Over the last decade, as well as producing lots of written journalism, LeftLion have also made a few films. To celebrate our 20th Birthday, we’ve decided to release some of the best things knocking around in our video archives for free on our website and Youtube channel so you - and the whole world - can all view them at your leisure. Here’s a few favourites we’d like to point you to…
The Lord of Milan (2018)
Released in 2018, this documentary film about the life of Nottingham-born AC Milan founder Herbert Kilpin is the most ambitious film project we’ve ever completed. Filmed in both Milan and Nottingham in 2017, the journey started when we met local author Robert Nieri and Milan-based football historian Luigi La Rocca. From there, over the next twelve months, we filmed with football legends like Daniele Massaro, Franco Baresi (who didn’t even make the final edit), Luther Blissett, Mark Hateley and more. In its opening year it was screened in cinemas in the UK, Italy, the USA and China and we’ve since sold downloads and DVDs in dozens of countries. It won two awards at the Olympic-accredited FICTS Film Festival. We’ve now decided to make this free to view online.
Watch The Lord of Milan on Youtube now
Directed by Jared Wilson and Georgianna Scurfield
Voices From A Rebel City: The Kanneh Masons (2022)
Around the same time they were filming a BBC One Christmas special A Musical Family Christmas, Nottingham’s prodigiously talented Kanneh-Mason family also made a documentary film with us, originally exhibited at Nottingham Castle. We took Sheku and Braimah back to their formative days with a tour of The Trinity Catholic School and filmed with them and their mother Kadiatu at the Royal Concert Hall.
Watch Voices From A Rebel City: The Kanneh Masons on Youtube now
Directed by Curtis Powell
Voices From A Rebel City: Richard Whitehead (2022)
A film about the life of a national treasure who has overcome disability to win dozens of paralympic medals. We took Richard back to his old school Colonel Frank Seely School and he gave us a tour of his regular haunts and running routes. Originally exhibited at Nottingham Castle in their Rebellion Gallery, Richard continues to promote sport through his considerable charity work.
Watch Voices From A Rebel City: Richard Whitehead on Youtube now
Directed by Georgianna Scurfield
Our Nottingham Things (2018)
To celebrate National Poetry Day in 2018, Bridie Squires and Georgina Wilding ran a series of workshops across Nottingham with people from across the county. Their mission was to create a new poem for Nottingham. There’s two videos to watch here, one is the poem itself (two minutes) and the other is the ‘making of’ (nine minutes) which explains how it all came together.
Watch Our Nottingham Things on Youtube now
Created by Georgianna Scurfield, Bridie Squires, Georgina Wilding (and half of Nottingham)
Two Hearts One Soul (2017)
Filmed on a single day in January 2017, Notts County were playing Mansfield Town in what ended up as a miserable 0-0 draw. However, what was particularly special about that day was that a group known as the ‘Italian Magpies’ made their annual pilgrimage from Turin to Nottingham to see the team that gave Juventus their famous black and white kit. A film about how friendships can be made and how they can transcend football.
Watch Two Hearts One Soul on Youtube now
Directed by Georgianna Scurfield
The Man Who Knows The Ropes (2017)
W Coates and Sons was a ropemaking business, operating out of a shop in Dunkirk, that was originally founded in 1840. Struggling to find its feet in an ever-changing world, Georgianna Scurfield caught up with 83-year-old Stewart Coates, a fourth-generation rope maker at a time when he had decided to finally close up the business. It was recently selected by Short Stack at Broadway as one of their best short films of the last decade.
Watch The Man Who Knows The Ropes on Youtube
Directed by Georgianna Scurfield
Sleaford Mods Trilogy (2016)
Around the time they released their Key Markets album, we created a trilogy of films with Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn from Sleaford Mods, each one explaining some of the meanings and inspirations behind their lyrics. The three songs covered are Tarantula Deadly Cargo, Tied Up In Nottz and Tweet Tweet Tweet. The questions were asked by Bridie Squires and you might be surprised by some of the answers they gave.
Watch Sleaford Mods Trilogy on Youtube now
Created by Bridie Squires, Raphael Achache and Natalie Owen
What Notts (2016)
A short series fronted by our Assistant Editor at the time Lucy Manning, who had a background in acting thanks to training at The Television Workshop. We sent Lucy out to events in Nottingham; specifically Em-Con and the 2016 European Archery Championships. Her interview style was dry yet dizzy, reminiscent of Daisy Donovan and is still hilarious to watch back.
Watch What Notts on Youtube now
Created by Lucy Manning, Raphael Achache and Natalie Owen
Ross Noble Nottingham Dialect Quiz (2016)
For some reason, back in 2016, we thought it would be funny to quiz Geordie comedian Ross Noble about the Nottingham dialect on camera. It was. This video was filmed with our friends at Just The Tonic and watching him trying to get his head around what ‘Nesh’, ‘Chelpeh’ and ‘Duckeh’ mean has aged well.
Watch Ross Noble Nottingham Dialect Quiz on Youtube now
Created by Jared Wilson, Raphael Achache and Georgianna Scurfield
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