GILL & GILL – Two Writers in Stone
2020 · 8m · UK
Directed by Louis-Jack
Genres: documentary, essay film
Tones: contemplative, tender
A visual essay following two modern practitioners of stonework as successors to Eric Gill and John Gill.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Eight-minute essay rhyming Eric Gill's letter carving with John Gill's bouldering as parallel "writing on stone" — that's an actual idea, not just a vibe. Clive Russell narrating doesn't hurt. Yes.
Rhyming letter-carving and rock climbing as parallel forms of writing on stone is a properly elegant conceit, narrated by Clive Russell no less — Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides is the right touchstone. Visual essay and visceral poem, well claimed.
8:22 visual essay narrated by Clive Russell rhyming letter-carver Richard Kindersley with bouldering champion Lucy Creamer — the structural conceit (both are 'writing on stone') gives Louis-Jack a clean two-strand cut to work. Couldn't reach the file past captcha, but the casting and narrator alone suggest serious craft commitment.
Festivals
- Japan Media Arts Festival 2020, New Faces Prize