A York filmmaker’s movie created in response to the last 18 months will be screened at cinema’s across the UK.
Using more than a century of archive footage, Lost Connections “gives us hope for the future by connecting with the past”.
It was created by Andy Burns, editor and filmmaker at the Yorkshire Film Archive, based at York St John University.
The 13-minute short film is meticulously crafted from over 200 films put forward by curators from the nine English regional film archives, and those based in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.
Focusing on our common experiences over the generations – loss, loneliness, isolation, the importance of community and family – the archive footage of Lost Connections reveals imagery and voices that resonate with the feelings of uncertainty and disconnection created by the pandemic.
Graham Relton, archive manager at the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives said: “Lost Connections presented an opportunity for 12 moving image archives across the UK to come together in a truly collaborative way to explore their collections with one specific purpose; to create a new film revealing archive footage and voices from our collections that reflected on our own contemporary experiences.
“The result is a work of cine-poetry, that is truly diverse and representative of the people of the UK. It is not a film about the pandemic, it’s a film about humanity and hope. It might take the past as its reference point, but Lost Connections speaks to our collective responsibility to build better futures.”
It was co-written by Andy and artist Hussina Raja, who also narrates the film. The film asks: ‘Can we always be connected?’
As well as being screened in cinemas, Lost Connections will be screened in schools across the UK as part of the Into Film ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing campaign’. It is also streaming on BFI Player.