Equinox

  • Cinema, Expanded Cinema

EQUINOX: A pilgrimage of folk tales, pagan myths and legends

From Friday 23 September – Sunday 25 September 2016, Compass Presents gathered audiences for a unique cinematic experience as part of the BFI’s Britain on Film season.

Unveiling some of the mysteries of the ancient rural countrysides of the South West, Compass Presents curated a promenade experience of archive film around the wild gardens of Boiling Wells, a rural feeling suburb of inner city Bristol. Audiences encountered clips of film including: stories of satanic worship projected onto a screen built between the branches of a tree; manipulated footage of Pagan ceremonies being viewed from within a willow circle; and stories of Wassail ceremonies found screening inside a hut hidden among the bushes.  Throughout the trail were characters to encounter: naked frolickers, a pagan celebrant and a harpist playing inside a projection-mapped flaming hut.

 

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Photo credit: Daniel Oliver

Photo credit: Daniel Oliver

On the Saturday and Sunday evenings the promenade experience culminated in an outdoor screening of cult classic The Wicker Man. At the film’s final crescendo audiences were treated to a fire spectacle as we welcomed in the Autumn Equinox!

We sourced our archive footage with the help of the South West Film & TV Archive (SWFTA). The clips that we screened at Equinox can be found online via the BFI Player, along with a multitude of other fascinating stories from all over the UK.

Huge thanks to everyone to who came and enjoyed Equinox, and all of our hard-working crew who made the event possible.

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Photo credit: Paul Blakemore & Daniel Oliver