By HOLLY LENNON

PETER Mackie Burns thinks there’s been enough stories about men.

For his directorial debut, he decided to create a film about a character not usually seen on the big screen.

Daphne, centres around a cynical and hedonistic 31-year-old Londoner who all-in-all is a bit of a mess.

Much like BBC’s Fleabag, she is self-destructively single, living the life of someone years her junior.

Glasgow-based Burns developed the character along with Daphne actress Emily Beecham over a period of two-years.

“She’s opinionated, bad tempered, sexually promiscuous, intelligent, a university drop out, a good laugh - she’s the type of person that everyone knows someone like”, he explains.

“I thought it would be fun to make a film about someone like that.

“We were asking ourselves the questions like, how do people live now? Especially in a big city where rents are so high and it’s hard to live.

“If we could try to represent as true of picture of someone who is 31 but pretending to be 29, what would they do and what would it be like?”

To prepare for the role, Beecham was sent to work in a restaurant and lived in a rented flat, to make the character as authentic as possible.

The length of time spent researching enabled filmmakers to create a character that is relatable.

For Burns, putting women at the centre of the narrative is always a no-brainer.

“All the films I’ve made have been centred around women because I have a lot of experience with women - my mother, my partner and my daughter.

“I made a film called Milk and it did quite well and I suppose since then I’ve always been interested in doing work from a slightly different perspective than my own.

“Character is a construct and gender is a construct.

“There’s been enough stories about men and a male perspective. Female characters like Daphne are more common on the television probably because it moves quicker and is more timely whereas in cinema you’re working over longer periods of time.”

As well as creating an intricate and captivating protagonist in Daphne, Burns has created a film about London.

Instead of focusing on locations commonly chosen as a backdrop, he filmed it in his own flat in Elephant and Castle.

The area is going through seismic changes which is reflected in the characters in the film.

“I lived in Elephant and Castle so I know the area well.

“It’s undergoing massive social change, they’ve just knocked down one of the largest council estates in Europe.

“They’re moving people out pretty quickly.

“Growing up as a Glaswegian, I remember my mum and gran telling me that they lived in the city centre, which you did if you were working class, and then suddenly you’ve been moved and you’re gone miles away. History is repeating itself.

“The middle class has moved in and the working class been forced out by the price of flats.

“It’s a very ethnically and culturally diverse area and it’s been gentrified very quickly.

“It’s good to reflect the times. All the locations in the film are within walking distance of each other.

“Cities like London and New York have a cinematic identity, we’ve tried to avoid all of those to try to show what it’s really like to live in an area you don’t see represented.

“We tried to make it as authentic and three dimensional as we could.

“I love London, it’s a great city and it’s got a big personality but is the victim of its own financial success because no one can afford to live there.”

Daphne will be screened as part of Glasgow’s Youth Film Festival on September 23.

The event, which runs across the city from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September and has been created by young programmers aged between 15 and 19.

The group take part in a two week summer school where they work closely with the team behind the GFT and Glasgow Film Festival to learn how to put together an exciting and innovative film festival for their peers.

“I would hope that young people will relate to the character because she’s funny and clever”, Peter explains.

“She’s a wee bit too cool for school now and I think it’s relatable for young people.

“Questions about what you’re going to do with your life don’t disappear.

“It’s about questions not answers, what do you do when you become someone you hate?

“She’s developed this too cool for school persona and in the film she is trying to do something about it.”