Short Films

Land of No Fathers

A short film I created to explore the space of ‘Boys Village’ located in St Athan, South Wales, founded in 1922.

Initially a camp that provided a holiday venue for the sons of miners, it became the St Athan’s Boys’ Village, welcoming youth groups for courses/holidays from across the UK and Europe. Here in the summer of 1962, the apprentice young colliers are seen engaging in sporting and cultural activities in the disciplined, Christian environment designed to encourage community responsibility and to assist in the transition from youth to adulthood.

Today, it lies abandoned after closure in 1990. I thought it was a poignant juxtaposition that a place once so beautiful, alive and ordered had fallen into disrepair and ruin. It seemed to me to be an accurate metaphor of modern societal issues surrounding masculinity, community and spirituality. An unbearable emptiness at the heart of modern Welsh life that has given rise to a hopelessness for young men when once they were guided and given a purpose to aspire to. Most the buildings have now been demolished to make space for new affordable housing. But the church still stands and there are plans for it to be redeveloped. Hope still remains, value can still be reclaimed, reformed from the bones the tradition and heritage left by our ancestors.

Archive Footage: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-bp-refinery-llandarcy-limited-st-athan-31st-august-2nd-september-1962-1962-online

Extra Boys Village B-Roll used:    • Exploring St Athan’s Boys Village – 2022  

Leaf Soul

A short film which I created to try and express the interconnection of nature and ourselves, using the leaf as a metaphor for the individual. Leaves are connected to the branch like we are connected to the family and society, the trunk the earth and the roots the cosmos.

AMaze

A spoken word short film exploring the maze that is life. I wanted to work with the idea of individuation, how we continuously come to understand ourselves the more we live our lives and become unique individuals.

I think the maze can symbolize to us, the difficult but rewarding journey we face in the search for our inner center, the person we truly are.

Music: Fruehlingserwachen, Lobo Loco

Minotaur animated footage: Tekkonkinkreet (2006)

Starring: Jackie Urwin’s Hands

A Film from Under the Skylight

A short film I filmed just before graduating from university, I wanted to show how it felt to be inside my head. I was struggling with depression and could not stop ruminating or feeling sorry for myself at the time.

I was inspired by Dostoevsky’s ‘Notes from the Underground’ and Magazines ‘A Song From Under The Floorboards’ –    • A Song From Under The Floorboards (Remaste…  

I have procrastinated on this project for 6 years, it feels good to finally have it finished and to be able to let it go. I can work on the next project now 🙂

See you beyond the thoughts!