Ian McKellen stars in teenage director’s LGBTQ+ film debut

A 14-year-old boy is set to make his directorial debut with a film featuring Sir Ian McKellen. Jacob, from Windsor, Berkshire, examines 1,000 years of gay history in his film, alongside contemporary experiences within the LGBTQ+ community, ‘BBC’ reports.

His film, ‘Dragged Through Time’, reflects his experiences as an openly gay young person and will premiere at Windsor and Eton Pride on July 26.

In an interview with BBC Radio Berkshire, Jacob mentioned that working with Sir Ian was “very easy.”

Jacob explained that he had been collaborating with the Windsor-based youth-led film project, Notice Productions, for about a year when he proposed to one of the coordinators, Brad Day, the idea of making a film addressing gay issues.

“He [Mr. Day], as a joke, tells me that I have to have a synopsis ready by the next day - and I take him seriously,” Jacob recounted. “So I write this whole two-page thing, hand it in, it gets approved, and I'm in utter shock.”

He emphasised that exploring LGBTQ+ history was “really important” to him, noting, “While we have great films and TV shows now that focus on the present, I really think it's an important thing to focus on the past.”

Jacob said Dragged Through Time explores history as far back as ancient Greece, describing it as “quite an accepting place back then.” He elaborated, “Most of the Greek gods, while they may be fictional, had male lovers.”

He characterised the film’s genre as “drama, in a way,” explaining: “We have these dream sequences... that are different forms of theatre with drag queens played by me, which we had to make costumes for.”

Sir Ian portrays Great Uncle Peter, a semi-closeted older relative of the film’s protagonist. Jacob shared that they secured the involvement of the Hollywood star through Eton College’s main film director, Scott Handy.

Jacob remarked that Sir Ian described the project as “a really inspiring thing to look at,” and reiterated that Sir Ian was very easy to work with.

Looking forward to Windsor and Eton Pride, Jacob expressed that it would feel as though “my community is moving closer to home.”