Finding Blake creator and filmmaker James Murray-White announces the release of our Finding Blake film online: three years in the making and after many public screenings, it’s available for all to enjoy and respond to.
“Naked we came here, naked of Natural things, and naked we shall return; but while cloth’d with the Divine mercy, we richly cloth’d in spiritual and suffer the rest gladly” — William Blake, 1802
It is with simple joy and delight that we at this humble Finding Blake Project, hereby happily share our ‘Finding Blake’ documentary film publicly online!
Finding Blake film — communal screenings
It was always our intention that the Finding Blake film — launched in March 2020 — would start off at in-person screenings, in cinemas, halls, community centres — wherever the spirit of William Blake called for a physical screening: the rustle and bustle of human flesh and blood and bone gathered together, thinking and talking, commenting, sighing, laughing, exclaiming and harrumphing, enjoying doing something together in an age where we do much less communally. I’m sure that that would be very much in keeping with Blake’s vision for all creativity — after working solitary hours at a printing press or easel, or having returned from a shoot to the edit desk, to bring forth the products to the people, truly for the people’s edification and enjoyment (or disapproval, but we’re hoping not…).
Covid and the lockdowns showed what isolation and separation from gathering together can do, and I personally feel we haven’t fully learnt again how to be back together — the ease and safer predictability of the online world with a screen and the self — however, it’s clear this extraordinary world we and the billions of more-than-human currently inhabit is in trouble: the greed, self-interest and narcissism of a small number of humans on a downward trajectory resulting in deeper abstraction of resources, warfare and, let’s name it, genocide — and that the answer to this can only be finding something like awe, joy and wonder in the beauty & the chaos of this world — expanding our curiosity, imagination, and spirit of humanness. I’ve been seeing folk online using social media to post ‘one moment of awe per day’, and then stumbled upon this lovely article titled Wide-Eyed Wonder detailing stunning research on how awe can translate into a spiritual life for children.
Whether that’s in print, in word, in image, sound or in experience (I’m in London tomorrow evening experiencing music & sounds in the dark, in a church, as part of the audience for ‘In The Dark’, so I’m very much thinking in advance of the audible experiences of the world available to us continually if we did but truly open to listening…) — all these are treasures of creation. And so, finally, after three years in production, then a couple more years of screenings and doing other projects, here, humbly, is our visual feast of playful, joyous efforts to go some way to ‘find’ Blake!
Find the film, share your response!
You can view the film below. You can show your support with a donation via our PayPal, and comments here on this post or on the film page!
We welcome both donations and comments: all donations received will be split between the ongoing costs of maintaining this website, and any lingering production costs from the film, and to the extraordinary charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) who do so much crucial medical and humanitarian work in zones of trauma around the world. Would that they didn’t need to exist…
Absolutely send us your comments and reflections upon the film — be kind and constructive! Do include in your comment whether this work has helped you in drawing closer to the legacy of Blake, and any responses to the three questions we set ourselves at the start of this project (and hold to):
- How has William Blake influenced you, personally and professionally?
- What examples of his work — poems, engravings, images — or his life resonate with and inspire you?
- How do you feel William Blake is most relevant to the current day: as artist, spiritual visionary, political inspiration?
Thank you!
Notes
You can follow the development of the Finding Blake film through our earlier posts, and at our Finding Blake films at a glance section, including James Murray-White’s personal reflections on the film, Editing Blake — and Revealing our Film Trailer.
Do explore our full archive of blog posts, with contributions from artists, poets, philosophers and scholars.
