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www.abingdon.org.uk 11 Abingdon Drama Inspirational Young Filmmakers From Morris Men to a premiership referee, the subjects for the 14th annual screening of new films by members of the Abingdon Film Unit (AFU) were as diverse as they were fascinating. The screening of 11 new films took place at the end of September and reflected a bumper year in terms of the range of projects undertaken by the Unit and its alumni. Many of the films took their inspiration from the local community including a touching portrait of the Abingdon Morris Men, a look at the quirky atmosphere of a board games café in Oxford and an uplifting account of Abingdon resident Graham Scott’s progress from youth team goalie to top Premiership football referee. A particularly thought- provoking piece was a film made by three Abingdon School students in support of Sobell House, a facility for terminally ill patients based at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford. The AFU filmmakers also looked beyond their immediate environments for stories that engaged with the wider world. These included a strikingly topical look at the anxieties of residents on the Winstanley Estate in Battersea as they face a period of regeneration driven by architects and town planners, and a hand-drawn animation that tackled Brexit via the unlikely setting of a flower bed and a municipal park bench. The final film of the evening told the epic story of one Abingdon School student’s great, great grandfather Arthur Bonsey and his brave work as a missionary in China at the end of the 19th century. Michael Grigsby Young Filmmaker Awards Winners Harry Buchan (right), for his film about the Winstanley Estate, and Joe Bradley (left) for a film about his great, great grandfather’s missionary work in China. Abingdon Film Unit B12 Tristan Mann Powter and Jonathan Ferry Larry Bush Fraser Scott and Liam Deegan One Step at a Time Relief Get Your Baldrics Black River Bridge Written for our lower school boys by Andy Cargill and directed by Joe McDonnell, the play told the stories of child soldiers during the American Civil War of 1861- 1865. It was a beautifully staged production with the experiences of the young soldiers engagingly represented. Set in room B12 - one of the oldest rooms in the school - the play was an episodic piece, in which each of the five scenes explored a different period in the School’s recent history. All featured brilliant comic writing that demanded great skill from the cast in mastering the art of timing punchlines. However, the final scene was a delightfully unexpected contrast that required a different set of skills as we were transported back to September 1915 and the gravity of a farewell encounter between a master and a recent pupil, now in uniform and about to leave for the front. The Third Year took to the stage in a new play from OA, Ed Rowett, called B12: a school story - commissioned and directed by Ben Phillips. It drew inspiration from archivist Sarah Wearne’s fabulous History of Abingdon School in 63 objects. www.abingdon.org.uk/63objects.