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Ticket to Sydney

Through the use of found footage, animation, live action and illustration, Ticket to Sydney attempts to visualise the loss of an archive and contextualize a formative event in the life of a mostly-forgotten pioneer in British musical history – Basil Kirchin.

  • Felix Davidson
    Director
  • Basil Kirchin
    Key Cast
    "(Voice)"
  • Felix Pádraig Davidson
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 21, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital and 16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Manchester School of Art
Director Biography - Felix Davidson

Working primarily in audiovisual mixed-media, I am a creative practitioner situated on the boundaries between animation, filmmaking, photography and illustration. Often using theoretical research in metaphysics and hauntology as a starting point for exploration, my work looks at the hidden, the forgotten and the invisible, and explores the physicality of mediums in themselves as a tool for visualising the ‘in-betweens’ of the world around us.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

For the final project of my degree I created an experimental short film which investigates the life and work of mostly-forgotten musical pioneer Basil Kirchin through the lens of one specific incident – the loss of his personal performance archives in Sydney Harbour in 1959. Utilizing direct animation, found-footage and illustrated segments, as well as archival interview material kindly shared with me by Trunk Records’ Jonny Trunk, the purpose of the film was to ‘re-animate’ this event and attempt to grapple with the wider sense of cultural and personal loss that is created by the absence of an archive.