Filmography

DIGBY RUMSEY – Film Director & Producer

*denotes a clip from the film

THE PLEDGE (23 mins. 35 mm) (Certificate X)
Formerly distributed by Twentieth Century Fox and inspired by Lord Dunsany’s story “The Highwayman”, this film is a macabre drama set in 1790. A highwayman has been gibbeted and his decomposing body hangs rotting on a desolate road. A series of flashbacks show him to be a rapist and murderer. His companions in crime set out to cut his body down and bury it in an Archbishop’s tomb, believing that only this course of action will free their friend’s soul. Terrified by their superstitions, they perform the grisly task, but despite this one act of compassion, they continue in their evil ways.

THE RED BOX (22 mins. DigiBeta 16:9)
Digby Rumsey’s millenium adaptation of Nevil Shute’s book, ‘On the Beach’. A chilling and terrifying account of the end of the world as seen through the eyes of a small community in Melbourne. The whole of the Northern hemisphere is already dead and as the population waits for the radiation sickness to arrive, each character deals with their impending death in different ways. Immensely believable as a study of human nature, the Rumsey version combines actors in a blue screen studio with poignant contemporary Australian images.

IN THE TWILIGHT (15 mins. 16mm) “Outstanding Film of The Year” London Film Festival.
“In the Twilight” is based on a Lord Dunsany story of the same name. It’s a beautiful summer’s day in 1910 and the river is crowded with boats. In a moment of carelessness, a man falls overboard. In struggling to reach the surface he strikes his head and sinks to the bottom. In the ensuing twilight world he views past scenes from his life which escalate to a strange and weird climax.

OUT OF REACH (20 mins. 16mm)
A young poet is desperate for recognition, a sad lonely youth living in a garret emulating his hero, Chatterton. Rejected in love and rejected by publishers, his mind is filled with images of robber barons, maidens in distress, medieval castles and magical swords. Pushed beyond endurance he retreats into his symbolic world and there, tricked by a sorcerer, is convinced that if he could just travel to the moon, he will obtain his heart’s desire. He finally fulfills his ambition but with the predictable tragic consequence.

FALLACIES OF VISION (19 mins. 16mm) Co-funded by the British Film Institute.
In 1965, the sleepy town of Warminister found itself in the middle of a UFO scare. Years later Rumsey investigates the sightings along with local reporter, Kevin Mount. While endeavouring to raise money for a feature film, ‘Fallacies of Vision” evolves. The film represents one of the very few objective attempts that have been made to demonstrate the way in which spaceship myths are created.

NATURE AND TIME (5 mins. 35mm) (Certificate U) Curzon – London, Arts Theatre – Los Angeles.
This short fantasy features two mythical characters striding through London town. Nature bemoans the loss of her countryside while Time ignores her. Eventually, forced to acknowledge her presence, his retort is a grim prediction for the future of an urbanised planet.

THE SONG OF THE MORROW (14 mins. DigiBeta 16:9)
A prose poem by Robert Louis Stevenson is translated onto the screen one hundred years later. Absolutely faithful to the original text, the film tells the story of the Daughter of Duntreen who had “no power upon the hour and no thought upon the morrow”. The Pre-Raphaelite costumes worn by the young cast augment the austere and minimal visual style. Set on a deserted beach and in a monastery, years pass and the characters come and go until the Daughter of Duntreen finally realises that she has “power upon the hour”, but by then the circle has turned again.

Many of the titles above are available on the DVD “OLD FANTASY – NEW GOTHIC aka THE DEATH COLLECTION”

VARANASI – CITY OF DEATH (12 mins. DV 16:9)
A day in the life of the oldest city in the world (formerly Benares) in which the rituals of Death are revered throughout the year. The film includes rare footage of cremations on the banks of the Ganges.

One of 26 films about contemporary India, available on the DVD “Digby Rumsey’s Sketches of India”

KASHMIR – UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE GUN (39 mins. PAL DVD 16:9)
The title, “Under the Shadow of the Gun” accurately describes life in Indian-administered Kashmir today. With an estimated 700,000 soldiers in the state, it remains a cauldron of civil and political unrest. This film recounts the history of the conflict as seen through the eyes of individuals who have been involved with the human rights abuses, that have recurred repeatedly since 1987.

TERRY (16mm)
Pop-promo of the Norwich Womens’ Soul Choir performing this “60′s classic, originally recorded by Twinkle.

SHARON’S BEEN DEFOLIATED (16mm)
Pop-promo made for the iconic Jon Ward and his Kamikaze Sex Pilots.

GOD AND THE DEVIL (9mins. 16mm)
Framed between Nietzsche’s story of “The Madman with the Lamp”, there are two sets of polarities governing this film – the distinction between God and Man, and between Good and Evil. With the film-maker cast in the role of Lucifer, the result is a powerful assembly of words, images and locations which combine to allow the viewer to reflect on the great opposing forces which have exercised human thought for millennia.

K.L. (WE LIVE IN THE DREAMS OF OUR FATHERS) (13 mins. DigiBeta 16:9)
As this film progresses, it quickly transpires that Rumsey is taking us on a tour round an architectural folly on the grand scale. Kuala Lumpur airport is a testament to late 20th century Malaysian architectural aspirations – but is there a way out?

SEVEN YEARS* (163 mins. 16mm Mag. Stripe)
This two and a half hour film is only available with the film-maker to discuss the work. It includes all finished titles from ’71-’78 and supplementary documentary material about the context in which they were made. It examines complex optical printing techniques available at the time – Rumsey’s struggle to obtain film funding – and the inhabitants of the, then notorious, Clissold Road. Although his quest for actors and finance takes him to both Paris and Hollywood, the film concludes in a run-down part of Gateshead in the North East of England, leaving Rumsey a wiser man.

The titles below are available from the filmmaker on the DVD “DIGBY RUMSEY – THE EARLY FILMS”.

A CATALOGUE OF ADJUSTED PERCEPTION (13 mins. Beta SP)
The realisation that at forty four ‘middle age’ is no longer a distant concept, but the here-and-now of a summer’s afternoon, prompts the film-maker to reflect on his life and career over the last quarter of a century. With the accumulated perceptions of hindsight he addresses the camera and confronts his past. This A-Z of ideas and associations juggle the public and private, the personal and professional, pitting these against the mainstream of accepted conventions – both of family life and the film industry in Britain today.

THE MOONLIGHT COMB (35 mins. 16mm)
Rumsey takes five colleagues, costumes and props, to the rugged landscape of Wester Ross in Scotland. Living in an isolated cottage they attempt to film an Ernest Bramah story set in a mythical, medieval China. In this amusing and idiosyncratic film we watch as the film-maker strives to get his cast to perform. Dogged by every conceivable calamity, the production collapses after four weeks but not all is lost – just as in the Bramah story, what appears to be misfortune, ends up a blessing – and the project is saved by the humour of the cast.

THE HEIST (6 mins. 16mm B/W)
Rumsey, the disillusioned film-maker, stages a robbery with an accomplice at the production offices of the British Film Institute. Ignored by the Head of Production and everyone else, they complete their heist – the booty consisting of film stock for future productions.

WINDOWS (15 mins. 16mm)
Made in collaboration with Dennis Gray, “Windows” explores the inner space of a man staring at the world from his armchair. In a landscape of alienation and fear, the central character is on a quest – within himself. Features music by John Lennon and Procul Harum.

FOR ALL THE IMMIGRANTS IN ENGLAND (35 mins. 16mm)
Blown-up from Standard 8 to 16mm, Rumsey’s first film is a combination of visual diary, black comedy and personal viewpoints. Shot over two years in Stoke Newington, North London, the film includes sketches on Edward Heath, old age, student demonstrations, astrology and the Stoke Newington Gardener’s Guild, and includes a cameo voice-over performance from the director, Terence Davies.

AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH DIGBY RUMSEY AND PETE BELL (1hr 17m)