September Club Night
The Documentary Competition which is always popular with Surrey Border Movie Makers members took place at their September meeting.
A great selection of films on interesting and diverse subjects are always entered into this competition and this year was no exception with eight films being submitted.
The audience which included several new members and also visitors thinking of joining the club sat down to enjoy an entertaining evening watching the films on the big screen in the meeting hall.
The first entry was by Colin Lewis whose film ‘I wouldn’t Swap it for the World’ covered footage of The Farnham Festival of Transport 2025, Colin captured some excellent interviews from enthusiasts about their vehicles, and he also invited the organiser of the Festival Jed Wootten to watch his film on the night.
The next film was by Peter Stratford who is a well-travelled club member and never disappoints in creating an interesting Documentary. Peters’ entry ‘Uyuni’ took the viewer to the incredible largest Salt Flats in the world found in this Bolivian city, Uyuni is also home to a unique and eery train cemetery which came about after the mining industry collapsed.
Dave Skertchly’s film ‘Oh f it’s a Fokker’ was shown next and covered the true story of the Fokker Scare, in 1915 it was the first armed service aircraft fitted with a machine gun and made by the Germans, the French and British soon followed suit with their own versions of armed aircraft.
The following entry ‘Ghost of a Road’ was made by Jonathan Hill who took the audience on a journey of discovery to find a long lost Roman Road which stretches from Merrow to Effingham in Surrey. Jonathan enhanced his film with very informative information and accompanying detailed maps in this captivating film.
Next was a film by Mike Sanders called ‘Brewing Focus’ made for the Alton Beer Festival charity. Mike captured the brewing process from ‘hops to barrels’ and also managed to get several interviews from the busy brewers along the way.
..Khiva was a second film entry from Peter Stratford, Khiva is a medieval city in Uzbekistan, described as ‘the Silk Road city most tourists miss’, maybe that is why Peter decided to make this wonderful film about his visit? With its colourful street markets, monuments and enchanting inhabitants which Peter managed to capture so naturally it is no wonder Khiva is on the World Heritage List.
The final film was by Gillian Gatland and called ‘Cruising on the Kiel Canal.’ Gillian shared her cruise on this German canal by showing some beautiful scenic footage of her journey between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Gillian gave the audience an excellent informative narration describing the construction of the canal in 1887 to 1895 to its widening during the years 1907-1914 to allow the safe passage of much larger ships, it is the most frequented artificial waterway, and Gillian produced an excellent informative film.
With all the films shown and coffee, tea and cake consumed it was time for the audience to vote for the winning films.
The results were:
1st ‘Uyuni’ by Peter Stratford,
2nd ’Khiva’ by Peter Stratford
3rd ‘Ghost of a Road by Jonathan Hill.