A BUNCH OF AMATEURS - Sheffield DocFest 2022

With the future of the group growing ever uncertain, the Bradford Movie Makers look for ways to raise funds to keep their dilapidated clubhouse going. But with flytippers, vulgar graffiti, arson, an increasingly ageing roster of members and a global pandemic in the way, it will take all of their organisational skills to attract an audience for their makeshift masterpieces.

Meeting every Monday since 1932, clubs like the Bradford Movie Makers might be a rarity these days, but were once seen across the country. Now one of the longest surviving groups of its kind, they've weathered the storms of a dwindling membership and the general apathy of the community around them to continue creating their low (more accurately no) budget films such as gothic horror Appointment in Walthamstow and Harry's passion project of a Bradford set re-staging of Oklahoma, complete with him singing from atop a horse. As to why it's still called Oklahoma, you'd have to take that up with Harry and his artistic vision.

Shot over the course of a few years, Kim Hopkins's documentary digs into the lives of some of the key members of this eclectic group of grumpy old men, like the unbridled visionary Harry (the key quote as he puts together the credits for his film - "I want it to keep saying my name", the glib response being "I wonder why"), former club president Colin, and troubled directorial genius Phil. Despite their stoicism and occasional inability to express themselves, Hopkins is able to capture some truly moving moments within the group, like the quietly dignified Colin making the trip to the clubhouse following some tragic personal news, just to be around those who know him best. On the opposite end of the scale is the perpetually optimistic Marie, who's bravely stepped into this boy's club to get the community involved and save the club from bankruptcy.

At its heart, A Bunch of Amateurs captures that renegade charm associated with filmmaking, with director Phil Wainman a more competent version of American Movie's Mark Borchardt, despite his often heated disagreements with other members of the creative team. The films, whether spoofs, remakes or based on original material, bring to mind the films within a film from Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind and Garth Jennings's Son of Rambow, but with a decidedly more English, more Bradford sensibility to them. And that's not to say they're bad either. Phil proudly displays the awards he's won for his trippy, avant garde short films, and some of the filmmaking techniques put to use - such as digitally disguising a young female horse rider as the vastly differently proportioned Harry - are impressive feats of amateur filmmaking.

A mixture of community spirit, individual character study and with an overall love of films and filmmaking, A Bunch of Amateurs effortlessly captures the lives of these tortured artists and miniature Cecil B. DeMilles, all with the goal of making their scaled down version of Hollywood with their friends. I wouldn't be surprised to see a fiction film adaptation within the next couple of years (Honestly, I can already picture Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed and Jane Horrocks lining up for this), but of course, documentary is always the best way to tell a true story, and Hopkins delivers a charming and uplifting one here. Even when Covid hits and the group is forced to find new ways to hold their meetings, it proves that even against the odds, the show must go on.

Verdict

4/5

A Bunch of Amateurs screened as part of the 2022 Sheffield International Documentary Festival (DocFest). More information about the festival and its line-up can be found here.