For one night only, on October 14, the UK’s first ever interactive feature film will be broadcast live online and at cinemas around the UK, as part of the final season of 14-18 NOW: Centenary Art Commissions, including at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts.
Created by four-times BAFTA nominated art company Blast Theory and co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK’s art programme for the First World War centenary and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Bloodyminded will take audiences on a moving and disturbing interactive journey that asks us to make our own decisions about the morality of war.
Shot live from an army base, Bloodyminded brings together a production team featuring some of the finest independent film industry talent working in the UK today, including:
- Executive Producer Anna Higgs has worked on Nick Cave biopic 20,000 Days on Earth and British Director Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise and A Field in England.
- Cinematographer Ruben Woodin Dechamps has shot music videos for Radiohead and Bonobo.
- Award-winning agent Shaheen Baig will cast the film. Shaheen’s CV includes casting films A Monster Calls and God’s Own Country as well as the BAFTA-winning television series Peaky Blinders.
Bloodyminded has been inspired by research into WW1 conscientious objectors carried out at the Imperial War Museum, and interviews with British Army veterans who generously shared their experiences of training, frontline combat, banter, bullying, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Mixing fact and fiction, Bloodyminded invites audiences to interact via an app, responding to questions directed to them by a narrator who asks us to consider our own relationship with violence – as individuals and as members of a society that continues to wage war on our behalf.
Matt Adams of Blast Theory says: “We’ve always invited audiences to explore social and political questions – from the covert data collection techniques carried out by companies like Facebook; to the ethics of undercover surveillance by the police. Now we’re exploring war, starting with one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. More than 16,000 men refused to enlist in World War One, claiming status as conscientious objectors and, in many cases, paying a heavy price for their decision. 73 men died. Although they were accused of cowardice, many conscientious objectors displayed incredible bravery and earned the respect of fighting men. In Bloodyminded, we want viewers to share their own experiences of violence and bravery.”
Laura McDermott, Creative Director, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, added: “Blast Theory are serial innovators who always find a unique form for their ideas. We are proud to be co-commissioners of Bloodyminded, their latest project with 14-18 NOW. True to the spirit of our programme, this live interactive film will provide a space for critical reflection on conflict and resistance.”
Buy tickets for Bloodyminded here