All Things To All People

The Pulse is keen to encourage young journalists and this week Eden Pullar writes for us about her experience working on the Dartington Hall centenary film, All Things to All People. The premier was held at the Barn cinema and with sold out showings, it’s been decided to add more screenings.
This is Eden’s review.

I grew up on Warren Lane on the Dartington Estate so when BAFTA-award winning film-maker Peter Nicholson, asked if I’d like to help with the filming of ‘All Things To All People’, it was a great opportunity to learn more about the history of Dartington Hall and understand a bit more about why this place is so special to so many people.
Over the last year I spent time with Peter and the film crew filming the garden in different seasons and doing interviews with people who have been involved with the estate since it was founded by the Elmhirsts in the 1920s. Some of them were pupils at Dartington School and talked about what it was like in those days. We also photographed old pictures from the archive and we filmed an art exhibition.

Peter says that he really wanted to use ‘the voices and words of the people who made Dartington what it was, what it still is and what it can be’. He did this through reading old letters and diaries, and using archive films of people talking. He even found interviews of Leonard Elmhirst describing things going on that could be matched to original footage from the 1930s, such as the restoration of the great hall or a day in the life of the school.

Peter says that making this film was a ‘daunting prospect’ because there are ‘so many narratives and meanings to so many people that it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the complexity of it all’. But he did it in a really beautiful and exciting way, showing old films of the buildings, the people and the events that have not been seen for a very long time. The way he has done it is really unique and revelatory.
For me, working on it has been an amazing gift. I found it really exciting to learn more about the place that shaped me and there was even a clip of ballet dancers on the balcony of the house I used to live. I would really recommend that people go and see it.

All things To All People is having further screenings Tickets and time information is available here: https://ticket.dartington.org/EventAvailability?EventId=830198