Abingdonian 2018

49 www.abingdon.org.uk Summer Term with anthropomorphic waste bins. My own view is that he’s tapped into the Zeitgeist and offered us a lesson for our times. Tristan Mann Powter established his credentials last year with an impressive debut film about Abingdon’s Traditional Morris Men. This year, he explored another facet of his home town in The End of the Line , a lovely documentary telling of the demise of Abingdon’s railway line - affectionately remembered as “The Bunk” - at the hands of Dr Beeching. Freddie Nicholson opened his account last year with a portrait of Thirsty Meeples games café in Oxford. This time, he brought us Living Local , the story of Rupert Griffin, founder of Tiddly Pommes, an ‘experimental local micro- enterprise’ based in Cutteslowe Park producing juice from the ‘enormous quantities of apples’ in East Oxford and the surrounding area that go unused each autumn. Freddie Marshall was one of the contributors to last year’s Sobell House film. In SAD , he offered a highly imaginative evocation of Social Anxiety Disorder, featuring the AFU’s first use of a ‘Lensbaby’, a device giving an out of focus blur at the edges of an image. Freddie used this to great effect to convey the disconnected feelings of his protagonist, played by Alfie Marshall. James McRae has also explored a disorder on film, having looked at Dissociative Identity Disorder in 2017. This time, he teamed up with AFU new boy Max Kidd-May to produce Thinking Makes It So , the inspiring story of explorer Steve Brooks and his attempt to fly a helicopter between the North and South Poles. First films are arguably the hardest to make, so it was pleasing to see six new filmmakers cross the finish line ahead of the annual screening. Alongside Max Kidd-May’s debut were first films from Flynn Walker, Oliver Liddell, David Merritt, Jude Green and Patrick Heath. Flynn’s The Long Game told the story of Swindon Town owner and ex- premiership footballer Lee Power – still the only former player to own a Football League Club. Oliver’s Winning Moves explored his dad’s rise from factory floor to managing director of a leading games manufacturer. David, Jude and Patrick combined on Long Live the Southbank , a portrait of the first generation of skateboarders to ply their trade on London’s Southbank, only to find themselves in a battle for space with developers. After reminding us that Michael Grigsby would have been the first to say there are no winners or losers in filmmaking - anyone who makes a film has achieved something of great value! - the Headmaster presented the Michael Grisgby Awards to Freddie Marshall, David Bicarregui and Joe Bradley. The 2018 films, along with all previous AFU films, can be seen at https://vimeo. com/abingdonfilmunit Mention must be made of the AFU tutors – our wonderful team of professional filmmakers for whom it has also been a spectacular year. Colin O’Toole and Jonas Mortensen won the BAFTA for best short film with Cowboy Dave , based on a true story drawn from Colin’s Manchester childhood, while Duncan Pickstock premiered his latest film HS2: Whose Line is it Anyway? and Matt Copson created Blorange , a new exhibit for the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and won a prestigious art prize in Germany. We are enormously fortunate to work with such talented and inspiring artists. Jeremy Taylor