We’re told we all have a right to roam in the countryside – but does that apply to everyone equally?
Right of Way is a new feature-length programme that mixes stunning new artists’ commissions with historical archive films that give a bigger picture of questions of access and inclusion in the UK countryside. This programme is presented by the ICO and LUX and supported by the BFI Film Audience Network and Arts Council England.
It’s inspired by the foundation of the National Trails. Set up to resist sweeping industrialisation, these protected landscapes were created with a vision to ‘connect people to the rural landscape’. But during the COVID-19 pandemic – as people realised anew the importance of nature and open spaces for our health and mental wellbeing – inequalities of access to rural land were being exposed, revealing the disconnect felt by millions of people towards the UK countryside. A 2019 government review found that many Black, Asian and ethnically diverse people view the countryside as an ‘irrelevant white, middle-class club’, concluding that this divide is only going to widen as society changes and ‘the countryside will end up being irrelevant to the country that actually exists’.
The new commissions interrupt and challenge the enduring perception of the rural idyll as an untouched and unchanging space where time stands still. What happens when Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse people enter these landscapes? How can our natural spaces be homes to protest, trespassing, activism and raves? Paired with archive films that show that the life of the countryside contains multitudes and disrupt simple narratives, this programme is a terrific platform for debate on historical and contemporary discussions about who has a right to the great outdoors and who is excluded from it.
About The Films
New commissions
black strangers
Dan Guthrie | UK | 2022
After seeing a mention of a man called ‘Daniel’ on a Bishop’s Transcript held in Gloucestershire Archives, Dan goes for a walk in the woods in search of the man buried in Nympsfield in 1719 and described on the Transcript as ‘a black stranger’. Whilst walking, Dan talks directly to Daniel, speculating about the parallels between him and his namesake, and about how he’s been made to feel like a ‘black stranger’ in his hometown of Stroud.
Pastoral Malaise
Ufuoma Essi | UK | 2022
Pastoral Malaise is a short film about the absences within rural pastoral environments, often framed by romanticism and picturesque conventions, constructed as tourist sites and refuges in rural landscapes across Britain.
Syncopated Green
Arjuna Neuman | UK | 2022
Syncopated Green reflects on the history of outdoor free parties in the English countryside, using rave music, past and present, to help forget the ‘official’ portrayal of England as picturesque, nostalgic, white, and rural. The film invites rave music into the English landscape – turning imperial history inside out. Somewhere between a music video, a memoir and an essay, it asks: how might our future be different if we had other histories to lean on – and dance with?
Archive films
Eastbourne
Gilbert Tomes | UK | 1958
Holidaying in Eastbourne, the Sanderstead Youth Fellowship take in an organised walk over the South Downs from Beachy Head to Cuckmere Haven. Courtesy of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton
Pilgrim's Way
William N. Boyle | UK | 1956
From Farnham to Canterbury, this 120-mile trek across the famous Pilgrim’s Way section of the North Downs Way takes in some of south-east England’s prettiest towns, villages and pastures. Courtesy of BFI National Film & Television Archive
Father Thames
unknown | UK | 1935
Recorded over 60 years prior to the establishment of the Thames Path National Trail, this film follows England’s best-known river for 185 miles as it ambles from its source in the Cotswolds through several rural counties and into the heart of London. Courtesy of BFI National Film & Television Archive
Holiday on the North Norfolk Coast
unknown | UK | 1952
Glasgow’s Countryside Club visits the North Norfolk Coast, taking in sights along the still-to-be-established National Trail Path. In this clip the group journeys from Morston Quay to explore Blakeney National Nature Reserve. Courtesy of the East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
South Downs Way
unknown | UK | 1975
This amateur travelogue-style documentary follows the route of the South Downs Way three years after its official opening, accompanied by a voiceover providing historical narrative on the route and local history of the areas it passes through. Courtesy of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton
Norfolk, 1986
unknown | UK | 1986
One week before Prince Charles opens the Peddars Way Long Distance Path, local journalist Bruce Robinson talks through the book he has written about the historic Roman road it follows. Courtesy of the East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
Country Ways: The Ridgeway in October
Paul Slater | UK | 1988
ITV’s popular Country Ways television series explores The Ridgeway National Trail through the eyes of the people that live and work along the historic pathway, commonly known as ‘Britain’s oldest road’. Courtesy of the Wessex Film and Sound Archive at Hampshire County Council
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