"In 2009 I was living in London and I had a small electric car, popular with eco-minded city commuters at the time, and known as a G Wizz. With a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 30 miles, I suddenly thought how amusing it would be to film a 750 mile trip in a G Wizz, from London up to the Orkney Isles, where I had recently bought a derelict church.
I realised the journey would have to wait until I’d finished my John Shuttleworth live tour. I had started doing something a bit odd before shows: filming conversations in the dressing room mirror between myself and my alter ego on a small digital video camera. After a few attempts I became adept at switching between myself and my alter ego, enjoying our little chats. They helped calm pre-show nerves and were vaguely therapeutic.
Occasionally, the exchanges were quite deep and I almost believed there were two men in the room. John increasingly liked telling me off, and giving advice, and I didn’t always want to listen. It was like talking to my dad!
Meanwhile, my real father Derek had agreed to accompany me on a trip to Orkney and I decided to hire professional filmmaker David Kew to film the proceedings. Derek was quite a character and I had a hunch that once he’d stopped noticing the camera (difficult for a retired professional photographer) he would come out with some amazing and funny stuff.
David could only spare a few days away, as could I, so the madcap idea of travelling up in the G Wizz car was abandoned in favour of my boring (un-eco) petrol Renault saloon. So, although there is a bit of a road trip in Father Earth, the bulk of filming takes place in Orkney, where the church was awaiting restoration into an eco-friendly recording studio.
To the elements already mentioned should be added my obsession for conserving water, which often extended to washing my dirty laundry while I showered. I had hooked up a recycled plastic tank to capture rainwater for use in my temporary accommodation in Orkney - a static caravan, and I hoped that David Kew’s inquisitive camera would capture this and my other attempts to live a more sustainable life, giving the movie an educational flavour.
Father Earth had no script, no shooting schedule. Even more than with my previous films - It’s Nice Up North and Southern Softies - I wanted to shoot exactly what happened, and shape a coherent story from the rushes. It took me 12 years from start to finish, but there were 10 years in the middle of that period where nothing happened. Well, I got distracted by other things, shall we say. But climate change continued to worsen, and by 2020 I really thought I should finish and present my own half-cocked solution to Man’s ultimate challenge.
I remember years ago meeting a filmmaker who was waiting patiently for a four million pound budget to materialise before he could begin shooting his first feature film. His life was totally on hold during this time. He waited for 3 years, and then gave up waiting. The money never materialised, and he was forced to abandon the project, without having shot a single frame. I vowed never to make a film where the budget was so large that I might have to wait around for 3 years. I’m not against waiting around - I’ve spent large chunks of my life doing just that - but usually the only person I’m waiting around for to say ‘yes’ is myself."
Interview supplied by publicists.
