PHOTOMONTH: Water Rats - Jillian Edelstein, and Marginalia, Song to the River - Bevis Bowden Double Bill
TBC 120 mins
TBC 120 mins
Photomonth photography festival celebrates photography in all in forms throughout East London in the month of October. In addition to exhibitions, talks and workshops, photomonth will screen films by photographers who are working in both mediums and take their art to the big screen. Every screening will be followed by in conversations with the film directors and producers and Tom Hunter from Photomonth.
Marginalia | song to the river is a film that explores the river and its wildlife in a time of increasing land pressure and climate change.
Through poetry, song and statement this film asks us who we are and how we fit into the dynamic of our surroundings and nature.
The Water Rats + Q&A 18
Greig Coetzee and Jillian Edelstein, UK, 2020-2022, 48m.
The Water Rats captures the adventures of twelve strangers who, coming from diverse walks of life; mixed ages, ethnicity and interests, unite over the coronavirus lockdown to continue cold water swimming during and in spite of the first Lockdown in 2020.
At first, editor, director and writer Greig Coetzee and award winning photographer Jillian Edelstein had planned to write a six part TV drama - they had met in Esther Freud’s writing group - but, later, decided to make a documentary using all the material gathered, including visuals -stills, drone footage, B roll film and interviews with the members of the Water Rats group.
The group continued to swim together through the Pandemic, becoming a motley crew of outlaws visiting various wild cold waters locations around Hampstead Heath.
The film explores the power of the human connection arising from such a unique and challenging experience within the natural scenarios of some of London’s best-kept-secret natural locations.
In July 2022, The Water Rats was awarded two Impact Awards for Originality/Creativity and merit award for Feature Documentary.