Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Gala Night: Two films, guests, food and good conversation.

After last year’s successful Gala night, we thought we should do it again, this time with new British films and guest directors as our theme. In contrast to our other film today, ‘Two Years at Sea’ is a very uncomplicated documentary, filmed in grainy monochrome with little or no talking.

Ben Rivers’ is building a reputation as a good experimental filmmaker. Here, he spends time filming Jake Williams, a recluse by choice who lives in an isolated, cluttered house deep in the forest in Aberdeenshire. We follow him in his day to day activities, eating, fishing, chopping wood, building a raft, with teasing, partial shots, leaving us to decide if this is just a pretty visual film of life on the edge of society, or a deeper ‘semi-blank canvas on which to draw your own ideas about living’ - Dave Calhoun,Time Out. The critics and audiences all seem to love it, though the critics are more split on its worth.

Hopefully, with Ben Rivers introduction, we will be able to fill the canvas for ourselves.