Andy Heathcote

Andy Heathcote: director - camera I was a fanatical fly fisherman in my youth until I had to move south and trade in my angler’s pipe and Corona silk line for a camera and a career in filmmaking. After a degree in photography I progressed to camerawork and then editing at the BBC and commercials companies in London’s Soho. Film school took me to Lodz, to the renowned Polish Film School. Since then I have directed nearly forty films of all shapes and sizes, won many film prizes and my films like “English Goodbye” and “Sound Like Sunlight” have been selected for many of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. After many, many years away I took a trip back up to Scotland and could finally rediscover my fishing. A big relief. (However I must admit to being pretty rubbish compared to the 15 year old, I once was.) Fly fishing had always been an excuse to be in the countryside yet to feel like I had a purpose there. Filmmaking however was another animal, a way to explore and better understand the world we live in. If only I could combine these, the two greatest passions of my life. Heike Bachelier: director - editor A few years ago seeking refuge from the mad media circus where I spend most of my life I escaped to the Outer Hebrides. It was an unforgettable holiday. It was here that Andy introduced me to fishing. The damage was done and I soon cheerfully abandoned my salaried television production career to instead make more meaningful films. The following year I was persuaded to take a professional casting lesson. I was soon hooked on fishing and spent many frustrating days at crystal clear streams in beautiful countryside scaring fish with my furious casting techniques. When Andy suggested making a film about Hardy’s I jumped on board. I must admit that making a film about fishing was never my first ambition. However I was astounded at what the film revealed about our world of today by tracking the evolution of angling and showing the fortunes of one family business in our changing times. My own career began in Munich, Germany, studio directing TV shows whilst studying for my Master’s in Political Science. On graduation I produced feature films and documentaries for German public television. After that came the enforced solitude that accompanies the writing of two feature film scripts. These complete it was then fantastic to realise that with the recent developments in technology it’s now possible to pack all the gear we need into a modest car, drive off into the sunset and make the films we always wanted.