They may have rock-bottom budgets, but Bradford Movie Makers think nothing of embarking on ambitious remakes of Hollywood musicals such as Oklahoma and Singin’ in the Rain.
Its members - people of all ages - throw themselves into their art. One of the guiding principles of the club, tucked away off Little Horton Lane, is that anyone can pick up a camera and learn to make a documentary or film.
Now in its 90th anniversary year, this remarkable group - the world’s oldest amateur film-making club - has had the cameras turned on itself in an award-winning documentary.
The club, and it’s fight for survival in the 21st century, is featuring in a documentary A Bunch of Amateurs, by Yorkshire-born award-winning filmmaker Kim Hopkins.
The 95-minute film documents the trials and tribulations, the moments of frustration and joy and the sheer pleasure of making movies experienced by the small group of dedicated members, as their club desperately tries to keep going.
Clinging to their dreams, and to each other, this gently comedic, profoundly moving portrait of the club speaks to the escapist dreamer in all of us, and to the importance of person-to-person contact in an increasingly lonely, digital age.
Kim came across the group after spotting a Facebook post by one of its members Joe Ogden. “I looked at his profile and saw the Movie Makers in their clubhouse and thought ‘you don’t see people like them represented in film, they are ignored’. At their annual general meeting they voted to allow me to film them.”
She adds: “I decided on an old-school character-driven verité approach with a handheld cinema camera fluidly following subjects so that an intimate portrait and storylines would emerge without need of commentary or other story devices.
"Some scenes would be filmed by the characters themselves. Footage from the club’s archive, dating back to the 1930s, along with excerpts of subjects’ own movies, provide a varied texture and historical sweep.
“A whimsical tongue-in-cheek tone and playful editing are intended to hook the audience on a slightly absurdist journey where we ponder more and more on why anyone makes a film in the first place.”
The story centres not only on the love and magic of the cinema, but on the ritual of gathering to watch movies together under one roof.
With multiple characters, making the film had its challenges from a man-management perspective. “Being movie makers they would say, I think you should film from her, or over there,” says Kim.
The daily comings and goings of the members, their meetings and their enjoyment of their craft, are punctuated by endless cups of tea in decades-old pale blue cups and saucers. “Stopping for tea is incredibly important,” stresses Kim, who says she feels honoured to have been welcomed into the club to film. "They are incredibly inclusive, regardless of who you are.”
One of the main draws is their quirky, stone-built base itself, says Kim. “The building is one of the central characters in the film. Most amateur film clubs meet in places like village halls or Conservative clubs, while this one has its own premises and rudimentary studio."
The building contains a cinema auditorium where members show their films, alongside a small studio, a green screen and meetingroom,plus a kitchen where they socialise and have their tea breaks.
“Its members are inspired by mainstream Hollywood through the ages. They could easily set about Singin’ in the Rain or any major musical. They just want to have a go. Harry, one of the central characters, tackles Oklahoma and wants to be Gordon MacRae. He wants to sit astride a white stallion. He is 86 and never ridden a horse. He does a good job.”
Beginning before lockdown, filming took place over a three-year period and was supported by the British Film Institute and Screen Yorkshire. Kim Hopkins directs and produces under her Labor of Love Films banner, alongside co-founder Margareta Szabo.
Keighley-born screenwriter Simon Beaufoy produces alongside Lisa Marie Russo, Caroline Cooper Charles, Megan Gelstein and Capella Fahoome.
Joe Ogden has been a club member for 18 years. He believes the film has caught the essence of the club. “It is a beautiful film and is very moving. Kim and Margareta made a really good job of it. We just did what we do and they filmed it. It is a slice of life in Bradford and is a story that needs to be told.”
Joe, who makes films from travelogues, to sci-fi movies and comedies, is looking forward to seeing it in Bradford.
“It got a standing ovation after it was screened in Sheffield. I have never seen a standing ovation for a documentary before. It was a full house, with some people standing.”
As for seeing himself on the big screen, his first thought was “I should have shaved that day.”
He adds: “It was very strange to see what we do on film.”
He introduced partner Jeanette Wilson to it in 2015. “Joe is the film maker, and I go to support him,” she says. “Being filmed for the documentary was quite scary at first. I don’t like being in front of the camera but I got used to it and really enjoyed seeing the film – it is just how we are, it’s exactly what it says on the tin.”
The film, which last month was screened in Germany at the Dok Leipzig Film Festival, has won plaudits including the Audience Award at this year’s Sheffield DocFest.
*After special previews on November 2 at the British Film Institute, in London, A Bunch of Amateurs is being screened at a homecoming premier on Thursday November 10 at 7.30pm at Pictureville Cinema, the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford. Kim Hopkins will introduce the film and members of the Bradford Movie Makers will be at a Q&A session afterwards. It will be shown at cinemas across the country from November 11.
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