| Director: | Jack Archer |
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| Production: | Hopscotch Films (John Archer), Screen Scotland
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| Running Time: | 78’ |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | UK |
| Screenplay: | Jack Archer
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| Cinematographer: | Jack Archer
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| Editor: | James Alcock |
| Music: | Scott Twynholm |
| Sound: | Rob MacNeacail |
| As themselves: | Peter Jewell, Lynne Ramsay, Lenny Abrahamson, Kenny Munro, Mick Audsley, David Brown, Dr. Phil Wickham |
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The story of the extraordinary friendship between Scottish film maker Bill Douglas and his lifelong companion and collaborator Peter Jewell.
Bill Douglas was Scotland’s finest director, celebrated by the likes of Lynne Ramsay, Lenny Abrahamson, Satajit Ray and Yuliya Solntseva. In his short career he made four films: an autobiographical trilogy about his appalling childhood—My Childhood, My Ain Folk and My Way Home—and Comrades, an epic about a momentous moment in English history. Every shot in these films is an art work and every sequence a poem.
Bill’s life was turned around in the Egyptian desert when during National Service he met the man who would become his lifelong friend, Peter Jewell. The two men had very different backgrounds but they formed a unique bond that channelled a tremendous creative energy. In this film Peter reminisces about the life he shared with Bill in their tiny Soho flat filled with cinema memorabilia. Their shared love of the movies lead them to start experimenting with an 8mm camera. Peter’s memories and musings about the legacy Bill left behind are illustrated with these never-before-seen short films.
Bill Douglas is a “filmmakers’ filmmaker”. An inspiration for many contemporary voices in world cinema but criminally overlooked by commercial audiences. The discovery of a treasure trove of his unseen films was incredibly exciting. Watching them was like flicking through Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. They demonstrated not only his developing style and director’s eye but also how important his friend Peter Jewell was on his life and his career. Meeting Peter it became clear that his telling of the story of their life together should be the centre of the film. Bill remains a huge part of his life even thirty years after his death. As Peter himself says, “Art is the only immortality”.
PRODUCTION: John Archer - Hopscotch Films
68, Main Street
G63 0BG – Drymen, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 07710344508
john@hopscotchfilms.co.uk
http://www.hopscotchfilms.co.uk
RESTORATION CURATED BY: Andy Kimpton-Nye
LABORATORY: The Flying Spot Ltd
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: Screen Scotland
WORLD SALES: Hopscotch Films
ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: John Archer - Hopscotch Films
Tel. +44 07710344508
john@hopscotchfilms.co.uk
PRESS OFFICE: John Archer - Hopscotch Films
68 Main Street
G63 0BG – Glasgow, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 07710344508
john@hopscotchfilms.co.uk
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE: John Archer - Hopscotch Films
68 Main Street
G63 0BG – Glasgow, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 07710344508
john@hopscotchfilms.co.uk
