"I saw a truly amazing one woman live art show at the Edniburgh festival in 2009 - 'Everything Must Go (or the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles)' by Kristin Fredricksson - in which the life story and eccentric character of the artist's recently deceased father was told and bought to life. During a brilliantly shambolic patchwork of performance the father's belongings (including a series of home movies shot on cine film) assisted Fredricksson in creating a sincerely heartbreaking tribute to her dad and by the end of the show the whole audience was weeping in their seats....

I remained overwelmed by the empathetic and nostalgic connection we all felt from watching this footage of a complete stranger and how with the inclusion of these glimpses of the real man we all felt like we actually knew him; they radiantly transcended the performance into something far more personal than it would otherwize have been.

It caused me to recall my own father's collection of cine film home movies and how in the 80's he had asked a friend to set up a cine film projector and screen to film a handful of his tapes onto VHS. In his wisdom the said friend had recorded a 'soundtrack' by simply playing a stereo in the room whilst the the filming took place. I remember sitting down with the whole family to watch the VHS eagerly (actual footage of a youthful mum and dad and my brother and I as tots!) and how, to my surprise this random music went on to dictate the mood and plot of the footage...... it was, to be honest quite hilarious, we all agreed.

So, that was the seed that grew into creating a short film edited together from the hours and hours of footage my dad filmed with his beloved cine camera, where my family could be the 'stars' and my compositions could steer the audience's imagination."

 

Helen hopes to capture a live recording of the project in a space with a formidable acoustic, possibly a church or similar later this year with the intention of releasing both audio and video formats. She then plans take the live project on the road, performing at film festivals and independant cinemas across the country to promote it. She hopes to inspire others to hunt out their family's collection of cine film tapes to either simply take a trip down memory lane or go onto be inspired to create their own soundtrack or art project.............