Hello everyone, from a wet and cold Hertfordshire!
I am so pleased to be able to share the news with you all that we have completed post-production onHer Name Was Moviola\xa0which means our film is now finished.
A decade ago, Walter realised there was no detailed filmic documentation of what it actually took to edit film on a Moviola, the way it used to be done.
My involvement began with an email to Walter in July 2020. I asked him about a quotation he had used at our first meeting, in his interview forThe Elstree Project— my oral history of Elstree and Borehamwood's studios. Walter had quoted a journalist’s words about the destruction of the Chicago World's Fair - and was applying those words to describe how he felt about the destruction of hisReturn to Ozfilm sets at Elstree Studios, and about the studio in general (which was partially demolished in the early 90s). \xa0I couldn’t find the author of the quote, but naturally Walter remembered and gave me the name:
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“And yet they are not lost, but have become internal, the soul's possession, which is immortal. While they existed, they could perish, but having perished, they live.” - Denton Snider; reporting for the Chicago Tribune January 9, 1894 on the destruction of the ruins of the World's Fair.
I would like to think that we could also apply those words to the Moviola, now that our film is completed. While it's unlikely anyone will ever use one again to edit a scene from a film, having documented the story in our film of how it was used – recognising the work of countless editors from almost the beginning of cinema – we have now made the Moviola immortal, and closed this \xa0100 year old chapter in cinema with a fitting ending.
Filming this project in the summer of 2022 at BBC Elstree Centre – during the centenary year of the Moviolaandthe BBC – and recreating a cutting room from half a century ago, with all the antique equipment and materials was a unique and wonderful privilege.
So... what's next? The next step will be festivals and getting the film out in front of an audience. We have identified a number of these already and have begun the submission process, and naturally I will keep you updated with news as we hear back from any successful festival entries.
For those of you who backed at a category which included an online screener of the film, I will be contacting you shortly. I will follow up on other rewards in due course too – none of these have been forgotten. I'm excited to be able to now give back to you, after you gave so generously to us.
Thank you to every single backer on this film who got us to this point. We really could not have done this without you. I'm immensly proud of the film, and hope that when you get to see it you will be too.
All best wishes,
Howard
