Bata-ville: We are not afraid of the future
- 14 years ago
Bata-ville: We are not afraid of the future
A Somewhere Film by Nina Pope & Karen Guthrie
http://www.bata-ville.com/
Bata-ville is a bittersweet record of a coach trip to the origins of the Bata shoe empire in Zlin in the Czech Republic. Against the backdrop of regeneration in their local communities, former employees of the now-closed UK shoe factories in East Tilbury (Essex) and Maryport (Cumbria) are led on a journey that begins as a free holiday but soon becomes an opportunity for a collective imagining of what entrepreneur Tomas Bata's maxim "We are not afraid of the future" means for them in 21st century Britain. Inspired by the contrast between the idealism of Bata and the more recent industrial decline of East Tilbury and Maryport, host / directors Pope & Guthrie lead this unorthodox coach party on a journey through Bata's legacy.
Bata-ville continues to screen at arts venues throughout the UK, and was selected to premiere at the prestigious 2005 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
"A strange, defiantly unclassifiable work from UK artists Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope - combining elements of travelogue, documentary and performance piece - Bata-ville takes one of the archetypical aspects of British life, the holiday coach trip, and overlays it with a number of social, cultural and historical preoccupations. Artistic collaborators for over a decade, Pope and Guthrie lead their tour group with a kindly sort of efficiency. There's something endearing about the pair, so groomed and unflappable in their retro-chic outfits - a goofy sense of fun that prevents them from seeming pretentious or merely arch. As filmmakers, too, they demonstrate a serene confidence, an easy familiarity with the medium. Charming is a problematic word, usually invoked to damn with faint praise, yet it seems entirely appropriate here: this is a charming, yet quietly provocative film."
Excerpt from EIFF director Shane Danielson's review
A Somewhere Film by Nina Pope & Karen Guthrie
http://www.bata-ville.com/
Bata-ville is a bittersweet record of a coach trip to the origins of the Bata shoe empire in Zlin in the Czech Republic. Against the backdrop of regeneration in their local communities, former employees of the now-closed UK shoe factories in East Tilbury (Essex) and Maryport (Cumbria) are led on a journey that begins as a free holiday but soon becomes an opportunity for a collective imagining of what entrepreneur Tomas Bata's maxim "We are not afraid of the future" means for them in 21st century Britain. Inspired by the contrast between the idealism of Bata and the more recent industrial decline of East Tilbury and Maryport, host / directors Pope & Guthrie lead this unorthodox coach party on a journey through Bata's legacy.
Bata-ville continues to screen at arts venues throughout the UK, and was selected to premiere at the prestigious 2005 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
"A strange, defiantly unclassifiable work from UK artists Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope - combining elements of travelogue, documentary and performance piece - Bata-ville takes one of the archetypical aspects of British life, the holiday coach trip, and overlays it with a number of social, cultural and historical preoccupations. Artistic collaborators for over a decade, Pope and Guthrie lead their tour group with a kindly sort of efficiency. There's something endearing about the pair, so groomed and unflappable in their retro-chic outfits - a goofy sense of fun that prevents them from seeming pretentious or merely arch. As filmmakers, too, they demonstrate a serene confidence, an easy familiarity with the medium. Charming is a problematic word, usually invoked to damn with faint praise, yet it seems entirely appropriate here: this is a charming, yet quietly provocative film."
Excerpt from EIFF director Shane Danielson's review