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As a pupil, Michael Grigsby, OA 1955, presided over a weekly film club before persuading
Headmaster James Cobban to purchase a camera and kick-start practical filmmaking at the
school. Grigsby directed the first two films,
Ut Proficias
and
No Tumbled House
, with support
from a small army of pupils and staff. Collectively known as ASPS – the Abingdon School
Photographic Society – they made films rooted in school life that established Abingdon as
one of very few schools in the country engaged in such activity.
Grigsby secured his first job as a cameraman at the new Granada Television company in
Manchester. His subsequent career spanned six decades and produced more than forty
films. Described as “one of Britain’s greatest documentary filmmakers”, Mike made films
characterised by a concern for the lives of ordinary people and a desire “to give voice to
the voiceless”.
In 2003, Mike returned to Abingdon to help establish the Abingdon Film Unit. His passion
and energy were vital to the success of the enterprise as he recruited a formidable
team of tutors and challenged new generations of Abingdon filmmakers to look with
compassion at the world around them. His reputation helped the AFU’s work achieve a
level of attention it would never otherwise have enjoyed, including national press coverage
and screenings at the National Film Theatre in London.
n
Jeremy Taylor
Michael Grigsby filming Engineman in 1959
Whats On
Music
Wednesday 24 April
Joint Chamber Choir Concert
7 pm: Yolande Patterson Hall, SHSK
Friday 26 April
School Bands’ Concert
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Tickets: £6, £4 (concessions), £16 family
Wednesday 1 May
Thames Vale Youth Orchestra Concert
7.30 pm Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
Tickets at the door
Friday 3 May
Summer Orchestral Concert
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Tickets: £6, £4 (concessions), £16 family
Wednesday 22 May
Junior Scholars’ Concert
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Wednesday 26 June
Lower School Gala Concert
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Thursday 27 June
Jazz on a Summer Evening
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Tickets: £6, £4 (concessions), £16 family
Friday 28 June
Leavers’ Concert
7 pm: Charles Maude Room
Drama
Friday 3 May
4th Year Drama Performances
6.30 pm: Abingdon Drama Studio
Tuesday 14 May, Wednesday 15 May
Twelfth Night
Lower School Production
7 pm: Amey Theatre / Ingham Room
Tuesday 18 June, Wednesday 19 June
4th Year Drama Production
7 pm: Amey Theatre / Drama Studio (tbc)
Abingdon Film Unit
Saturday 18 May
10th Anniversary Screenings
7 pm: Amey Theatre
Loose-Limbed Collective
Thursday 30 May
Sixth form theatre studies, AFU students and
OAs’ networking event and film screenings
2 pm: BFI Southbank, London
Art
Tuesday 25 June
AS Art and Design Exhibition
5.30 pm: Art Department
Monday 1 July
Art Scholars and Exhibitioners’ Show
5.30 pm: Amey Theatre Foyer
A History of Abingdon School in 63 Objects
Inspired by Neil MacGregor’s
A History of the World in 100 Objects
, Abingdon’s 63
objects illuminate the School’s past through its present possessions. New objects are
uploaded every Tuesday and Thursday during term time.
Michael Grigsby
