Experiencing Interruptions?

Heather Burning

Yorkshire burns. Between grouse shooting, environmentalism and disgruntled locals, a naïve sceptic uncovers a narrative which spans generations, and both unites and divides the proud people of Yorkshire and Britain itself.

'Heather Burning' is a feature-length documentary shot over the course of a year on the North York Moors, covering the little-known activity called Heather Burning, and the Grouse Shooting that it enables. It follows Ben Douglass, a young Northerner, who has extreme prejudice against the shoots, as he meets a broad spectrum of locals and his opinions are tested. He experiences themes of legacy, adventure and tradition in his year-long journey, and confronts moral dilemmas which linger long in the audience's mind.

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Specifications

Full DCI 4K online version of the film is found above.

The film is available to screen from a (Clean or Subtitled) 4K DCP and 4K or HD ProRes. Blu Rays are also available.

'Heather Burning' is presented in 1.85:1 in a DCI 'Flat' / 1.85:1 [aspect ratio] container, at 25fps, and in either a 5.1 Surround Sound Theatrical Mix or 2.0 Stereo Theatrical Mix.

  • Ralph Sansum
    Director
  • Ben Holt
    Producer
  • Ben Douglass
    Key Cast
  • Ben Holt
    Cinematography
  • Philip Kapadia
    Editor
  • Louis Holder
    Post Production Producer
  • Isabell Derr
    Sound Designer
  • Rebecca Smith
    Dubbing Mixer
  • Ralph Sansum
    Sound Recordists
  • Ben Holt
    Sound Recordists
  • Nathan Rushby-Jones
    GFX/FLAME Artist
  • Louis Holder
    DIT
  • Ben Holt
    DIT
  • Hania Pikulska
    Camera Assistant
  • Ben Holt
    Colourist
  • Philip Kapadia
    Online Editor
  • Louis Holder
    Addidional Assistant Editor
  • Ralph Sansum
    Additional Camera Operator
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    56 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 23, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,870 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ralph Sansum

Ralph first ventured into Documentary on the Film BA (Hons) course at the University of Westminster; during his final year going to Newcastle Upon Tyne for sixteen days to film Oh Me Lads (2019). With an original plan being an educational-style of documentary, Ralph soon learned that unforeseen circumstances would shift the style to an observational coming of age story. “I think that’s what attracted me to documentaries in the first place, not knowing what was going to happen but taking the risk”.

"Unlike any previous project, our documentary team is a real collaboration, it's very diplomatic when it comes to decisions around our film". Oh Me Lads was 24 minutes in length and went on to win a Student Royal Television Society Award. “We were overjoyed, I was very keen to make something again.”

Ralph’s day job is in onset visual effects for major US and French Studios in the UK. "On fictional film sets everything is very controlled and planned whereas when filming a documentary there is a greater sense of freedom and unpredictability when shooting a documentary that is refreshing.”

The format of Ralph’s documentaries so far follow Ben’s journey. “As a director, I’m honoured to direct Ben Douglass who we all owe a lot to as a force of charisma and intrigue is not something the group take for granted.”

“Ben Douglass had the original idea for Oh Me Lads and Ben Holt’s was 'Heather Burning', I think it’s time for me to come up with our next one.” Ralph hopes the unbiased approach the group has taken with Ben Douglass as their subject is an interesting one to the viewer.

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Director Statement

Similarly to Ben Douglass in the film, I had never heard of Heather Burning before our Producer, Ben Holt, told us about it. We could not believe this is not something more widely covered. We found that when the burning is in the media, it mainly focused on the environmental impact, or the controversy surrounding it. We couldn't find anything substantial that filmed people from the area that actually participated in the burn, or those in the area who are against it. By throwing Ben Douglass into the mix, he was our guide. He could connect to fellow Northerners and make up his own mind. Most people our age including Ben are anti shooting, we wanted to hear from the people who support the shoots and see how they could affect Ben's opinion.

'Heather Burning' makes connections between people and the landscape they inhabit. The themes of legacy, local identity and tradition are threads in both ‘Heather Burning’, and in our last documentary, 'Oh Me Lads'.

Life is about different opinions, and when he was exposed to people face-to-face, it was interesting to see how Ben’s opinion shifted. We attempt to speak to as many different groups of people as possible to give Ben Douglass a balanced perspective to make up his own mind, and the audience is then left to decide if they agree with him or not.

We hope people enjoy listening to new voices as Ben Douglass goes on this journey through the North York Moors.