In a moving intersection of youth creativity and veteran talent, 14-year-old Jacob Franklin’s directorial debut has drawn the support of none other than acting legend Sir Ian McKellen.
Franklin’s film, Dragged Through Time, is a powerful exploration of 1000 years of LGBTQIA+ history and the modern queer experience. Produced by Windsor-based youth drama collective Notice Productions, the project brings together a new generation of voices with the weight of lived queer history.
The collective is known for tackling challenging and often underrepresented topics through film. Past projects have delved into youth radicalisation, coercive control, and artificial intelligence — themes often considered too difficult or taboo to explore with young people at the helm.
Dragged Through Time marks a bold continuation of that legacy, made even more remarkable with McKellen’s involvement. The esteemed actor was drawn to the project after Franklin reached out with help from Eton College’s director of drama, Scott Handy.
“We weren’t really expecting a reply,” Franklin told PinkNews. “But then he texts us back and says in his words, not mine, that he’s ‘really inspired by this and would love to come and do this’. And I’m like, yes, absolutely!”
McKellen takes on the role of Great Uncle Peter, a partially closeted relative of the film’s protagonist, inspired by queer individuals who lived through the 1970s and 80s.
In a heartfelt behind-the-scenes video, McKellen, 86, shared how the film brought back memories of his own adolescence.
“I often look back to myself at his age and regret I wasn’t close enough to my parents to talk to them about what I knew about myself,” he said. “I never told either of my parents that their only son was gay. The idea that at 14 I could have plucked up the courage to have a conversation with them about something so personal… to see [Jacob] in this situation makes me think perhaps I could have done this if I had been a bit braver or if the world had been a bit different.”
The film will have its world premiere at Windsor and Eton’s inaugural Pride event in July — a momentous occasion both for the filmmaker and the local community.
Franklin said the process had been “quite overwhelming” but also deeply empowering.
“It means a lot that Pride is coming here this year because it’s a really exciting event and a space where people can be accepted for who they are,” he said. “It means so much that my film is going to be premiering there.”
As for the audience reaction, he hopes viewers walk away with “mixed emotions, but overall, quite a happy feeling.”
