I moved to Bristol on a whim – I didn’t know anyone here and really didn’t know anything about the place – but I’ve lived in and around the city for 12 years now, and it feels more like home than anywhere else. My childhood was split between London and Devon, so Bristol feels like a perfect midpoint. It’s smaller than London but still has a lot going on, plus loads of accessible green spaces and beauty spots nearby to escape to – so it’s a good fit for me.
One of the things that attracted me to Bristol as a filmmaker is the city’s sense of independence and community. I’ve always found the film scene here to be friendly, welcoming, and inclusive. There’s less gatekeeping, fewer egos, and more collaboration. There’s also a kind of punk, do-it-yourself mentality that I identify with and that’s always been central to how I work. For me, Bristol is an encouraging and motivating place to make films – I’ve never had to look far to find a compelling story to tell.
Somewhere that’s inspired me is the Bristol Megascreen – which for those who don’t know is the formerly forgotten IMAX theatre, now part of the Bristol Aquarium. The team at Forbidden Worlds Film Festival brought it back to life in 2022 and have been running festivals and one-off screenings there ever since. It’s an awesome space in the truest sense of the word, and the subject of my new film, The Big Picture, which – fittingly – premieres at Bristol Megascreen on Wednesday 28 May to open this year’s Forbidden Worlds Film Festival.
I moved to Bristol long after the IMAX had closed, and weirdly, I’d lived here for nearly a decade before I’d heard anything about an IMAX being here. I knew the building – a big, cylindrical red-brick tower on the Harbourside – but since it’s right next to the aquarium, I just assumed it was a giant fish tank. Turns out a lot of people shared that assumption!
The Big Picture tells the story of the old IMAX and how it came to be revived as a community cinema space. It opened for the millennium, but a series of problems led to it closing in 2007, with everything – the screen and the original IMAX projector – left sealed inside. Just the fact that it had remained intact, yet weirdly completely forgotten, right in the middle of a city with such a thriving film scene – I thought was crazy. But what really grabbed me was the story of the people reclaiming the cinema. It wasn’t demolished, it wasn’t taken over by some corporation – it was revived as a community space. That was really exciting to see. At its heart, it’s a story about Bristol’s film community – people who had the passion and vision to bring this incredible space back to life.
I’ve always been a fan of Aardman, although I’m still yet to find a way to incorporate stop motion into my documentary work! David Attenborough and the Bristol-based BBC Natural History Unit have been a positive influence on my work, too – not just for their technical craft, but for their thoughtful, human-centred storytelling. I’m also inspired by more independent voices in the city. There’s a strong culture of grassroots, socially conscious filmmaking here. Projects that come out of places like Watershed or Calling the Shots often challenge conventional formats and tell powerful local stories with global relevance.
Watch The Big Picture at the Bristol Megascreen on 28 May, 7pm. Tickets available via forbiddenworldsfilmfestival.co.uk
