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This meditative, immersive film by Tindersticks' Stuart A. Staples is a tribute to the astonishing work and achievements of naturalist, inventor and pioneering British filmmaker F. Percy Smith. Watch now for £2.99 on QFT Player (available Mon 15 - Sun 28 Feb).
Based in a studio in north London in the early years of the 20th century, Percy Smith developed the use of time-lapse, animation and micro-photographic techniques to capture nature's secrets in action. He worked in a number of public roles, including the Royal Navy and British Instructional Films. Smith was prolific and driven, often directing several films simultaneously, apparently on a mission to explore and capture nature's hidden terrains.
Minute Bodies is an interpretative work that combines Smith's original film footage - preserved within the BFI National Archive - with a new contemporary score by Tindersticks with Thomas Belhom and Christine Ott. It creates a hypnotic, alien yet familiar dreamscape that connects us to the sense of wonder Smith must have felt as he peered through his own lenses and saw these micro-worlds for the first time.
"Seeps under the audience's skins and into their veins." - Pamela Hutchinson, Sight & Sound
NI Science Festival 2021 comes to QFT Player with a series of screenings to let your mind wonder. Visit nisciencefestival.com for the full line-up, featuring over 120 events between 15-28 February.