I hope this is ok to post, I posted it on the Key Historic Aviation forum but thought the members here might be interested. After 4 years, I'm very pleased to say that Into the Wind will be available to view at the end of the month! Some of you may have followed the progress of the film or seen the occasional update that I've posted as work has progressed.
The film is available to order now and out on the 30th November on DVD.
More info on the DVD here……
http://www.intothewind.co.uk/#/dvd/The film started as a small photographic exhibition and installation in Lincolnshire which displayed portraits of veterans alongside imagery of Lincolnshire's disused airfields and a video installation of veteran's reminiscences. Things got out of hand from there and four years down the line I have travelled to Canada, New Zealand, Germany and of course across the UK to interview veterans. It has been a personal labour of love alongside my companies commercial film commitments and so progress has been slower than I would have liked, only possible when time and finances could stretch but not that it is complete I am looking forward to hearing the views of people regarding the film when they've seen it. We've shown it to some of the veterans in the film and their family members and the response was extremely positive. It was a particularly unnerving experience sitting with Ken Wallis as he watched himself on screen at various points during the documentary and awaiting his feedback. We were relieved to get one of this trademark thumbs up. We have tried to make the film from the veterans perspective. There is no presenter or narrator, only the testimonies of the veterans woven together to tell their experiences and they cover a whole range of topics from the multi-national make up of bomber command and the crewing up process to the effect of losses and what their memories of the war mean to them now. We have contributions from veterans from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain, Guyana, Poland and Trinidad. Since filming has been completed we have also recorded an interview with one of the few remaining Czech Bomber Command veterans and also an Austrian Bomber Command veteran.
I'd like to thank all the people who have been involved in helping throughout. The main contributors are on the credits list and include a wide range of individuals and organisations like Lincolnshire's Aviation Heritage Centre and Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre who allowed me access to film and of course the many veterans who gave up a day or sometimes days to put their contribution on film. Of course, not all of these contributions made it on screen but they are all logged and archived and may form the basis of short films in future or perhaps even see the light of day in a book format. Some of the stories which we couldn't fit into the final film have made it on to the DVD as special extra features including a short 14 minute documentary about Ken Wallis which extends his scenes in the main film. Sadly, a number of the veterans who contributed to the film have passed on and we hope in some small way the film will preserve their stories and experiences.
Another opportunity to see some of the work we have done can be seen at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland where the new aviation display on Bomber Command can be found. We have produced a 22 minute film about the contribution of New Zealand airmen using our archive and this can be found near the Lanc on display there. This is an extra feature on the DVD for those not in New Zealand. MOTAT were very helpful at the filming stage of Into the Wind and it was a highlight of the trip to New Zealand to interview veterans Des Andrews and Douglas Taylor in the fuselage of the MOTAT Lancaster about their experiences.
Over the coming months, now that work on the film has calmed, I could post some stories, photographs, screening dates and ultimately the TV broadcast date when it becomes know and share some of the experiences of making the film if people are interested, similar to on the Key forum.
Thank you to all those who have shown interest in the film and I hope you enjoy it.
very best wishes,
Steve
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