“When came across Kajaki, I realised there was no need to fictionalise it at all, it was just an astonishing story.

The route to tell a true story like this is to do your research. We had the coroner’s report, which is in the public domain and we got our hands on the internal Army board of inquiry into the incident. They gave us effectively what were the facts, as agreed by everybody through a series of inquests and court cases. That’s quite handy.

We tracked down the solicitors who had represented the guys and they introduced us to [the real-life parents of the main character]. We felt it was important to get their approval. We flew up to Scotland, sat down at their kitchen table and had a cup of tea. In that process, we convinced them we were honest people and we wanted to do an honest job and they said yes, go ahead. Then they gave us the telephone numbers of a couple of the lads who were involved.

On top of that, we wanted to speak to everyone else who had been there and they’re all still serving. The snag there is if you want to talk to a serving officer, you’re obliged to get Ministry of Defence permission to do so. We got in touch with the press arm of the MoD and they then ‘thought about it’. Eighteen months it took for me to convince them I just wanted to talk to the guys. That considerably delayed us.

We did write a script [early on] and structurally it’s the same as the finished film. But it was half what the finished product is, because the richness of insight we got from each of the guys we spoke to was invaluable. The humour, the way these guys spoke to one another.

If you’re going to tell a true story, just try telling it straight. Get it as authentic as possible, the little details matter. All the guys were phoned up and asked if they could remember what they were wearing on the day. Were they in trousers or shorts? Who had medical kit and who didn’t?

Does it matter if the cast look like the real people? I don’t think it does for the audience. It does a little bit more for us because we’ve met the guys. Much more important was they came from the same neck of the woods. That’s one of the joys of casting from relatively unknowns – if you want a West Country accent, why not cast a West Country actor? It makes life so much easier.

We filmed in Jordan. We went there and the film commission lent us a guy and a four-wheel truck and we looked at four or five dams. By that time we were posting location shots on our little Facebook group, which was made up of the guys who’d served there. We’d post it and say, ‘what do you think?’ We were getting direct feedback from the guys who’d actually been there.

When we were ready, we invited all of them into a screening room in Soho. We were never more nervous, but they all liked it. All the serving soldiers who’ve seen the film have said we got it bang on. To me, that’s a fantastic endorsement.”

Paul Katis’ CV

How did you start? “I left college and started out as an editor. Soon, I was freelance directing.”

One of his first jobs was filming famous sextuplets. In 1989, he directed a film about the Walton children, who were tabloid staples at the time.

He formed Pukka Films 12 years ago, where he is now creative director. “We make largely films on behalf of business. We use the term applied filmmaking, but other people call it corporate filmmaking!”

BAFTA night was very fun. “When you look at a line of champagne glasses and think, ‘I really can’t manage another one’, you know you’ve had quite a good night.”

As was being nominated for Outstanding Debut after more than 20 years in the business. “It did me no end of good at home. It’s rather a good life lesson – it doesn’t necessarily all happen to you in your twenties or thirties, or even forties. Keep going and you’ll get there in the end.”

Kajaki is now available on DVD kajakimovie.com