Following a successful collaboration between artist/filmmaker Andrew Kötting and writer/psychogeographer Iain Sinclair in 2011 with Swandown (a HOME project), the intrepid duo return with By Our Selves, to retrace 19th century poet John Clare’s journey on foot from Epping Forest up into Northamptonshire.
By Our Selves is on general release from Fri 2 Oct. Here are a few words from Andrew Kötting about the film:
By Our Selves grew out of a Grants For The Arts Award, which proposed to document an eighty-mile walk from Epping Forest to Helpston in Northamptonshire. The idea was to follow in the footsteps of John Clare, with Toby Jones in the guise of the poet and me dressed as a straw bear. Iain Sinclair would accompany us, and the footage might then be used as a backdrop for a series of performances at venues across the UK.
We went on to perform ‘live’ at The Battersea Arts Centre, The Colchester Arts Centre, Oxford Brookes University, Dilston Grove and Whitechapel Gallery. Working in collaboration with musicians Jem Finer, David Aylward and MacGillivray, the work soared and the energy generated inspired me to set up a Kickstarter fund to raise money to turn the material into a feature film.
This we did, which was a very humbling experience.
John Clare enthusiasts Gareth Evans, Alan Moore, Freddie Jones (Toby Jones’ father) and Simon Kovesi were all behind the project, as was my daughter Eden, the director of photography Nick Gordon Smith, the photographer Anonymous Bosch and director of sound Philippe Ciompi.
It was the commitment and enthusiasm of all these people that enabled this film to happen. Without them you wouldn’t be reading this because there would be no film.