An award-winning film about the unprecedented political shift in Mansfield at the 2017 and 2019 General Elections is to finally get its premiere.

Independent film maker Jay Martin’s unique political documentary about the political shift in the town has already scooped five awards at the White Deer International Film Festival, Midlands Movies Awards, Independent Film Awards,  Golden Nugget International Film Festival, and UK Seasonal Short Film Festival.

REDt’BLUE tells the story of how the mining town of Mansfield, a rock solid Labour ‘safe’ seat, switched to the Conservatives for the first time at the 2017 election… and remained Blue two years later.

Jay had started filming when the 2019 election was called. Filming was completed in February 2020, just ahead of the first national coronavirus lockdown.

His team then set about post-production during lockdown and ran a highly-successful Kickstarter campaign to cover costs, raising almost £6,000 after Jay had initially used around £3,000 of his own savings to launch the project.

Now REDt’BLUE can be seen by the public for the first time at its cinema premiere at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham, on 26th February. Doors open at 9am and the showing starts at 10am.

Cast, crew and backers will also be at the screening. All tickets are being sold via an Eventbrite page.

Jay,  a former student at The Brunts Academy, Mansfield, said: “It is my absolute pleasure to finally be able to announce that REDt’BLUE will be having its cinema premiere for Kickstarter backers, the cast and crew, and the public. It has been a long time coming, but with Covid restrictions lifted we’re finally able to premiere REDt’BLUE to the world.”

Jay, who wrote, directed and produced the short film, added: “All round we have had critical acclaim for the film, which is pretty surprising.

“REDt’BLUE is not just a film that tells a fascinating political story, but a film with a very human story to tell — one of legacy, history, and the soul of Mansfield town.

“People have an interest in learning a bit more about how the red wall fell and the factors that led to the changes that we saw taking place.”

As well as Mansfield MP Ben Bradley (above), whose 2017 General Election success for the Conservatives inspired the film, Jay features interviews with several other political figures from the area across the political spectrum.

They include Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, a former miner who switched from being a Labour district councillor to also turning a seat from Red to Blue when he won the seat at the 2019 General Election.

Independent candidates at the Mansfield election, Sid Pepper and Stephen Harvey, also feature together with Mick Newton, a former miner at Thoresby Colliery and Labour county councillor in the 1990s; Mansfield Constituency Labour Party chairman Martin Lee (below); and district council election candidate Cathryn Fletcher.

Jay said they were determined not to show any political bias in the film and made sure they included interviews from Conservatives, Labour and Independents.

Jay added: “We tried to make the film so that it could have been about any northern pit town, but with Mansfield at its soul. We tried to make it in a way that was engaging to anyone who was not from Mansfield or the area, so didn’t know the story.”