It is difficult to put into words the alien strangeness of the microscopic worlds depicted by the pioneering film-maker F Percy Smith. “Percy Smith’s work had to be dressed in a certain way in 1925, but now the affectations stop us appreciating it. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Monochrome magic … F Percy Smith at work in 1945, shortly before his death. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the GuardianTrawling the BFI archives together, they chanced upon Smith’s film of newts under water, which they found to be his most striking footage. We tried lots of experiments with voiceovers and captions and ways to talk about Percy more, but ultimately we cut all those things away and kept a dreamscape.”“The world now sacrifices everything to speed,” Percy Smith said.

Source: The Guardian October 26, 2016 14:15 UTC