Think of England Set for the 2026 Glasgow Film Festival

Giant Films, an independent UK film company run by father and daughter Nick and Poppy O’Hagan, is delighted to announce the release of British feature film Think of England, inspired by a wartime urban myth that the UK government commissioned pornographic films to boost troop morale during World War II. 

Think of Englandis also a controversial film about cinema itself, showing how moving images have challenged the boundaries of what audiences are willing to see. The film shines a light on societal mores of the era while its unlikely characters gesture toward a more tolerant future, reminding us to continually question  sensibilities and censorship of any age.

 Set on the Orkney Islands in 1943 at the time of the Normandy landings, this dark satire follows an eclectic group of characters, each selected for their own unique skillset and tasked with a top-secret mission: to make pornographic films intended to raise morale of troops ahead of invasion. As each assignee struggles under the weight of conscience, coercion and fear, the story examines who draws society’s moral lines, who enforces them and what happens when these lines are crossed under pressure.

Think of England stars Ronni Ancona with Natalie Quarry and Jack Bandeira in the lead roles, alongside John McCrea, Ben Bela Böhm, Oscar Hoppe and Ollie Maddigan in supporting roles.

While the Glasgow Film Festival screening marks its UK premiere, Think of England had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2025, where it won the Festival’s award for Best Production Design.

The film, that was shot under the principles of Ted Hope’s NonDe movement, is directed by BAFTA-nominated British writer-director Richard Hawkins, andexplores moral boundaries, power and performance against the backdrop of war, at a moment in history when the stakes could not be higher. The film interrogates censorship and hypocrisy, asking what happens when deeply held values collide with the demands of survival. (read an interview with the director Richard Hawkins in Variety HERE).

Glasgow Film Festival
 6th (UK Premiere) & 7th March 2026
 https://www.glasgowfilm.org/movie/think-of-england/

 Manchester Film Festival
22nd March 2026

https://manchesterfilmfestival.app/eventdetails?id=695bd485988b844de87f16fa

Irene Brown