Mira (2000) by Andy Lawrence, photo-montage installed as open-air cinema
for Radio Halo Exhibition at Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK
proDuction reviews
“An excellent example of what good and thoroughly thought-out camera work means in the making of a wonderful film. The camera always seems to be in the right place, at the right angle, the right length of shot, with the right framing at the right time, capturing those magical moments...”
HALF ELF - Winner of ‘the Manfred Krüger Awards’ for excellent camera work at the 16th biannual German International Ethnographic Film Festival, GIEFF, 2022.
HALF ELF - Winner of ‘the Manfred Krüger Awards’ for excellent camera work at the 16th biannual German International Ethnographic Film Festival, GIEFF, 2022.
“A piece of cinematic genius, managing to negotiate between lighthearted sweetness and the intense processes of ageing. [...] beautifully intimate and personal, showcasing the merits of how ethnographic film can allow us into homes, families, life and death.”
HALF ELF - Lula Wattam, The RAI Film Festival Blog, 2021.
“A strong, solid story, sincerely told; an unpretentious film that captivates you from the first shot and makes you laugh and cry in equal measure. It features priceless characters that have a strong bond with nature and Icelandic cultural heritage. The film reminds you to not take life too seriously and to make sure you have fun, yet it also makes you think about death and it’s aftermath.”
HALF ELF - Winner of ‘the Grand Jury Prize’ at Skjaldborg, the Icelandic Documentary Film Festival 2020.
HALF ELF - Winner of ‘the Grand Jury Prize’ at Skjaldborg, the Icelandic Documentary Film Festival 2020.
"Balancing insight with warm humour, 'Horror in the Andes' shows how indigenous filmmakers can appropriate foreign genres to tell their own stories. The filmmakers we meet use horror as a means to interrogate contemporary social issues, and confront the legacies of colonial violence. Furthermore, 'Horror in the Andes' shows how translating foreign modes into local terms can articulate notions of Andean identity with defiant confidence.”
Kamila Kordys, Festival Reporters 2019
“The film [Black Snow] also tells the moving story of a politically forgotten post-industrial community struggling to recover itself in remembering the disaster, and a brilliant sculptor, on the brink of retirement, discovering himself anew in his efforts to make one last masterpiece: a memorial tribute to the surviving community in the striking figure of a mother and child, heading both in panic towards the stricken pit and in awe of the unknown future that awaits them."
Winner of the AHRC award for Best Research Film of the Year, 2018
Yang Yang, Europe Times 2017
英籍華人”可以表達自己意見和想法的空間。這個空間長期在主流媒體的缺乏, 的確值得本地媒體去反思 [In the film] ‘British Born Chinese’ find space to express their opinions and thoughts. For too long such space has remained lacking in the mainstream media, which indeed also requires some reflection and rethinking in local media."
英籍華人”可以表達自己意見和想法的空間。這個空間長期在主流媒體的缺乏, 的確值得本地媒體去反思 [In the film] ‘British Born Chinese’ find space to express their opinions and thoughts. For too long such space has remained lacking in the mainstream media, which indeed also requires some reflection and rethinking in local media."
Hiu M. Chan, UK-Chinese Times 2017
"The poignance of the documentary’s [British Born Chinese] narrative was in its simplicity"
"The poignance of the documentary’s [British Born Chinese] narrative was in its simplicity"
Vicky Gayle, Mancunian Matters 2016
"The One and the Many is a delicately executed film that teaches about and honors the Naths’ journeys, allowing viewers to see the human side of the Aghori religion ... The Aghori subjects’ words and stories carry the film, which makes it an interesting counterpart to Robert Gardner’s controversial Forest of Bliss and could spark dialogue around orientalism, the depiction of Eastern spiritualities, and the role and responsibilities of the ethnographic filmmaker."
Rachel Jones, Anthropology News 2014
"The One & The Many dives fairly quickly and deeply into its subject, but for those who are reasonably well versed in Indian culture and religion, this journey will be rewarding. Recommend
"The One & The Many dives fairly quickly and deeply into its subject, but for those who are reasonably well versed in Indian culture and religion, this journey will be rewarding. Recommend
P. Hall, Video Librarian Magazine 2014
“The Lover and the Beloved revels in absurdity and the seeming chaos of India and in particular the holy men who live in the polluting world of a cremation ground. It explores the beauty of the irrational and immerses the viewer in the world of spiritual practices that seek to obliterate the ego and presents tantra as the science of the spirit. It is a rare film that makes the viewer cynical and at the same time experience the irrationality of the existential lifestyle of the Hindu Aghori sadhus. The film does not pass judgement but allows the viewer to witness and possibly understand what is deeply esoteric and difficult to explain with rationality."
“The Lover and the Beloved revels in absurdity and the seeming chaos of India and in particular the holy men who live in the polluting world of a cremation ground. It explores the beauty of the irrational and immerses the viewer in the world of spiritual practices that seek to obliterate the ego and presents tantra as the science of the spirit. It is a rare film that makes the viewer cynical and at the same time experience the irrationality of the existential lifestyle of the Hindu Aghori sadhus. The film does not pass judgement but allows the viewer to witness and possibly understand what is deeply esoteric and difficult to explain with rationality."
Michael Yorke, University College London 2015
"...The Lover and the Beloved captures the atmosphere of this kind of milieu extremely well and I found it genuinely compelling viewing."
"...The Lover and the Beloved captures the atmosphere of this kind of milieu extremely well and I found it genuinely compelling viewing."
Jonathan Parry, LSE, author of Death in Banaras 2012
"...dazzled, moved, shaken, engaged.... the evocation of acertain and wonderfully wierd India is perfect."
"...dazzled, moved, shaken, engaged.... the evocation of acertain and wonderfully wierd India is perfect."
Lee Siegal, Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of Net of Magic. Wonders and Deceptions in India 2012
"I couldn't help comparing it to Forest of Bliss.... but what I really liked about The Lover and the Beloved was the way that beautiful cinematography of this strange and exotic world combines with its inhabitants words.... The eating-human-flesh scene is just incredible - his half hidden smile while looking into the camera is fantastic - I shall never forget this! "
"I couldn't help comparing it to Forest of Bliss.... but what I really liked about The Lover and the Beloved was the way that beautiful cinematography of this strange and exotic world combines with its inhabitants words.... The eating-human-flesh scene is just incredible - his half hidden smile while looking into the camera is fantastic - I shall never forget this! "
Christian Suhr Nielsen, winner of the Intangible Culture Film Prize, RAI Festival 2011
"A very intense and gripping film, Born is marked by an immediacy and purity of instance. The images in this film are hard to confront yet the film leaves us quiet and composed for it subtly gestures towards man’s ultimate insignificance before nature."
"A very intense and gripping film, Born is marked by an immediacy and purity of instance. The images in this film are hard to confront yet the film leaves us quiet and composed for it subtly gestures towards man’s ultimate insignificance before nature."
Aparna Sharma, Women’s Feature Service 2009
"...(Born) beautifully captures the confusion and complexity of the male perspective"
"...(Born) beautifully captures the confusion and complexity of the male perspective"
Joanna Moorhead, The Guardian 2008
"This is undoubtedly the work that captured my attention more than any other in the exhibition. Andy spent three years working with Judith to produce this powerful piece of film documentary. By using an eclectic range of methods, the film manages to transfix the audience for the full 55 minutes of delivery…. Andy is unrepentantly honest about the cathartic nature of the endeavour. Yet both the births are presented in a no-holds-barred sort of way, sparing the audience from any measure of sentimentality. This film would make an amazing educational resource for midwife teachers and childbirth educators, as well as others."
"This is undoubtedly the work that captured my attention more than any other in the exhibition. Andy spent three years working with Judith to produce this powerful piece of film documentary. By using an eclectic range of methods, the film manages to transfix the audience for the full 55 minutes of delivery…. Andy is unrepentantly honest about the cathartic nature of the endeavour. Yet both the births are presented in a no-holds-barred sort of way, sparing the audience from any measure of sentimentality. This film would make an amazing educational resource for midwife teachers and childbirth educators, as well as others."
Lorna Kirk, Practising Midwife 2008
“Our work was an attempt to distil our wonderings and visions: the hints and whispers that something more was happening just below the surface. The poems and film-poems Plasticman, It’s Only Water, Alien Love, Possession, Alien Rave! and most recently The Message are all experiments in tragic-comedy, magic-realism and, most of all, our collective stupidity.”
“Our work was an attempt to distil our wonderings and visions: the hints and whispers that something more was happening just below the surface. The poems and film-poems Plasticman, It’s Only Water, Alien Love, Possession, Alien Rave! and most recently The Message are all experiments in tragic-comedy, magic-realism and, most of all, our collective stupidity.”
Mark Gwynne Jones, The Guardian 2005