
London Short Film Festival Sunday 21st Jan 3pm
The London Short Film Festival returns for the 15th year from 12th – 21st Jan 2018. Don’t miss the screening of THE MOON & THE SLEDGEHAMMER, followed by a Q&A with director Andrew Kötting who is surely one of the film’s biggest fans. Some of you will remember him on stage with Philip Trevelyan as featured in BEHIND The Moon and the Sledgehammer where he declared the film plus a 16mm projector would be his desert island luxury. With his bombastic style it’s likely to be a very lively Q&A.
At this screening Moon & Sledgehammer will act as a catalyst for discussions on the imagery of rural England on film. Following the screening the film Diddykoy (1992) by Kötting will be shown. Joining him on stage will be photographer Ingrid Pollard who has developed a social practice concerned with representation, history and landscape with reference to race, difference and the materiality of lens based media. Her work is included in numerous collections including the UK Arts Council and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Lucy Reynolds of the University of Westminster will host the event.
Where: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 12 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
When: Sunday 21st January. 3pm
Click here for tickets
WATCH NOW
TWO EARLY TREVELYAN FILMS, BIG WARE AND LAMBING NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND FOR FIRST TIMEPhilip Trevelyan’s 1965 film, BIG WARE, a portrait of George Curtis, the last traditional country potter, is available on demand for the first time.
Littlethorpe Potters in Ripon was founded in 1861. George’s journey reads like a living history book, from Victorian times where a large milk jug was a standard in every home and a pot for everything, through the advent and iniquitous spread of plastic, round full circle to our age of eclectic selectionism where a pottery milk jug is more of a lifestyle statement than a necessary utility. And all the while George has been digging out lumps of clay to create something of use and beauty. Trevelyan’s love of work, a theme he was to develop over his career, is evident in every shot. All the time George is doing something; digging clay, wheeling it up the hill in his ingenious gravity-propelled bogey, spinning it on his wheel, taking wheel-barrow loads to the storeroom, decorating the pots and talking to customers. He’s keen to get on and make another good pot. Among themselves potters judge each other by their big ware, which challenges the potter’s skill on every level. “You’ve got to keep control of the top else the pot will get away with you.” Wise words that apply to so many situations. Watch it now here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bigware
Moon and Sledgehammer features in new film ARCADIA

Hello 21st Century! Watch the film at your leisure online
We’ve read your emails. Lots of you seem to want to have instant access to THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER and now you can, in glorious HD. You can now stream the film on Vimeo. Click here and enjoy the film, and do let us know what you think. Happy viewing! https://vimeo.com/ondemand/themoonandthesledgehammeView The Moon and the Sledgehammer
You can also watch BEHIND THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER on demand. This offers an insight into the making of the film and answers some of the questions you’ve been asking. There is only so much that can be included in a 65 minute film. Director Philip Trevelyan talks to an audience, answering many questions about how he met the family, why Mrs Page is not seen, and what happened to the family. He tells us how Mr Page was an aircraft engineer in the first world war and recalls other conversations that were had off camera. Click here to watch the film now https://vimeo.com/ondemand/behindmoonsledgehammerView BEHIND The Moon and the Sledgehammer
Maxine Peake selects The Moon and the Sledgehammer for her Desert Island Docs.
National treasure Maxine Peake, famous for her brilliant acting in Shameless, Dinnerladies and countless theatre and film productions such as The Theory of Everything, The Falling and Silk, joined Simon Hatterstone of the Guardian to discuss her Desert Island Docs selection during the recent Sheffield Documentary Festival.
We are thrilled and honoured that among Maxine’s selection was our very own film. Listen to the short clip below and hear her very sensitive take on the film and the Page family. “What’s extraordinary about it is I don’t think you could ever make another documentary like it ever again. It’s beautiful; very poetic. He’s very articulate, Mr Page. They sort of all are. There’s something about all of them that their use of language is extraordinary. They feel like some sort of poem; an ode to another way of life. the old English ethos, the connection with the land, the pagan element running through. Something very magical and quite spiritual about it….”
To hear the full conversation and discover Maxine’s other Desert Island Docs please click here
Next screening… Towner Arts Gallery, Eastbourne. 18 Nov 7.30

Andrew Kotting
Bewdley, Worcestershire 7 Nov at 7.30pm
Get on down to Bewdley in Worcestershire on 7th November for a screening of The Moon and the Sledgehammer, starting at 7.30 pm. Part of a double bill, the film will screen with ‘London Symphony’, a brand new silent film – a city symphony – which offers a poetic journey through the city of London. It is an artistic snapshot of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity. With music by James McWilliam, it has been nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017 Tickets are £5.00 and can be purchased at the venue or online here: http://thehall-bewdley.org.uk/component/ohanah/bewdley-film-club-double-header?Itemid=185 Book your tickets now as I’m told they’re going fast.Film maker ANDREW KOTTING shares his impressions on the film with us.
Where to begin? At the beginning? Before the moon landing? Wayback before we had the ‘understanding’? Wayback when time began expanding to become a multi-dimensional uneven post-modern happening? Wayback before genre mingling and sex changing? Wayback when there was a lot of smoking? More here…
Coming Soon
Full restoration of the 35mm film negative. Film will be preserved for future generations More…