sheffield international documentary festival

Been doing some journalism up at this unbelievably cool little documentary film festival in Sheffield, and, more scarily/thrillingly, putting the Mission to Lars about. Had some jolly positive feedback. Feel little in the way of self-congratulation because the truth is jumping each hurdle only reveals the next...

What is exciting is the fact that we are in a good place to apply to the Wellcome Trust for the last £30K we need. They give grant funding for documentaries with a good science angle and encourage film release to be run in tandem with outreach programmes. Meaning in plain language is that Tom, Will and I and perhaps even more siblings and parentals and stuff could hit to the road to talk and exchange ideas (did I just write 'exchange ideas', Jeez) about disability and about being a family coping with disability and most importantly about Fragile X.

Did I just type that last sentence. The water up here is affecting my head

KTW hit the road in dreamy family bonding adventure?

Er yuh, think we all know how that ends...

Anyway, about to go to my first ever round table where I get three minutes to pitch the film to a bunch of TV commissioners and distributors and sorts who can get the film seen from here to Taiwan. If I wasn't so tired (read: hungover) after a heaving drinking fest in the bar of the Mercure Hotel, which functions as a sort of Soho House up here, I'd be nervous, but I'm not. Sometimes hangovers leave you only with enough energy to function and not enough energy to overthink and flap and generally behave like a saggy old cloth worrybag. Sometimes hangovers are not a terrible idea.

There are loads of great films on here, hopefully many will make it to our telly screens. Some are super highbrow and for the head nodders only stroking their cords and others are fabulously mainstream and entertaining without veering into the reality telly box turf. I liked Autumn Gold, Sex Magic, Basquiet, ummm, just realised what time is, got to dash. But the film programme at Sheffield is here

And here is the flyer we've been stuffing in the right people's pockets when we can...

Bye bye. Thanks. Love. Kate

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A weekend in Cornwall

Watch clips of Mission to Lars here: http://www.spicerandmoore.com/category/documentaries/

After months of the film being in Will and James' hands, I started coming in to see the rushes reduced down to a rough edit that Will is taking up to Sheffield Documentary Festival tomorrow.

Aside from the odd constructive and/or destructive bit of criticism, I have to give the entire credit for turning the crazy plan into 80 minutes of movie to my brother and James at Spicer and Moore.

This last week the entire family, minus Ben, and including several grandchildren all piled down to Cornwall for a chaotic, large and noisy holiday. On the Monday the photographer Chris Floyd came down to take some promo shots of Tom for us to put on the flyers we'll hand out like kids on the beach in Faliraki while up in Sheffield. Tom and Chris got on well, Tom helped Chris set up his lights and then got in front of the camera and acted like a pro pulling all sorts of faces. It's incredible how much more capable he is when entrusted with important jobs, instead of just being passed over because he is 'disabled'.

The major message in Mission to Lars is not Tom's incompetence, but, in a way, ours, well mine at least, in understanding his disability and empowering him not smothering or bossing or big sistering him.

 After Chris had taken the pictures of Tom, we sad down round the laptop and watched the first half of the film. There was a big heap of family there. I dithered in the kitchen wiping surfaces again and again, being busy, too scared to go in, too aware of how critical the family might be. When I heard them laughing once, twice and a few more times, I decided to go and join the sitting room theatre.

The film looks good, the story's all there. Now the film goes public, we take it outside the neurotic knuckle of the production with all that our team have invested in it and ask commissioners and distributors and organisations like BritDoc and the Wellcome Trust to invest their trust in it.

This is exciting and appalling in equal doses.

More soon...