A short film starring Keswick and Cumbrian community members had its world premiere screening at the Keswick Alhambra cinema on Saturday 16 October 2021.

The film is the outcome of a long-running art project called Desire Lines focused on Crow Park in Keswick exploring the relationship between the communities in the town and the local landscape.

The Desire Lines project has been hosted by the National Trust and was led by artist Rebecca Beinart, who has worked with over 100 people in Keswick since January 2020, ranging from the pupil’s arts council at St Herbert’s Primary School, to members of Sustainable Keswick and Keswick Natural History Society.

Directing the film enabled Rebecca to collaborate with a number of Cumbria-based artists and creatives, including film maker and sound artist R.L. Wilson, film maker Laurence Campbell, writer and artist Wallace Heim and costume designer Maggi Toner-Edgar.

Creative writing by community participants helped to form the script, and the costumes were made from unwanted outdoor material donated by local companies with help from Viri Sica and the repair shop at Alpkit Keswick.

Artist Rebecca Beinart said “The ‘Desire Lines’ film is rooted in Crow Park and explores how a familiar viewpoint can reveal different ways of experiencing place. It brings together different strands from workshops and research throughout the project, including visual design, costumes, movement and creative writing. It’s been amazing to work with so many local people over the past 18 months – through the challenges of the pandemic – and to be able to share a collaborative creation!”

Carol Rennie from Keswick Alhambra said “We’re so excited to be hosting the world premiere of a film that’s involved so many people from Keswick and Cumbria communities, especially on our second night of reopening after our refurbishment.”

Jessie Binns from the National Trust said, “It’s been such a humbling process seeing the outpouring of creativity from the people who live on the doorstep of Crow Park, which we’ve cared for on behalf of the nation since 1925. Listening to the voices of the people who live and work in the places we look after is so vital, and this project has also highlighted the importance of listening to the non-human voices too: in the film the weather, water, plants, birds, animals and insects – even the geology – get a starring role.”

80 guests are expected to attend the world premiere at the Keswick Alhambra where the screening of the film will be accompanied by bespoke refreshments inspired by the project’s creative writing workshop “Eating the Landscape” provided by Kat’s Kitchen, Keswick Brewery and Eva’s Organics. A Q&A with the artist and the film makers will follow.

The short film will be made available to watch online via the website nationaltrust.org.uk/desire-lines a week after the premiere.

The Desire Lines project is part of Trust New Art, the National Trust’s programme of contemporary arts, supported with public funding by Arts Council England and produced with support from Arts&Heritage.