious Lara forces Hadley into an emotional reckoning, facing up to everything that he has come to fear. 'Autumn Heart' is a poignant and powerful exploration of love, loss and what’s left behind.

The story as it is now is a long way from how it originated, though many early concepts from those first drafts have remained, 'We did loose the Japanese businessman dwarf though,' says director Andrew Davidson with all sincerity. The earliest draft had an incarnation of the main character boarding a train and being oblivious to the strange people around him. 'We'd toyed with the idea of being able to hear what the people were thinking, as well as saying. But ultimately we felt that we weren't really telling a story or pushing ourselves.'

The characters were taken from the original concept and arranged around a new dramatic narrative dealing with issues of loss. 'This was our biggest change,' says the director, 'Our earliest intention had always been to do a comedy. I feel quite comfortable doing dark humour, the idea of doing a drama and quasi love story wasn't really a consideration until we started revising the story.' The script went through three evolutionary stages with each draft. Katherine Reeve wrote the first draft, though little of her dialogue remains in the final script her structure was carried through. Andrew Davidson wrote a second draft focusing the script entirely on the James/Lara relationship and moving the other characters to be more peripheral. Finally Angela Slade rewrote the script into a third draft and emphasizing some of the thematic elements differently. 'It was a bit of an ugly period in the production, as everyone felt very precious over their elements of the script. Decisions had to be made that people weren't always happy about, but it seems to have worked out to the best in the end.' The script has since been through numerous minor alterations mostly concerning the difference between written and spoken dialogue.

Andrew Davidson freely admits the thematic similarities to his previous solo directing job, 'They do share similar themes of choices and acceptance, though with the way that LiMBO was finally constructed due to time constraints, many of those elements were missing. Maybe I've got a pent up thematic desire that I need to let out,' he laughs. 'Lara and Angelica are quite similar too. You could say that Lara is an extension of the Angelica character though we're dealing with the character in a different way, it's more subtle this time and more open to interpretation by the audience.' Even the train can arguably serve a dramatic function as it mirrors throughout the film the state of mind that James is in, 'I think that's true,' says Davidson, 'though not just that. I find trains romantic, as you never know who you are going to meet. Trains pop up frequently in my work for that reason.'

The whole production has been a difficult time for the production team, 'Which I take full responsibility for,' says Davidson apologetically, 'I've been really demanding. I don't want to do something easy. Easy doesn't challenge you. I know my limits, but I have wanted to push them, and the other have been unwittingly dragged along for the ride. We should end up with a very cinematic film though, something to be really proud of.'

For now the production team can only sit and wait until filming is complete so that they can finish the film and show it to people. 'I just hope it resonates with people and breaks their hearts!'