Darlaston filmmaker Dave Hastings talks filming in the Midlands for You Are My Sunshine

Set across two decades, You Are My Sunshine, written and directed by Darlaston film maker Dave Hastings, follows Tom and Joe, who first meet in the 1970s, a time when homosexuality is still deemed immoral and wrong.

The 90-minute film, which will be produced by Troy Dennison and Kaush Patel, follows the two youngsters, both in their late teens, as they try to navigate their way through an uncompromising time in history.

The audience will also see their modern day counterparts have to deal with the repercussions of their early lives when events take a turn and families collide, all against an ever-evolving LGBT landscape.

This includes Joe's older sister Ethel, who after discovering their secret, is torn between wanting her brother to be happy, against the conservative values of the society they live in.

"This is an important story to tell now more than ever especially when we are again seeing a rise in homophobic crimes around the world, which in itself is sickening," says Dave, a film lecturer at Walsall College.

"Sunshine shows that while in the face of tough adversity, whatever your sexual preference, there is never anything wrong with falling in love with someone of the same gender. Instead, just be happy. What on earth is wrong with wishing that for anybody," he adds.

Tom is described as a 'typical young lad' who lives an isolated existence after being abandoned by his family prior to the film’s narrative. He lives on odd jobs, concealing his sexuality, and wants to spend his life with Joe, regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

Joe, who is said to be reserved and shy, lives with his father, Martin, and his sister Ethel and works for his dad's painting firm.

The cast so far includes Steve Salt as young Tom, Jack Knight as young Joe and Charlie Clarke as young Ethel.

Filming is due to get under way this summer with the 1970s segments scheduled to be shot on location at Barr Beacon, Walsall Leather Museum, Wolverhampton and Talacre Lighthouse on the Rhyl coastline.

While the modern-day scenes will then be filmed in February or March next year with the movie due to be released in late 2019.

Producer Troy, who has previously worked with Dave on films such as GRID, which deals with the start of the Aids outbreak in 1980s UK, said the film aimed to be both uplifting and realistic.

"While the film presents hope, it never shies away from showing the ugly side of these discussions, with the script showing how in the 1970s, even when we had the first Pride in the UK, attitudes were still very difficult, and were strong enough to rip whole families apart, an event that could take decades to heal, while in other cases, not even being repaired at all, leaving some members of the LGBTQ community vulnerable and separated by their families forever.

"Dave has a strong record for presenting strong LGBTQ themed stories with previous efforts such as Brink and Grid receiving exceptional critical acclaim from around the globe, and being shown at festivals worldwide.

"Both dealt with serious subjects and topics head on such as the Aids epidemic, but with a haunting and deeply dramatic effect on audiences, so this script is another extension of him presenting strong gay characters with realistic and sometimes gritty realism," he added.

To help bring the story to life, an online crowd-funding campaign, on website Indiegogo, has been launched to raise the £5,000 needed to help cover production costs.

"We are all volunteers on the film, yet we need to pay for locations, make up effects, transport as well as other considerations such as food and insurance. To do this we have launched our Indiegogo campaign, so even if you can spare a £1, that would mean the world to us," says Dave.

"As film-makers without any substantial budget, we remain determined to produce a final film that sends a strong message as well as one that works alongside our local councils who we have developed a strong relationship with, and who offer us help in securing locations we need to use.

"We are very passionate about filmmaking and doing the absolute best we can with what limited resources we have. But we believe this just makes us more creative on set and how we develop not only ourselves but the movies we make," he adds.

*To support the campaign see www.indiegogo.com/projects/you-are-my-sunshine-love-drama