Thanks to community film
making organisation North Devon Moving Image (NDMI), a number of emerging
documentary film makers will have the opportunity to create a unique collection
of short films about farming in north Devon.
Each of the seven
commissioned films will focus on individual farms within North Devon’s UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve, which includes the North Devon Coast AONB designation and
reaches to parts of Exmoor and Dartmoor. The selected film makers have sought out
engaging characters and fascinating stories from farms around the region including
the life of a smallholder, farming with nature on the Hartland Peninsula to how
a small local abattoir on the fringes of Exmoor has a positive impact on animal
welfare and an inside story on women in farming at Hatherleigh.
“We were very
keen to support this project because short films are a brilliant way of telling
the story of farming today in these remote rural areas.” commented Jenny
Carey-Wood, Manager of the North Devon Coast AONB who have helped to fund Down
on the Farm “Our small grants are often used to help people better understand
that the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are a living and working
landscape, with farms and smallholdings playing a vital role in producing food,
managing land for wildlife and as places for people to enjoy the stunning coast
and countryside.”
Linda Mason from Southsea in Hampshire, has chosen to make
her film about farmer Rose Manning “I was really excited to be selected for
the Down on the Farm commission” Linda says “Devon
is such a beautiful part of our country and I enjoy telling everyday
stories. Rose has been farming all her life and now even in her mid
seventies she is still caring for the young cattle and supporting on the
farm. I will tell
Rose’s story through her daily routines on the farm and in the kitchen baking,
as she prepares food and reminisces about her life. My film “Lifelong Farmer” will weave together
archive material, intimate and personal recollections of being a woman in
farming over many decades. I look forward to visiting the farm over the
year and learning more about the busy 'retired' life of a farmer.”
The films will be completed at the end of next year and will
be available to view online at the NDMI website www.northdevonmovingimage.org.uk
and in the new social history gallery at the Museum
of Barnstaple and North
Devon. In the meantime you
will be able to keep up with news ‘from the field’ in a series of blog posts
from the film makers which will be published on NDMI’s website and social media
channels.
Linda Mason film maker "Down on The Farm"
