Christopher Morris' A YEAR IN A FIELD –US Premiere of Acclaimed Documentary

As the year draws to a close, The Philosophical Research Society, in co-presentation with Living Earth, is honored to host the US premiere of the acclaimed and beautifully contemplative new documentary from BAFTA-winning documentarian Christopher Morris – A YEAR IN A FIELD.

Morris invites us to slow down, as he films for a year in a West Cornwall field; to immerse ourselves in this quiet, direct-action of stillness, to take a breath and reflect on the planetary impacts of our brief human existence, under the watchful gaze of the Longstone, a 4,000-year-old standing stone that predominates this elemental landscape.

From Winter Solstice 2020 to Winter Solstice 2021, a string of unprecedented worldwide climate disasters, met by weak global political resolve, are revealed as just fleeting moments, under the ever-present unflinching granite gaze of the Longstone.

A cultivated field, an ancient monolith, and a transitory human observer. This film is a record of their brief interaction. There are no interviews or ecology experts in this film. In fact, there are no human beings at all; instead, an unassuming Cornish field near Land’s End takes center stage, and a crop of spring barley forms the center of an unfolding, compelling and beautiful narrative.

As the wheel of the year turns, Morris’s ecosophical polemic unearths a mythic reality buried just below the furrowed soil of our consumerist age, suggesting, perhaps, that whilst time may feel like it’s running away at an ever-increasing rate, it’s not too late to pause, reflect, and change.

Following the film’s premiere screening, the director will join us (live from Cornwall, via satellite) for a sure-to-be fascinating Q&A with author and musician Will Sheff (of Okkervil River, and of Cornish heritage).

Join us for this very special event and an evening of hushed and beautiful meditation. Join us for A YEAR IN A FIELD.

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Christopher Morris is a documentary filmmaker and broadcaster. Morris worked for the BBC in London and Cardiff (1989-2003) as a documentary director, factual producer and executive producer. His career in radio and television encompasses drama and commercials but primarily documentary. Recurring themes include the changing nature of childhood, faith and social justice, often working with marginalised communities.

Since leaving the BBC in 2003, he has been working as an academic, freelance documentary maker and story consultant for feature documentaries. Morris worked as an academic at Newport Film School (2003-2015) setting up and ran the first three-year BA documentary film course in the UK. He was director of Newport Film School (2009-2011) and was awarded a chair as Professor of Documentary Film Practice (2011).

Morris was director of the School of Film & Television at Falmouth University, Cornwall (2015-2020) Since 2020 he has returned full time to making films. In 2021, Morris wrote and directed KESTAV, a short science fiction drama featuring a Cornish speaking alien and he’s also been standing in a Cornish field for a year making ‘A Year In A Field’, his first feature length documentary; a personal response to our changing climate.

Awards include: a BAFTA and two BAFTA Cymru Awards, a Royal Television Society Award, five Torcs at the Celtic Media Festival, The Premios Ondas (Spain), a Special Jury Award at Le Prix Jeunesse and prizes at the Berlin Film Festival and Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

ABOUT WILL SHEFF

Will Sheff is the lead singer and songwriter for the band Okkervil River. His non-musical writing has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and McSweeney’s. His debut album under his own name, Nothing Special, was released in 2022. He lives in Los Angeles.

ABOUT LIVING EARTH

Living Earth is a (mostly) outdoor music series that explores Los Angeles through an ongoing dialogue between art and ecology.

Working in conversation with local parks, gardens, unique land projects, and conservation organizations, they produce all ages gatherings that explore art as a creative act of restoration. With deep care + intention, these gatherings are guided by living in right relations with our immediate communities, histories, ecosystems, and planet

They are a worker owned organization, primarily supported by a monthly membership program, in addition to our beautiful ongoing friendships + collaborations with organizations like The Philosophical Research Society (where they are 2024’s Contributing Performance Group), TreePeople, Arlington Garden, the Audubon Center at Debs Park, Leaving Records, Clockshop, dublab, Bob Baker Marionette Theater, LA State Historic Park, and the California Botanic Garden.

They hope to see you outside soon to talk California native ecology and listen deeply to the music that they’re psyched on!

Visit them at livingearth.la and on Instagram.

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