Bridport Film Festival - From Page to Screen
The inspirational force of a Kestrel that changed two worlds
Bridport’s annual film festival, From Page to Screen, is coming to town from Wednesday 24th April to Sunday 28th April and Symondsbury Estate is delighted to be the sponsor of the sell-out screening of Ken Loach’s celebrated film, Kes. BAFTA winner, Christopher Eccleston, will be doing a Q&A following the screening, talking about how the film, based on the book A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines, impacted on his own life.
A film about a bored, dysfunctional fifteen-year-old boy, Billy Casper, growing up with little to hope for in a mining town in Yorkshire might seem an odd choice for us to sponsor, but the opportunity really resonated with us.
The pivotal force that changes Billy’s outlook is when he ‘adopts’ and trains a kestrel chick – the eponymous Kes. As the relationship between the two grows, Billy finds a positive purpose to his life that sees him praised at school for the first time.
At Symondsbury Estate we understand firsthand how being around wildlife and the natural environment benefits both physical and mental health – whether it’s watching buds burst into bloom, observing buzzards soaring overhead, watching our pygmy goats at play or listening to the bees buzzing in our flowerbeds, these are all things that have the power to lift you. We are passionate about working with nature to ensure that our flora and fauna thrive on the Estate and are developing events, activities and charitable programmes that enable visitors to connect more with the natural world.
The importance of this connection is something that most of us understood more during the pandemic and it’s evidenced by research too. A recent study by the British Science Association which got volunteers involved in a variety of nature-based activities found that everyone who took part reported higher levels of wellbeing.
So, while we obviously don’t advocate the taking of a fledgeling from its nest, we understand the impact that Kes has on Billy’s life. As the film shows in such an evocative way, being close to such a wild creature is lifechanging for Billy and by drawing him into the unspoilt nature beyond his rundown home, it helps stretch his horizons. He says, “It’s fierce, and it’s wild, an’ it’s not bothered about anybody, not even about me right. And that’s why it’s great.”
Interestingly, Kes also had a lifechanging effect on Christopher Eccleston. In an interview last year with The Yorkshireman, the actor explained that when he watched the film as a child, “it changed my entire view of myself, of art and culture for working class people. It was an absolutely transformative experience.”
He added that he was, “completely and utterly beguiled by the idea that a working class individual like myself and my brothers and my mother and father could have a wonderful skill and could have a dream to be lifted from the pit, as in Billy’s case, or the factories in my mum and dad’s and my case.”
It’s no wonder, then, that Kes was named one of the ten best British films of the past century by the British Film Institute and that this screening of the film with Christopher Eccleston is a box-office hit. However, this film is just one of 20 fantastic movies – all adapted from books – which are part of the From Page to Screen film festival. These include a couple of premieres, one of this year’s Oscar winners and some other absolute classics which fully deserve to be seen on the big screen.
To book your tickets visit https://www.bridport-arts.com/fpts/.
Dorset on screen
Home to the From Page to Screen film festival, Dorset, and indeed, Symondsbury Estate itself, are no strangers to being on both the silver screen and small screen. The county has a long and distinguished history of being used as a location of choice for film and programme makers who understand the captivating qualities of the countryside, the rugged nature of the Jurassic Coast and historical backdrop of the unspoiled villages in the area. Hits filmed here include the likes of Wonka, On Chesil Beach, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Tamara Drewe.
Closest to home for us was the filming of Rogue Male, a television film starring Peter O’Toole which was based on Geoffrey Household’s cult 1939 thriller of the same name. The film’s nameless protagonist is pursued across Europe by Nazi assassins and ends up hiding from his pursuers in the Holloways – sunken paths worn by centuries of drovers, smugglers and pilgrims passing through. The epic finale to the film was made on location in two of the best examples of these ancient pathways, Shute’s Lane and Hell Lane, which can be found right in the heart of Symondsbury Estate. They are believed to be the very same tracks in ‘the green depths of Dorset’ that inspired Household’s story.
The book and film have enthralled authors and artists for years. So much so that Benedict Cumberbatch is set to produce and star in a new film production of Rogue Male. We don’t yet know if he plans to film on the Estate, but our door is very much open!
The 2015 movie made of Thomas Hardy’s tragic classic, Far from the Madding Crowd, which starred Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene, also brought film crews to the area. Hardy’s ‘Wessex’ is, after all, a slightly fictionalised version of Dorset. The memorable scene where the out-of-control sheep dog owned by Gabriel Oak, one of Bathsheba’s three suitors, drives his sheep over the cliffs is filmed a stone’s throw from here at Eype while the farmhouse that Bathsheba inherits is, in fact, Mapperton House, just seven miles from here.
While it didn’t appear on screen, our claim to fame is that the film’s production team were based in the old stables (which now houses the Sou’-Sou’-West Art Gallery) where they also ran auditions for extras for the film. Indeed, in the scene when Fanny goes to the wrong church to marry Troy, the ‘other’ bride in the scene is Lily Colfox, daughter of Philip and Julia Colfox who own Symondsbury Estate.
However, perhaps the best-known production filmed locally in recent time is Broadchurch, starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman. Bridport served as inspiration for the fictional town in which the series was set, with its creator, Chris Chibnall, writing the storyline in his own back garden in the town. With much of the filming for the three series taking place in and around Bridport, the stars and crew became regular visitors to the area and the spectacular cliffs at West Bay are now synonymous with the programme which saw the first run attracting an average of 9.2 million viewers per episode.
The wooden cottage (named Briar Cliff Hut in real life) where Danny Latimer was murdered is in walking distance of Symondsbury Estate, perched just above Eype beach. If you were a fan of this multi-award winning TV phenomenon then you can revisit some of the key locations on the Broadchurch Trail – find your map here.
Dorset clearly ticks a lot of items on film and TV crews’ wish lists. We may be a little biased but, nestled in this gorgeous part of the world, we can see why. Why not visit us and see how many places you can identify from your favourite films.
