Harvard University Film Archives
The Films
The Philip Trevelyan Retrospective will span a career starting at the Royal College of Art in 1961 where he made his award-winning LAMBING, showing the isolation and dedication of an old Yorkshire sheep farmer as he tends his ewes during the lambing season. Trevelyan unobtrusively observes an intimate portrait of the man and his craft with respect and admiration, setting a pace that slowly immerses you into his world.
Trevelyan Rare Double Bill
| LAMBING Director Philip Trevelyan UK 1964 25mins |
| Shepherd Mr Dick Freeman by his fireside as he works through the night in the cold and dark of his hilltop farm during the lambing season. Click here for more images |
LAMBING will screen with The Moon & Sledgehammer in this rare Trevelyan Double Bill. It's a unique opportunity to see Trevelyan's award-winning student film on the big screen and chart his development as a film maker of unmistakable style. Even here his early film uses poetry as the main narrative. He is already experimenting with and finessing his powerful control of time and space and ability to make his subject so at ease as to be seemingly unaware of the camera. This throws up wonderful intimate glimpses and an air of peaceful contentment as we are slowly drawn into the shepherd's world… Trevelyan seeks out people whose purpose in life he admires. He believes they have a great deal to teach us today and feels it is important that we listen and re-evaluate what we are slowly losing….
Duke of York's picturehouse, Brighton. Sat 13th Aug 3.30pm Click here for tickets
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Other titles will include the highly praised
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After making the popular and much loved |
Big Ware,for the BBC’s prestigious arts programme Omnibus in 1971 who screened the film twice. It shows George Curtis at work; the last traditional country potter still working. This is a subject well understood by Trevelyan whose mother was the well-known craft potter Ursula Mommens.
Mr. George Curtis, potter, at work.
Again, using the same crew as Ship Hotel and The Moon & the Sledgehammer, 
we see evidence of a tight-knit team communicating almost telepathically,
so familiar were they with each other’s working style.
The Retrospective will close with a study of the poet Basil Bunting featuring
the timeless poem Briggflatte and K491, an experimental piece without dialogue, exploring interpretations of Mozart’s piano concerto in C minor before a performance.
A full programme of events and date will be published soon.
Read Philip Trevelyan's comments on his films here
Read about the Trevelyan Retrospective at Harvard University here
To fully celebrate the event a new print of THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER will be struck. We've seen some Before and After test results and it's thrilling to see the film come alive again. The sunshine is back in the woods!
Details of how to become involved coming soon including early bird offers on the new DVD and a chance to be at the UK premiere of the new print. Click here to learn more.
SHEEP FOLD
THE FARM
MR DICK FREEMAN
DICK BY THE FIRE
View from Hotel Entrance
Tom Pickard and Taxi
Under the Tyne Bridge
Tina McCormick by the river
Tina (and daughter) Vera McCormick
Taxi leaving foggy Hotel
Shooting Tyne Maine
Ship Hotel from across river
Ship Hotel by day
Ship Hotel at night
Richard Stanley, camera, on Tyne Maine
Nick Nixon by Ship Hotel
Michael Sloane outside Hotel
Jose Connor
End scene
Dicky Renwick
Dicky Renwick smiling
Bobby Fairless (singer and coal miner)
Billy and Michael in Hotel
Shooting Tyne Maine
Coming soon!
Full restoration of the The Moon & the Sledgehammer
For some time now we have been looking at finding ways restoring the film and producing a copy that is as good as the original. We want the film to be seen properly, restored to its glorious colour, full of warmth with delicate tones and greater depth and range and an overall ambiance only film has, the power to capture you and take you on a journey.
Safeguarding the Film for Future Generations.
It is vitally important that the film is restored and transferred to digital format to keep it up to date with current formats. This will ensure its place in the future for another 50 years. For generations to come people will be able to watch and marvel at the Page family and their unique lifestyle; their legacy, reminding us of the other things in life.
The film is now approaching 50 years old – around the age film starts to deteriorate. Little or no funding is available for restoration work, which is a painstakingly slow and expensive process. It is tragic to think how many films – records of our social history, have simply deteriorated and disappeared, lost forever.
Every purchase of the DVD takes us a step closer to restoration.
Click here for Christmas Special Offer
