Arcadia

Scouring 100 years of footage from the BFI National Archive, BAFTA®-winner Paul Wright constructs an exhilarating study of Britain’s shifting - and contradictory - relationship to the land.

Through an intoxicating array of material, we follow an unnamed protagonist as she travels through the metaphorical ‘seasons’, taking in folk carnivals and fetes, masked parades, water divining, and harvesting. Set to a grand, expressive new score from Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) alongside folk music from the likes of Anne Briggs, Wright’s captivating film essay captures the beauty, brutality, magic and madness of rural Britain.

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