Private Project

The Lucia Tour

A Swedish choir brings the tradition of the Lucia Pageant to an economically depressed former mining community in Yorkshire.

When the Barnsley Youth Choir (BYC) visited Stockholm in May, 2016, it planted the seed of an idea. The Swedish choir, who took the young people of the BYC into their homes during their stay, decided to make a return visit in December to the U.K. and bring with them the tradition of the Lucia Pageant. Once a bustling town with a proud coal mining heritage, we learn that Barnsley now finds itself out in the cold, economically. The Swedish choir, through its Lucia performance, brings light and hope to the audience, and the people of Barnsley bring their warmth to a chilly December Yorkshire night.

English and Swedish subtitles available.

  • Andrew Hart
    Director
  • Andrew Hart
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Music, Culture, Scandinavia, Yorkshire
  • Runtime:
    38 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 22, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Sweden, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Västerås Film Festival 2018
    Västerås
    Sweden
    October 7, 2018
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Andrew Hart

Andrew Hart is an American-born director and producer working in Stockholm, Sweden. By day, he creates short films seen by millions worldwide to promote science and the arts for a well-known Swedish foundation. In his spare time, however, he is free to explore his creativity, and has applied his talents to films promoting humanitarian charities, as well as to documentaries exploring such diverse topics as geology, natural history, sports and music.

Andrew showed no shortage of ambition in his first documentary film, "The Lucia Tour". Yorkshire pride and teenage insecurities were barriers, as the film follows a young choir growing up and moving outside its comfortable classical choral bubble in Sweden. The young musicians make new friends from the U.K. and take new risks, not least letting a filmmaker enter their closed circle. By knowing when to push, but also when to listen and let people tell their stories, Andrew created a film with space for both the light and darkness of life, exposing how destiny brings light, through music, to people who needed it.

Before taking on the role of film director/producer, Andrew Hart enjoyed a long career in communications as a copywriter and editor. The incidental music was composed by Andrew, who is an accomplished musician and arranger. He also enjoys training his Swedish farm cats to do tricks, which he feels is far simpler than making films, sometimes.

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Director Statement

The Lucia Tour was probably the hardest first-feature-length-documentary I could have chosen to make. It involved working with kids, working on the road in an unfamiliar place without a crew, and recording one-chance-only experiences and performances that were critical to success in capturing the story. Yet all the struggle is forgotten when I listen back to the musical sequences from the film. At that moment, I know that I made this movie in the service of the power of music. When I think of the joy the Barnsley Youth Choir (BYC) and the Adolf Fredrik (AF) music school choirs are able to bring an audience, I know music speaks to people’s souls, circumventing their brains. And this is the candle in the darkness, whether figurative or literal, that serves as the emotional heart of this film.

Music brings people together. Both the BYC and the AF choirs admit kids based only on their musical abilities. The AF kids are admitted to the choirs after an audition, and then go to a normal, free Stockholm public school — where every class just happens to also be a choir. Meanwhile in Barnsley, the BYC also holds auditions for children who wish to join. Any child who passes the audition is offered a spot in the choir. Music is the equaliser — not religion, class or ability to pay. These choirs contribute to what the world needs more of: inclusion! Not tribalism, polarisation and alienation!

A candle in the darkness makes a difference. The AF choir’s Lucia performance literally brings candles into a dark room. The symbolism is hard to miss, which hardly makes it less welcome as the dark Swedish winter tightens its grip on the land. The BYC itself is a point of light in the lives of many of the kids in the choir. In the film, the BYC’s director Mat Wright notes that one in five children in Barnsley live in poverty. The BYC gives its young members amazing opportunities for camaraderie, travel and performing. This kind of opportunity can change young lives for the better. Audiences and dark times and people in tough circumstance are all looking for a light in the darkness.

Someone who works in the film industry gave me some words of encouragement recently, regarding The Lucia Tour. He said not to worry about exposing the wrongdoings in the world or being edgy. He thought there ought to also be room for some bright spots. And so, I hope he’s right. With this film, I hope to expose some of the bright spots in the world, where people aren’t afraid to seem corny or clichéd if it means they’re making a difference.