Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith

  • 60'
  • United Kingdom
  • 2016

This meditative, immersive film is a tribute to the astonishing work and achievements of naturalist, inventor and pioneering filmmaker F. Percy Smith. Smith worked in the early years of the twentieth century, developing various cinematographic and micro-photographic techniques to capture nature's secrets in action. Working in a number of public roles, including the Royal Navy and British Instructional Films, Smith was prolific and driven, often directing several films simultaneously, apparently on a mission to explore and capture nature's hidden terrains.
Minute Bodies is an interpretative edit that combines Smith's original footage with a new contemporary score by the band Tindersticks to create a hypnotic, alien yet familiar dreamscape that connects us to the sense of wonder Smith must have felt as he peered through his own lenses and saw these microworlds for the first time. (Stuart A. Staples)

Director
Stuart A. Staples
Country of production
United Kingdom
Year
2016
Festival Edition
IFFR 2017
Length
60'
Medium
DCP
Language
no dialogue
Producer
David Reeve
Sales
BFI British Film Institute
Cinematography
F. Percy Smith
Editor
David Reeve, Stuart A. Staples
Director
Stuart A. Staples
Country of production
United Kingdom
Year
2016
Festival Edition
IFFR 2017
Length
60'
Medium
DCP
Language
no dialogue
Producer
David Reeve
Sales
BFI British Film Institute
Cinematography
F. Percy Smith
Editor
David Reeve, Stuart A. Staples