Please note: This was screened in July 2024
“If you care about filmmaking then you should watch Bill Douglas’ work, just the same as Stanley Kubrick or anybody else that’s great, like Tarkovsky” Lynne Ramsay
In this new documentary, Peter Jewell reminisces about the life he shared with Bill Douglas from their tiny Soho flat all the way to Devon, and their shared love of early cinema and film memorabilia.
The two men had very different backgrounds, but they formed a unique bond that channelled a tremendous creative energy. Their shared love of the movies led them to start experimenting with an 8mm camera, which paved the way for Bill to attend film school and become one of the country’s most influential filmmakers, inspiring the likes of Lynne Ramsay (who compares Douglas to Tarkovsky).
Peter’s memories and musings about the legacy Bill left behind and the intimacies, joys and complexities of their friendship are illustrated with never-seen-before clips from Bill and Peter’s amateur films from the 60s.
Presented in partnership with The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter.