RIVERS AND TIDES

Year: 2001
UK: Cinefrance
Cast: Andy Goldsworthy
Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer
Countries: Germany / Scotland
UK: 90 mins
UK Release Date: 4 July (Limited Release)

Synopsis

A documentary film about a Scottish sculptor, made on a modest budget, which, out of the blue, became an award-winning hit in the United States, is about to open in the UK.

Rivers and Tides, directed, photographed and edited by Thomas Riedelsheimer, a German film-maker, is an extraordinary journey into the world and mind of sculptor Andy Goldsworthy.

Director Thomas Riedelsheimer followed him for over a year in several outdoor locations, intimately documenting his improvisational process and capturing the serene spectacle of his works and their delicate changes.

Although Goldsworthy's private and often ephemeral pieces have been documented extensively in still photographs, this remarkable film uses the artist's own voice to guide audiences through his process and help them "see something you never saw before, that was always there but you were blind to it."

Since the late 70s, Goldsworthy has been one of Britain's most popular artists. His work has been exhibited in dozens of exhibitions worldwide and documented in numerous major publications. This bearded, soft-spoken 46-year-old, who lives in an old stone house in the rural village, Penpont, Dumfriesshire, works mostly outdoors, creating mutable sculptures that he calls earthworks. These organic sculptures interact with nature in a way that magically illuminates the cycles of creation, destruction and renewal.

RIVERS AND TIDES continues to enthrall both art and film lovers in the States where it is playing on screens coast to coast, as well as drawing unanimous critical approval and awards.
Now audiences in the UK and Ireland have the chance to witness a remarkable creative journey.

The film, co-produced by Leslie Hills and Trevor Davies of the Edinburgh-based company Skyline, the the Golden Lola for best Documentary and best Cinematography at the German Film Awards. It had also won the grand prize at Montreal International Festival of Films on Art and the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize for Best Documentary at San Francisco's International Film Festival.