AKENFIELD REVISITED
Monday 24 April 2006 7.20pm-8pm; 2am-2.40am
In Peter Hall's 1974 film Akenfield, the director used the residents of East Anglian villages to act in stories of rural life. Thirty years after the release of this unusual film, a new documentary sees the original producer/editor Rex Pyke gather together crew including Sir Peter Hall, author Ronald Blythe and members of the local 'cast' to see how life has changed for those featured and to recall the making of the production.
Rex Pyke: It was an improbable film to make - with no cast, no stars and no script - but it is an important film in British cinema.
Facts
Ronald Blythe's Akenfield: Portrait of an English village became a best-seller after publication in 1969.
The evocative novel is based on the writer's East Anglian background and experiences of rural change.
The film was the first to be simultaneously broadcast on television and open the London Film Festival, challenging a ban on films appearing on TV within four years of release.
Akenfield the film was released in 1974 and directed by Peter Hall. It was an enormous success on television attracting 13 million viewers.
The production took over a year filming the changing Suffolk seasons.
To appease Equity, the actor's union, the cast of non-actors improvised their dialogue and never repeated lines, thereby not 'acting'.
