A Bunch of
Believers
“Maybe making a short film isn’t important in the universe, but if I give up on that, what’s my purpose in life?”
That line says everything A Bunch of Amateurs is trying to say. The word amateur comes from the Latin for love, and this beautiful little doco takes that seriously. It follows a small filmmaking club in the north of England, mostly older people who are hanging on because they don’t know how not to make things.
They argue about cameras, framing, lighting, and yes, even the biscuits. It all matters to them. One man tries to recreate a scene from Oklahoma! even though he can’t sing and can’t ride a horse. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It’s funny, awkward, and somehow moving, because he shows up and gives it a go.
What the film understands is that this isn’t really about movies. It’s about turning up. About being needed. About having a reason to leave the house and sit in a room with other people who care about the same useless, essential thing.
A Bunch of Amateurs is warm and sad in equal measure. It reminds you that making things doesn’t have to matter to the world to matter to you. Sometimes the point is just to be there, together, trying to make somethin before the lights go out.
You can watch it now on the BBC.
That line says everything A Bunch of Amateurs is trying to say. The word amateur comes from the Latin for love, and this beautiful little doco takes that seriously. It follows a small filmmaking club in the north of England, mostly older people who are hanging on because they don’t know how not to make things.
They argue about cameras, framing, lighting, and yes, even the biscuits. It all matters to them. One man tries to recreate a scene from Oklahoma! even though he can’t sing and can’t ride a horse. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It’s funny, awkward, and somehow moving, because he shows up and gives it a go.
What the film understands is that this isn’t really about movies. It’s about turning up. About being needed. About having a reason to leave the house and sit in a room with other people who care about the same useless, essential thing.
A Bunch of Amateurs is warm and sad in equal measure. It reminds you that making things doesn’t have to matter to the world to matter to you. Sometimes the point is just to be there, together, trying to make somethin before the lights go out.
You can watch it now on the BBC.
Mon 29 Dec, 25