Wild and Scenic Film Festival - Operation Moffat
Operation Moffat takes inspiration and wit from the colourful climbing life of Britain’s First Female Mountain Guide Gwen Moffat. Writer Claire Carter and Filmmaker Jen Randall scramble, swim and barefoot climb through Gwen’s most cherished British landscapes, grappling with her preference for mountains over people, adventure over security, wilderness over tick lists. With new take on landscape photography, archive footage and action sequences this is a film rooted in a real love of wild places.
Interview with Co-Director Jen Randall
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Operation Moffat began when The British Mountaineering Council and Claire Carter asked if I’d be interested in making a short film about Gwen Moffat, who I hadn’t heard of yet. I’m always keen for a project so I said ‘sure’! But it was on reading Gwen’s first auto-biography ‘Space Below My Feet’ and seeing how inspired Claire has been by Gwen for a number of years that I felt I had a very unique, layered story to tell.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
It’s a different take on ‘adventure film’, with real roots and curiosity. It weaves together some of Britain’s wildest landscapes and climbs with the life story of a pioneering 92 year old woman as well as the story of a young woman trying to find her way in 2016.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Claire and I started working on the film when we both felt a little jaded by the notion of having to achieve every time we ventured out, like it wasn’t worth it if you didn’t climb something hard or push yourself as far as you could. Gwen often delved into the mountains just to be in them, no shoes, no map, no agenda. We tried to replicate this, often following in her very footsteps, and it was very liberating. We also explored the idea of finding your way in the film, and what it means to dedicate everything to adventure and the outdoors like Gwen did – sacrifices and all. That might be the most powerful theme in the film – trying to make your way through life, grappling with the choices you have to make.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The film was pitched to me as a 10 minute interview with Gwen but as I mentioned, on reading ‘Space Below My Feet’ and getting to know Claire, I quickly realised it needed to be more than that. Claire and I applied for the Outlandia residency with the Nevis Landscape Partnership to spend a week in a Highland hut to develop and focus our ideas, and during that time the project really took shape. With piles of notes and ideas and one interview we’d already recorded with Gwen, we worked out the key themes we wanted to explore, quotes from the book we that would support these themes, sections of interview that we could weave into the mix and landscapes and climbs we could visit. It was a really important, precious time for the film – I don’t think enough pre-production time is given to many adventure films. We also got the opportunity to explore Glencoe and Glen Nevis during that week – areas Gwen spent a lot of time in - swimming, climbing and hiking around. It was then that we started trying to experience the outdoors like Gwen did.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We’ve had a lot of lovely feedback on the film, personal messages from people who followed Gwen when she was climbing and who were inspired by her to try climbing, messages from people who have been toying with the idea of dedicating their lives to the outdoors who say the film helped them go for it, and of course 20 awards from film festivals around the world have been the cherry on top. Most rewarding is probably the fact that Gwen is proud of the film too, and ‘Space’ was re-printed due to high demand once the film was released.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Really the feedback has re-inforced what I hoped to be true – that if you make a film with heart and authenticity and put a big part of yourself into it, people will get behind it and support you. Claire and I knew we loved the film, you can only hope an audience will too.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It’s exciting to reach a new crowd and in turn become aware of new filmmakers/writers/artists etc. This is a new platform for me!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
This film has been a great project because all of these people got on board to help us make it and help us share it. BMC TV in particular were behind the project from the word go, and Lowe Alpine and Rab got on board at an early stage too. Early support like this is crucial so that filmmakers can dedicate time to making work.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I’d like this film to do two things – shed light on Gwen, a very tough, remarkable character who forged her own path with real determination and confidence, and to inspire people to get outside and take a look around.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Could you put mountains before everything and everyone else?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m working on adapting Andy Kirkpatrick’s auto-biography, ‘Psycho Vertical’ into a film which I hope to complete in time for the 2017 festival circuit.
Claire has been writing a long-form article for Alpinist Magazine about Gwen’s later life and collaborating with adventure photographer Krystle Wright on some travel projects for 2017.
Gwen has been writing reviews for the crime website Shots.
Interview: January 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Operation Moffat
Operation Moffat takes inspiration and wit from the colourful climbing life of Britain’s First Female Mountain Guide Gwen Moffat. Writer Claire Carter and Filmmaker Jen Randall scramble, swim and barefoot climb through Gwen’s most cherished British landscapes, grappling with her preference for mountains over people, adventure over security, wilderness over tick lists. With new take on landscape photography, archive footage and action sequences this is a film rooted in a real love of wild places.
#WhatWouldGwenDo
#OperationMoffat
A film by Jen Randall and Claire Carter
A BMCTV Production
Inspired by ‘Space Below My Feet’ By Gwen Moffat
Sponsored by
Rab
Lowe Alpine
DMM
The Mountain Heritage Trust
Judges Special Mention, Banff Mountain Festival
Best Climbing Film, Kendal Mountain Festival
The People’s Choice, Kendal Mountain Festival
The Mountain Spirit Award, Fort William Festival
Best Film Award, Edinburgh Mountain Festival
People’s Choice, Edinburgh Mountain Festival
Judges Prize, Mountain Film Festival.
Best Short Film, Echo Mountain Festival
Mountain Culture Award, Vancouver Film Festival
Best Film Award, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival
Best Climbing Film Award, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival
Best Women in Adventure Film, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival
Best Storytelling, Chamonix Adventure Festival
Length: 20mins 11 secs
Director’s Bio
Jen Randall
@lightshedjen
www.lightshedpictures.com
After studying Time Based Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design then Film Production at Vancouver Film School, Jen Randall now runs award-winning production company Light Shed Pictures, based in Glasgow, Scotland. Best known for climbing documentaries Push It (2012) and Project Mina (2014), she generally works with a wide range of clients to create short, specialist factual films with humour and heart. Jen also works with photography, writing, and leads large-scale youth film projects.
Claire Carter
@CJ_Cart
http://clairejanecarter.tumblr.com/
Claire graduated with distinction from the University of East Anglia Creative Writing MA in 2010, and is now a writer and creative consultant in the outdoor industry, working for bodies such as the National Trust and British Mountaineering Council, and runs independent mountain arts and literary events. She is co-editing a new anthology of women’s wilderness and adventure; ‘Waymaking' to be published by Vertebrate Publishing in 2016. Claire is the Film Officer for Kendal Mountain festival and Film Judge for Sheffield Adventure Film Festival.