'Rivers and Tides' flooded with transatlantic success

An arts documentary about sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, ‘Rivers and Tides’ which was part- funded by the Scottish Screen Lottery has recently picked up prizes on both sides of the Atlantic.
Directed, photographed and edited by leading German film-maker Thomas Riedelsheimer and produced by Trevor Davies and Leslie Hills of Edinburgh production company Skyline the documentary has added another major award to its credit, having received a Lola (the German equivalent of the Oscars) for Best Documentary.
‘Rivers and Tides’ is an extraordinary journey into the world and mind of Dumfriesshire artist Goldsworthy who uses materials from nature to make site-specific works, allowing the elements to mould and mature his beautiful creations as his ingenious patterns of leaves, wood, ice and stone move and erode over time.
The production team followed him for over a year in several countries and to different outdoor locations documenting his improvisational process and capturing the spectacle of his creations and the changes nature makes to them. This remarkable film uses Goldsworthy’s own voice to guide audiences through the process, to help them to “see things they have never seen before”.
The film is the largest grossing foreign documentary to screen in the US for the last 10 years, winning the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize for Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It has taken a number of top prizes including the Grand Prize at the Montreal International Festival of Films on Art as well as the Lola in Germany.
Steve McIntyre, Chief Executive of Scottish Screen is delighted with the film's success. “’Rivers and Tides’ is a major triumph for the filmmakers with its almost hypnotic and elegiac exploration of the incredible creations by sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. Although he is one of the most celebrated artists in the UK and his work has been well documented over the years in stills photography, no one, until now, has attempted to capture the ephemeral nature of his work on film. Scottish Screen is absolutely delighted to have had a hand in such an important production.”
Trevor Davies of Skyline, who with partner Leslie Hills co-produced the documentary with German company Mediopolis. is also delighted with the latest accolade to come from Germany.
“’Rivers and Tides’ is a hit. It is an unusual film that makes real demands on its audience. So arriving at this level of commercial success and critical recognition has been a long haul. We are immensely grateful for the far-sighted and unstinting support that Scottish Screen have given to us in getting there. And, at last, after foreign success we now have a British distributor so the UK audiences will now also have a chance to see the film"
The Lola for Best Documentary in Berlin comes with a generous cash prize for investment in future projects, which Skyline, with Lottery support from Scottish Screen, is using to produce ‘Heartbeat’, a documentary with world renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie, for whom hearing is a form of touch.
‘Rivers and Tides’ will open in UK cinemas later this summer.
(SP)