BY OUR SELVES – What can be said about this film? Firstly, let’s start with director Andrew Kotting and how he approached BY OUR SELVES. He may have thought; “can I play with madness?” and as the legendary Iron Maiden once asked, Kotting must have replied “yes”. This is because this is frankly one of the weirdest yet most endearing way to recount a true story. In this idiosyncratic feature, Kotting retraces asylum escapee John Clare’s epic journey from Epping Forest all the way to Northamptonshire whilst being accompanied by a bear made from straw.

The original story itself is already peculiar and this film revives it in a sincerely quirky and ambient manner. There is something very unsettling yet very comforting about this film because it offers a very complex approach in a very minimalist way. Driven by lucid imagery of colour drained cinematography and punctuated by a haunting sound design, BY OUR SELVES is a mixed up, warped and slightly haunting film. But it’s bizarrely captivating, it crosses the realities, ages and narratives and takes some work getting your head around but when you do – it is strangely charming. It is one of the most innovative ways to recount a story, by merging reenactments, readings and even interviews all from different perspectives it makes for a completely different film which is refreshing.

Audiences were tense and transfixed during the screening and even managed a chuckle every now and again. A truly wholesome watch, maybe even John Clare would have been happy.

BY OUR SELVES screened on 5 September at 16.30 at APH. Look out for repeat screenings.

httpvh://youtu.be/vkWXFlm23Sg