Tim Stead: Magician With Wood + Q&A
15 109 mins
15 109 mins
Award-winning film about the battle to protect one of Scotland’s most remarkable homes to screen at 8.15pm on Saturday 24 May at Chester Picturehouse.
The innovative furniture designer/wood sculptor Tim Stead grew up near Helsby and his iconic furniture was successfully sold by Alan Brown through his Chester shop In Design for many years. Tim also created some of Scotland’s most popular public art, including the interior of Café Gandolfi in Glasgow, the Millennium Clock at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, and the memorial chapel for the Piper Alpha oil disaster in Aberdeen. One of his greatest creations was the interior of his family home “The Steading” in the Borders which he sculpted from wood and has been Grade-A listed by Historic Environment Scotland.
This new film charts the rollercoaster journey for Maggy, Tim’s widow, when she needs to retire to France. Can Maggy and her friends protect Tim’s legacy to inspire future generations to create and work with wood? Or will it be lost forever? “Just a big bonfire,” says Maggy in a moment of despair. In parallel, the film weaves the remarkable stories of the passionate people who worked with Tim to explore how he evolved as a profound artist. The film traces how Tim’s belief to put back in more than he took out of the environment led to pioneering the creation of the first community woodland in Britain which kickstarted the community land ownership movement in Scotland and internationally.
The film is both a head and a heart story about the bonds of love and grief, loyalty and friendship, collaboration and community alongside our relationship with trees, and Nature as a catalyst for our creativity and well-being in the face of climate change. The action is punctuated by a selection of Tim’s eloquent poems.
“If we didn’t have trees, our planet would be dead,” reflects Giles Sutherland.
Made by Dumfries based film-maker Beatrix A. Wood of TrixPixMedia, who grew up on the east side of Cheshire, the film has been in 15 international film festivals, won 3 awards and been nominated for 4 more.
“My husband was a green woodworker,” says Beatrix. “When he visited the Steading and saw Tim’s work and met Maggy, it was like a lightning bolt. It totally transformed the way he then worked with wood. When I learnt Maggy was planning to sell the Steading, I started making this film to inspire other people through Tim’s work.”
“I started time-sensitive filming, confident in the belief that the film would get commissioned. Wrong! During that time, the market for single documentaries had really changed. Three years down the line, I had some of the best material I’ve ever filmed but no screen industry investment. So I launched a Crowdfunder to raise completion finance. Over 200 people contributed and their generosity enabled me to complete the film and market it. It really demonstrated the power of a community of interest to make things happen.”
This screening at the Picturehouse Cinema in Chester is an opportunity to see the film on the big screen whilst it is being independently distributed across the UK to enthusiastic audiences.