Celebrations Old and New
The Vintage Mobile Cinema has been a long time coming. Ollie Halls has been working at it for over four years now, fighting to find enough time here and there to undertake the mammoth operation that has been the restoration. There is literally enough blood, sweat and tears soaked into that vehicle. With so much behind us, it seems as if the launch date is on our doorstep, even if there are still 10 weeks to go. Tonight, ‘Inside Out’, a local documentary programme, will feature a piece about the restoration. Looking back at the vehicle as it was then, it’s heartening to see how far we’ve come. For more information on the fascinating history of this vehicle, check out the Vintage Mobile Cinema website.
We’re working on our second film now, and it’s caused quite an unexpected stir. Roger Ferrar, a local man with a keen interest in the project, rescued a few cans of 16mm film from the bin a number of years ago. I took the film to the South West Film and TV Archive with no idea what we would find, and was surprised to find myself entranced by a rare glimpse into a world gone by. North Devon has always known how to party, as it would seem from looking at images of Barum Old Fair & Carnival and Lynmouth Lifeboat Day in the 1930’s. This is a treasure, a rare glimpse through a window onto a world that less and less people know the smell and taste of, but that is part of us, part of our history. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with all, when we launch this footage as part of our second film about customs and celebrations for the North Devon Festival in June.
Look out for our constantly evolving calendar, to which events are being added weekly. ‘Inside Out’ will be screened at 7.30pm on BBC 1 tonight, March 1st. For those outside of the local BBC area, it is available to watch online on the BBC iPlayer.
