— RELEASING 25th AUGUST —

Blackthorn - BFI Doc society

8 mins

Director - Dom Bush | Cinematographer - Dom Bush | Producers - Helen Lawrie and Rebecca Day | Funded by british film institute and doc society

Synopsis

What's the worth of truth in a country crushed by apathy? For father, poet and drystone waller sam robinson, resistance is the honesty or work and words.

Sam plies the thousand year old trade of drystone walling in the lake district, working in any weather to make and maintain the lie of the land. He is also a punk poet and folk singer who's songs are utterly connected to his sense of place, as true to cumbria as billy bragg to barking. sam's political and cultural philosophy is one of protest, pride and authenticity - the counter vision to a Britain bound in consumerism, the people removed from the work that once grounded their communities.

Meet award winning filmmaker Dom Bush, Director of Blackthorn

What inspired you to become a film maker?

I studied art and design first, and dedicated my time to drawing and painting, going on to study it to foundation level at college. I joke that I spent most of my upbringing on wheels - be that rollerblades, skateboards or mountain bikes, but my first love was skiing and I did that competitively up to the age of 16. I spent a lot of time in the mountains and lived in the Alps for a few years after school so I could ski every day. At some point I realised that shooting photographs and film in the mountains could be a more realistic career for me than being a professional skier, and it could be the key to bringing together the things that were most important to me at the time.

A lot of your films explore our relationship to the natural world - has this always been something you have been interested in?

In more recent years I've pushed into traditional documentary and away from adventure film, but my work remains connected to the landscape and the natural world. The physical interaction with landscape that comes with rock climbing, skiing or generally spending time in the mountains has always been a positive presence in my life. Some of my closest friendships and most poignant memories were formed in the mountains, and skiing and climbing have helped me through really difficult times. I'm still fascinated by where I fit into the landscape, how other people respond to it, and the profoundly grounding experiences it can bring. Growing up in a place like Cumbria, the landscape is in your peripheral vision at all times - mountains or trees encircle all of your immediate movements and interactions. I've always found this really comforting, so it seems natural that it would be a feature of my work.

How do you choose/find the subjects/stories for your films?

I'm genuinely fascinated by people, and usually people who are overlooked. I tend to go very much on instinct when it comes to following stories and characters, and that is underpinned by my own life experiences. Most of my films revolve around central character's who are driving the story and can present important themes to the audience. Often the themes have been tumbling around in my head for years as I look for ways to communicate them so instinctively I'm drawn to characters who share certain perspectives or life experiences with me. In that sense each film is just as much about me as it is about them. That's taken me some time to work out!

Sam, the character in Blackthorn, has interested me since I met him. I love his music and poetry and am fascinated by the contrasts in his character - I see many of them in myself. The interplay between masculinity and expression, anger and connection were things we talked about a lot when making the film, even though they didn't all make it to the refined cut. Growing up, I think we both felt like outsiders and at difficult times we both found relief in our connection to the natural world. Often I make these films so I can gain a greater understanding of myself - and I kind of hijack other people's lives to do that. It's good to understand that, and take great care when doing it...

Who would be the person you would most like to make about/with?

There are some figures who pop up that I joke about contacting. I was listening to an old Cat Stevens record the other day - Tea for the Tillerman and thought, I better send him an email and get this process of making a film with him under way. His music has made an indelible mark on me because I listened to it with my dad growing up.

Seriously though, the more famous or well known people are, the less they appeal to me in general. I'm much more drawn to the person everyone overlooks. Watch this space for the Cat Stevens film though!

Blackthorn explores connecting to nature, but what does connecting to nature mean to you?

I think for some people being in nature is represented by their Instagram page - it's what other people see you doing, not really what you do yourself. This has been a growing trend that I generally push against. So I leave my phone in the car and keep the connection as simple as I can, though I still find that hard sometimes.
I swim in the rivers in summer, stand on top of mountains with friends at sunset, sleep out in the hills. I take analog photographs and develop them myself.

Being connected to nature is very 'on trend' nowadays, but I find the push to share everything just breaks our connection further - it's a very clever marketing device. I realise that sounds a little hypocritical when I share work about connection, but I try to create something more challenging and thought provoking if I can. Stories are so fundamental to our understanding of the world and documentaries are a great medium for telling those stories.