Brian Tovey may be the last traditional poacher in England, the closest thing the country might have to an indigenous person living off the land.
An antihero of conservation and nature, Brian’s outlook is anti-establishment and his way of life is almost off-grid, tucked away in a village on the edge of the English Cotswolds. He roams his surrounding fields and woods illegally hunting for game on private estates belonging to the big land-owners – Earls, Lords, Duchesses and farmers, an almost ethereal existence that clings to the age-old conflict between common and forest Law.
‘The Last English Poacher’ is an elegy to England’s changing rural communities, and our diminishing connection to the land. What can we learn from an outcast? A man who doesn’t love the animals he kills for food, but respects them and knows them better than most. This unconventional way of life is slipping away, and with it an intimate knowledge and perspective on a wilder way of living.
Folks Who Roam (16'')
Folk Who Roam is a lyrical short documentary that follows violin maker Emma Hardy as she crafts a unique instrument inspired by England’s landscapes and the growing movement for greater access to the countryside.
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