Letters to Ariadne is a film comprised of a series of letters from William Brown to his two-year old niece, Ariadne.
Created using footage gathered in various places in 2015, the film contains reflections and advice for an infant growing up in today’s world.
The film takes in various key themes, including art, migration, nature (especially flowers), metamorphosis and Greek mythology – especially the myth of Ariadne (whose thread helped Theseus to defeat the minotaur).
The film features very brief cameos from filmmakers Mania Akbari and Lav Diaz, while also featuring friends and family members from places as diverse as England and Scotland, Canada and the USA, Italy, France, Mexico, Sweden, Macedonia and China.
The film is partly indebted to a Brown Fellowship that William won from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, to spend a month at the house of the late artist and photographer, Dora Maar, in Ménerbes, France.
Furthermore, the Macedonian section of the film was made possible thanks to the CineDays Film Festival in Skopje, while the Swedish and Chinese sections were made possible thanks to the Universities of Skövde, Gothenburg and Nottingham Ningbo China, respectively.
Keep an eye out for screenings of the film – or contact William if you would like to see/screen it.
Ariadne plays in the grass near Leigh, Worcestershire, in Beg Steal Borrow’s new essay-film, Letters to Ariadne.
