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ON THE LINE

Film Score   |   2023

A woman in a vintage office, wearing a floral skirt and headset, intently listen to the phone, sitting at a desk surrounded by old communication equipment.

The score was nominated for a Crystal Pine Award for Best Original Score at the International Sound and Film Music Festival in 2023

Alderney, UK. 1964. A telephone operator ends up being the pivotal piece of a drama unfurling which puts professional integrity, and relationships, to the test. ​​​​

Oliver Pearn’s debut feature is unpinned by a powerful score from Matthew Collings, combining the evocative sounds of strings, organ and other timeless acoustic instrumentation with digital angles.​​​

​​"A claustrophobic thriller that unfolds entirely inside a small telephone exchange on the island of Alderney in the early 1960s; it features just one actor visible throughout, with other characters only heard through the telephone lines.

Writer-director-producer Oliver Pearn, making his feature debut here after working as an assistant director and the like, is laying down a crisp white calling card by showing off how economically he can tell a story… the end result is reasonably engaging and propulsive"​

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– The Guardian

Close-up of a woman holding a black rotary phone to her ear, looking upwards with a concerned expression. Dim lighting suggests tension or suspense.
A person wearing a headset speaks into a microphone, their profile visible on the right. A dim, focused room suggests a serious or professional tone.
Digital Ruins, Forgotten Future
00:00 / 05:53

©  Matthew Collings 2025, Design: Elin Svennberg

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