ORWELL: AGAINST THE TIDE
This month celebrates the birth of Eric Blair(George Orwell)on the 25th. June 1903
He changed his mind about the Scots after fighting alongside Bob Smillie, who lost his life in the Spanish Civil War.
“… here was this brave and gifted boy who had given up his career at Glasgow University in order to fight against fascism’(adapted from Homage to Catalonia).
On 20th. May 1937 Orwell was nearly killed fighting on the Aragon Front when a fascist sniper shot him in the throat.
‘…… there seemed to be a loud bang and a blinding flash of light ……the bullet had passed straight through my neck and blood was dripping from the corner of my mouth’( adapted from ‘Homage to Catalonia’)
He was hospitalsed in Monflorite, a remote village still marked by the conflict’s scars; where bitter memories, stillhaunt and divide local families.
As part of the film’s period re-creation, my art departmentpainted temporary war slogans on the ancient village walls.Then we followed a shire horse pulling a 1930’s hay wagonled by a young Catalan. This a visual device to reveal the life and soul of Orwell’s time there.
The result? A film that was nominated for a B.A.F.T.A., won international awards, and was warmly received by the Orwell estate. The Guardian/Observer also used the film during its Orwell Centenary celebrations.
Having been invited to the Oxford Film Festival, I feared Orwell scholars might dismiss our informal approach, but the packed audience of both film and Orwell buffs seemed to enjoy and understand our efforts to penetrate and reveal visually, the appeal and excitement of his story and that the written word was much more able to express his intellect.
You know what they say: “A Pictures worth a thousand words” or “Every picture tells a story”.
#GeorgeOrwell #BobSmillie #Aragonfront #monflorite#SpanishCivilWar #VisualStoryTelling #HistoryUncovered#BAFTA
‘Orwell: Against the Tide’ along with many other stories, is available in my book ‘Shaping the Shadows: A Picture Maker’s Story’ for £10 from The National Library of Scotland:http://shop.nls.uk/shaping-the-shadows-2798-p.asp
marklittlewood.org.uk and Amazon.
