50 years on from the making of The Wicker Man (1973), director Robin Hardy’s lost papers come to filmmaker son Justin. Enlisting his brother Dominic, they journey to discover the complex nature of independent filmmaking and fatherhood.
Justin Hardy (Son of Robin Hardy) and producer Chris Nunn will present and Q&A.
Grimmfest Says: The irascible Robin Hardy was an honoured guest at Grimmfest on two separate occasions. Coming in the wake of the 50th Anniversary of his seminal folk horror classic, THE WICKER MAN, this powerful and poignant documentary combines fascinating new details and insider information about the production and history of the film, with a clear-eyed, unflinching, and yet surprisingly moving study of two grieving sons coming to terms with the legacy of a largely absentee father, about whom they have few illusions, and of a film which in so many ways has blighted their lives.
A tale of reckless, feckless maverick brilliance, ruthless ambition and cynical betrayal, of forgiveness and creative redemption, it’s much a journey of self discovery and closure for the two sons an as an examination of the achievements and failings of the father. And serves a as a reminder, too, if one were needed, of the enduring power of Hardy’s cinematic vision, however much its realisation might have cost those around him.